How to Surf Fish for Barred Perch
...the weather can change rapidly. It’s probably a good idea to have a change of clothes in your vehicle you just never know when that rouge wave is going to crash on the beach and get you wet. I’ve read several articles suggesting the best times to fish according to the tide tables. After years of surf fishing, the best time that I’ve found to fish is one hour before high tide to one hour after. If the high tide is at or around sunset, the fish will bite best at dusk. If you plan to fish on August 3rd high tide is at 7:29 a.m. and the height is 3.2 feet. Which means that the ocean water rises 3.2 feet in that area. The higher the height generally the better the fishing. If you look at the tide chart that I included notice that there is no p.m. tide for Aug. 2 , if you look at Aug. 3 you see a 12:55 a.m. low tide. This means the p.m. low tide for that day accually falls the next morning. Tide charts take time to be efficient at reading them. You can buy the tide table for the entire year at your local fishing and tackle shop. Tides at Outer Los Angeles Harbor Date High Ht. Low Ht. High Ht. Low Ht. Today 2:05 a.m. 3.5 8:19 a.m. 1.8 3:27 p.m. 4.5 10:29 p.m. 2.2 Aug. 1 3:46 a.m. 3.1 9:01 a.m. 2.2 4:18 p.m. 4.7 11:55 p.m. 1.7 Aug. 2 5:58 a.m. 3 10:00 a.m. 2.5 5:10 p.m. 4.9 none Aug. 3 7:29 a.m. 3.2 12:55 a.m. 1.1 6:00 p.m. 5.3 11:12 a.m. 2.7 In Southern California, the weather at the beach is generally different from the inland. In the morning it can be clear and sunny inland and at the beach it’s over-cast and cold. In the evening at the beach it’s windy and cold anytime of the year. You never know how the weather is going to be like at the beach. Reading the water is the hardest thing to learn when it comes to surf fishing. The water color can range from crystal blue to green to red. If the water is red, that means that there is a red tide. When plankton in the water die the water turns a rusty color, this is called a red tide and I’ve never caught a fish in this water condition. If the water is crystal blue the fish tend to get spooked. It’s like a horse that’s blindfolded, it can’t see and it’s relaxed. Take the blindfold off and the horse gets spooked. The best water is green water. The green water is a little murky and the fish seem to bite well in this water condition. Trying to find the best part of the beach to fish on is a little easier. When you look at a stretch of beach, it’s for the most part, flat and sloped towards the water. Then looking closer you’ll see pockets of sand that are lower than the rest of the sand. These are the areas that you want to fish around. Seeeing a fish in the water is a great indication that fish are up near the beach feeding. How you see them is waiting for the wave to build and by looking into the wave. The use of a...