I finally got to go fishing after some days off from work! It’s been awhile since my last Halibut fishing in Bolsa Chica. Unfortunately when I got there, the wind was blowing pretty strong… I also thought to myself, “where’s the water?”
From early morning until about 11am was low tide and a very bad time for fishing. There weren’t any place for me to cast and if I do it would reach the fisherman’s on the opposite side of the shore! It was a difficult situation. I couldn’t use any DD (Deep Dive) lures in this type of water condition, so I decided to use the FM110 & PT78SR and went for the surface area. I started to cast towards the jetty and under the pier and let my lure swim along the water flow (slightly fast retrieve). I tried to retrieve (slow retrieve) the opposite direction from the water flow also. I continued to try the 2 types of retrieving speeds but didn’t get any bites… Catching my very first Halibut had to be postponed until later.

Big Fish exclusive colors – 17 new FM110 colors from Europe is now newly stocked! Please hurry and come get some!! They are all less than $20.

These lures are normally not found in CA nor America and isn’t usually for sale so it might sell very quickly.

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

I recently got some time off work and traveled to Korea. I went night shopping there and found a book store – I looked to see if there were any interesting magazines. I then found a fishing magazine with the “Alabama Rig” on the cover page which is also currently a huge topic in the fishing industry. I can’t read Korean, but I immediately purchased it! It included subjects from Bass, saltwater, river, shore/street fishing, and much more. For this month’s topic, it had information on the Alabama Rig and how it is used. In the Saltwater section, there is an image of the breakwater full of people fishing for Rockfish. You will almost never see this many people fishing like this in CA. Is Saltwater fishing that popular in Korea!? I wonder if the Flash Minnow will sell good here…? And finally on the very last page of this magazine showed some images of the 2012 Osaka Fishing Show held in Japan. I was very surprise to see our Lucky Craft USA pro angler, Skeet Reese!! What a coincidence!

I’ll be going back fishing starting next week!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

As some of you been waiting for, the requested Lucky Craft CIF Series saltwater lures are now in stock at the Newport Beach shop, “Angler’s Center”! We made it possible to have a greater amount of items in store! There are a whole lot of colors that were only available online, but now they have all 16 CIF colors in stock!

When it comes to Lucky Craft surf fishing, the ultimate lures would be the Flash Minnow 110 & Pointer 100 which we also have more colors available. The new Flash Minnow 120DD and Pointer 100DD in all colors are in stock as well so please visit “Angler’s Center”!

Lately the DD lures are catching a lot of fish!!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

I came to Bolsa Chica again for this week’s fishing report. Unfortunately when I got there, the best Halibut fishing spot was taken already…

Reluctantly I started casting from the middle of the rocky area… After an hour of fishing the fisherman who got to the spot first caught his first Halibut. I was hoping they would react to my lure also. I then switched my FM110 to a PT100 which creates more detailed action. As time progressed, again the same fisherman continued to catch legal size Halibuts. But I’m sure there is a big difference in using live bait compared to hard lures. I decided to go over to there place and had them squeeze me in. But I couldn’t catch anything… Both of the fishermen next to me who were using live baits kept catching small size Halibuts. I felt like the fishes completely knew what they were dealing with.

They weren’t using Sardine as live bait, but pretty large Anchovy. And that actually was a very nice clue for next time. Next week I’m going to challenge Halibut fishing again with that lure. With the “Pointer 128”!!! I want to try again with this.

Well at least I had some great discovery. The water that day was so nice and clear I was able to observe the bottom surface, deep and shallow areas and where the rocks were located from the top of the bridge which is usually not possible to do. This gave me so much hope and imagination on where the Halibuts may be.

Catches x 0

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Since I newly bought the annual parking pass, it’ll be a waste if I don’t make the most out of it! So I went back to Bolsa Chica this week where I haven’t got any catches yet. I started fishing early in the morning hoping to catch a large size Halibut. Before high tide around this time, the ocean water flows into the river so it is the opposite direction from last time!! I cast my lure and I needed to calculate the water flow while retrieving. It was important to choose your points. Bolsa Chica is fun!

I used the usual FM110 (Pearl color) and continuously cast, but didn’t get any bites. Time just passed and it became fully high tide. The water level was pretty high so I changed my lure to the PT100DD (MS Anchovy)! And this worked!! On my very first cast a big one ate it. I’ve never seen my rod so bent before. Not only that, it had a strong pull and it even felt close to Striper fishing! I was excited to think I finally caught a large size Halibut but……. Unfortunately when I pulled it up it wasn’t a Halibut but something else? It’s red? What is this? I’ve never seen such a fish before. I pulled it up to the shore and took a picture of it and asked my saltwater master T what it was. He told me it is a fish called Covina. I guess it is generally caught with fish baits and often comes along the pier. It was my very first fish caught with the ESG rod! Cheers with some Coke!

Today’s fishing result x1

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

I got a call from a friend the other day and he told me he caught a 26in Halibut in Bolsa Chica. So I immediately headed there the very next day. It was my first time fishing here so I wasn’t quite sure what the water condition was like, but the image shown was what I first saw and it just looked perfect for Halibut fishing! There was good water flows, run ups, rip currents, and the terrain here is constantly changing which makes it easier for the baits to gather. And this means there is a higher chance for me to catch some Halibuts! I had high hopes this day!
There wasn’t too much change in tide on this day and the water level stayed pretty stable. However, the river water came in pretty strong and the lure had the tendency to drift away, so I needed to cast by adjusting to the water flow. That ended up making it very difficult for me to catch anything. In Long Beach where I usually go, there is barely any water flow so I had more control over my lure, but I realized that depending on each the location the condition is quite different… lesson learned. I wasn’t able to catch anything this day, but I am definitely coming back here again next time.

Catch result: 0
Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Sandy’s one point advice:
I wonder if this little section will become popular? Well, I’ll just wait and see and continue to write it. To all the people who I gratefully want to thank for reading my blog and if you have any questions on California fishing and/or fishing locations, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’ll be waiting~.
This time I will talk about the parking situation in Bolsa Chica. Here it is a California state managed parking lot so there is a fee of $15 for a day. It is quite pricey… But there’s other options! You can purchase an annual pass for $125 and you have unlimited parking for a year!! Not only that, you can use that pass anywhere that is considered state parking! How great is that! With this pass, I’m going to continue to challenge fishing in different places such as Malibu, Huntington Beach, Corona, San Onofre, Oceanside, and San Diego where the parking pass can be used in all these locations! Now I don’t have to worry too much on parking. It can not be used in Long Beach or Redondo Beach so please keep that I mind.

Continuing from last week, I went Halibut fishing with my new ESG Rod again. Last week the weather condition was horrible due to the rain, but this week was in perfect condition! I started fishing early morning along with the rising tide! There were a bunch of seabirds flying in the water which also meant there were plenty of fishes! So I got my rig from the parking lot and headed to the jetty. Then on my way, I couldn’t believe my own eyes… I’ve never seen the ocean like that before, it was all red! Was it red tide? I couldn’t understand, but decided to look it up later. I knew there were plenty of baits, but with this water condition, I couldn’t expect to catch anything… Though, I didn’t want to give up! I decided to use a lure color that is more visible – a pearl color. I also used a DD (Deep Diver) and very slowly retrieved the deeper range. Then I got a bite! It was a small size Halibut! It was my one valuable fish I caught that day, but it accidentally fell between rocks right before I was able to take a picture…

Lately I’ve been having a tough time catching fishes, so I’m thinking of changing my fishing locations.

This is completely off subject, but dolphins appeared by the bay!! And I saw 3 of them! America’s great~~!

Fishing Result: 0

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Sandy’s Halibut Catching Method:
In early dawn and/or when the fishes are the most active, fast retrieving is more effective. However, what is more important is the condition – how dark/bright the field is and the water condition. Depending on that, you need to change up your retrieving speed.
When it is dark, retrieve slowly and as it gets brighter fasten the retrieving so they don’t realize that it’s a lure.

This week it unusually rained for 2 days in California. The next day because of the rain, fishing condition was bad and there was only little hope for a bite. Sure enough when I arrived at my fishing location, the water condition was very bad with high turbidity and a bunch of trash floating around. I expected to not catch anything due to this condition. But this time instead of fishing, I actually wanted to test out 2 new saltwater rods I received from the main office in Japan recently. So to see how these rods feel, I started casting. And…WOW! These new ESG rods are great! Compared to the previous rods, it has a softer tip, stronger bat, longer grip, and just the feel of the grip is perfect. With this rod I get less miss bites and I have a good feeling I’ll get more catches. I’m looking forward on seeing the types of fishes I’ll come across using these 2 new ESG rods.

Rod Introduction:

ESG “Shore Saltwater Game” Rod
Length: 9’7”
Lure Weight: 2.6g ~ 20g
Line: 6lb ~ 14lb

ESG “Shore Saltwater Game” Rod
Length: 8’ 7”
Lure Weight: 2.6g ~ 24g
Line: 8lb ~ 16lb

Fishing Result: n/a

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

“A New Fishing Spot”

This week I went to a new Halibut fishing spot. When going Halibut fishing, I usually would go to the Long Beach Jetty, but this time I went to the other side where I had in mind for awhile – the Seal Beach Jetty. I got some information about this place that the water stream at the tip of the jetty and towards the beach side (shoal) is the best fishing spot. The basics in trying to get a better chance catching fish at a new location are to continuously and effectively cast and to keep your retrieving speed constant at a certain spot and repeating that action! It is also good to change your depth range from surface, middle area, to the bottom. As for me, I first used the FM110 to explore the surface, then the PT100 for the middle area, and finally for the bottom surface I used our newly released FM120DD & PT100DD!! So with the FM120DDI used my latest technique for Halibut fishing, the bottom knocking action with slow retrieving. This action has been a major success in catching fishes! However, at a new location this bottom knocking technique becomes a huge risk because you have no idea what the bottom surface is like and what obstacles exist and there is a high chance it may get caught into something and lose your lure!! BUT!! If you want to build your fishing skills you sometimes need to be bold. And in that result, I caught one!! The Halibut was about 20in. With my very first fishing experience here, I have a better understanding of where the rocks and such obstacles are located. So next time I want to go a little further towards the tip of the jetty.

Fishing Result:
Sandy: Halibutx1

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

I’m off to go shore fishing from the beach with our new employee Miku. With this she will experience all 3 styles of fishing: Bass, boat, and shore fishing. We started fishing from early morning in Long Beach where lately it is said to have a high count of catches. This will be her very first Halibut fishing experience as well. Miku has almost no fishing experience, but yet her casting skills are already excellent! With her Kendo experience, she must know how to seize techniques fast. Our first bite of the day was by me, but the size of the Halibut was less than legal size. I used my latest fishing pattern that’s been getting me a lot of bites! I cast the PT100DD and started knocking the bottom then I would slowly retrieve. Especially lately in Long Beach, instead of using the FM110 to swim on surface, there is a better chance in getting a bite when you go a deeper range while feeling the bottom surface. I frequently use the FM120DD & SS90V2 with that fishing pattern and been getting a pretty good result with it. However, it does depend on the condition of the tide, but it is the best to use the DD during high tide!!!

Well then… as for how Miku did, something very shocking happened!
After about an hour since we started, I hear Miku screaming, “Aaaah~~! I caught one!!” So I look over and…!! Her rod was bent tremendously! After carefully pulling it up, there was a huge, 25.5in Halibut!! I was stunned by Miku… Even from last week, she just might have something that gets big ones. Here in California, the law is if you catch a halibut less then 22in you can’t take it home. And to even catch a Halibut larger than 22in is very difficult for all fishermen, but at her very first shore fishing experience with the PT100 she surpassed that. I am extremely impressed.

I’ve been to Long Beach many times this past year and aimed for Halibut, but never did I catch a Halibut over 22in. I am mortified… From now on, I would like to learn a lot from Miku instead.

Fishing Result:
Sandy: Halibut x5
Miku: Legal Size Halibut x1, Halibut x3, Barracuda x1

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow