Larger Central Coast Barred Surfperch on the Fly

     Was listening to fish radio, featuring some guy from the San Diego area who’d just written a book on California surf fishing. Radio host called him a “surf guru”.

The guru said a couple things that made me chuckle.

First thing: “San Diego beaches attract the largest barred perch on the coast.”

After absorbing that comment for a moment, my bullshit meter tilted. As a SoCal beach veteran transplanted to Morro Bay, above The Point, I would argue that Central Coast barred surfperch run, on average, substantially larger than their southern cousins. And consider: the world record barred surfperch was caught at Montana de Oro, right out in front of Los Osos/Morro Bay. Sure, you might find large individuals on any California beach, and that makes the effort worthwhile, but, sorry to have to disagree, San Diego Guru, day-in, day-out, the beaches north of Point Conception hold bigger surfperch. Heck, Santa Barbara area beaches hold larger perch than the San Diego area. Just saying.  

Another thing. The guru advised a caller to: “fan your casts.”

But anybody who has spent any time on the wet sand will know, as a general rule-of-thumb: You fish perpendicular to the wave sets. And move your body to change casting targets. Sure, when water is sweeping, a cast placed ‘upstream’ will counter the sweep, bringing your fly to fairly perpendicular as you strip it in. But a line thrown more than a few degrees off perpendicular will be bellied and sailed by the incoming waves. The more angle, the more line area presented broadside to the wave, the quicker the line is carried, out of control, parallel to the beach. “Fanning” casts is not a good idea in the surf unless you have nearly lake-like conditions – and that kind of surf condition, in my own experience, does not dig out enough feed to attract barred surfperch.

14" foregrip

I guess the point of this rant (if there is a real point beyond a simple writing exercise) is: Fishing the water probably brings more return for time spent than fishing the radio. 

Wish you all good luck with your books.

~Steve

Wet sand wizard Peter VanHest with a nice Hearst Ranch barred surfperch.

Barred Surfperch & the By-The-Wind Sailor Jellyfish Hatch

Strange, in all the material I’ve read, the list of barred surfperch food items never mentions the by-the-wind sailor jellyfish ‘hatch’ that occurs along West Coast beaches in spring and early summer. Not sure the reason for this omission, as barred perch do eat wind sailor jellyfish, and these do concentrate big fish on the beach – even when surf conditions are less than ideal, leading me to believe perch consider them very good to eat. Some of the most epic days I’ve experienced fishing barred perch have been during wind sailor hatches.

By-the-wind sailors, Velella, belong to a genus of free-floating hydrozones that, at maturity, live on the surface of the open ocean. There is only one known species. When mature they have no means of propulsion but the fin-shaped sail rising from the oblong base of the body. Velella is not a true jellyfish, its body formed around a delicate, skeletal quill that looks like slightly opaque clear plastic – like the quill found inside a squid. Mature wind sailors gather on current breaks at sea, and these are moved toward the beach in untold numbers. When caught in the surf zone they are tumbled and sunk, a happy circumstance for surfperch waiting to munching them like gummy grape candy.

It’s always good to pay attention to what’s gathered in the drift line just above the wet sand. That’s where you’ll find the accumulated dross deposited at the last high tide. Sometimes it will contain the molted shells of sand crabs, a good sign they are present, also indicating a good chance surfperch may be present. The drift line will reveal the presence of wind sailors as well. Sometimes, usually during a period of large swells or a stiff Northwesterly, the beaches will become covered with them, and if those beaches are known to attract barred perch, rest assured, the perch will be there to feed on the incoming wind sailors.

Wind sailors are fairly amorphous in shape while submerged in the surf, and that’s a good thing, it being difficult to imitate something that looks like spilled ink with a sail sticking out of it. I haven’t found profile, in this case, to be particularly important. The distinct, bluish-purple coloration of the naturals seems to be the key to simulating them. The pattern featured here is my go-to fly when wind sailors are present. And it’s also a good starter when they’re not. 

By-The-Wind Sailor

Hook: size 2 to 6 Dai-Riki #930 (Wrap a lead or brass barbell to the top of the hook shank)     

Thread: blue, purple or wine

Body: blue krystal flash – 4 to six strands – tie in at the hook bend, twist counterclockwise, and wind forward to the barbell (coat with thick cement)

Wing: colors stacked in the order tied in: purple kip; pearl gray kip; a few strands of pearl midge krystal flash; a small pinch of purple kip ~ and finish.

Think Pink for Barred Surfperch

     The barred surfperch in the photo is a nice fish, at about 3 pounds. Large, mature perch develop a big, square mouth, so, on the Central Coast, we refer to a perch this size as a ‘squaremouth’.

The 5/6 Spey pictured with the perch is not too big a stick, considering the conditions and the fish. A dark-bellied squaremouth will spin you toward the backing and make you bow. This one, kept for the table, was feeding on by-the-wind sailor jellyfish. Its stomach proved chockablock full of them.

It’s good to check stomach contents. Keeps things honest, informs and sometimes surprises.

This perch had nothing in it but wind sailors. Which are blue colored. Yet it and a whole bunch of its compatriots had diverted from the grape gummies to take the pink fly.

I’m not exactly sure why.

Might be that surfperch feeding on a jellyfish hatch aren’t as selective as trout feeding on a mayfly hatch. Evidence suggests.

One thing I’m fairly sure of though: barred perch like pink flies.

 Brown may be the color of the universe, but it's pink in the middle.

Here's a pattern I fish a lot:

Pink Krystal Shrimp for Barred Perch ~ tied by Steven Bird 

 Pink/Pearl Shrimp

Hook: #2-#6 stainless saltwater – mount a barbell or bead-chain to the top of the hook shank

Thread: pink

Tail: pink kip / 2 strands of red krystal flash

Body: red wire, or substitute red tinsel coated with thick cement

Topping: pinch of pearl/gray kip; 2 strands of red krystal flash; pink kip ~ & finish.