Marina del Mar report

I took Friday off and went fishing to Marina del Rey. I'm glad to inform you guys that I did catch fish, a couple surf perch on a surf rat fly. The sinking tip fly line made my job a whole lot easier and had no problem reaching out there.
Here are some pix I took yesterday.

The Alq's Surf Rat
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...ng/SurfRat.jpg

My first saltwater fish
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...tsurfperch.jpg

The surf I fished
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/s...ng/thesuds.jpg

Now that is the good news, the bad news is that I managed to scratch my fly rod with one of my Clousers. I heard a bang and felt it on the handle so I examined the rod and it had a little scratch, that was a bit frustrating since I have been casting flies for a while now and never had that problem before. Any suggestions?

Neat fly and fish. Good for you in So. Cal. I'd really like to see it someday.

McMartin,
Glad you posted. Nice pics. As you know I have an interest in the sport and yet know nothing. What rod did you use? Albright has 13, 14, and 15 foot spey rods on sale for only $79. Would one of these rods work? I guess you need more info than that to answer.
13' = 8/9 spey two hander
14' = 9/10
15' = 10/11

I have the top one and the bottom one. Would these work on the surf?

Jim

Gemrod, on the rods for surf, yes.

Thank you LF.
That tells me a whole lot....and I am meaning it. This kind of sounds like a spoof. Such a short reply I must be joshing. Not what I intend. The knowing that they will work on the surf...that knowledge indicates a lot of things to me. Actually provides a lot of information.

Thank You for the reply.

Jim

What I used for surf fishing is a 9', 8wt Redington Crosswater and that works great for me, you don't really have to get all the way "out there" actually I caught my first perch surprisingly near to me. I'm no expert but I'd say that you would do great with a 9 footer. Some people use a 6wt but the winds here in Socal can get a little bit strong. If you ever come my way I'd be glad to wet the line with you guys.

I'm all set then. Welll as far as rods go. I have a 10' 7wt Sage that is a strong rod. But also have an 8wt, a 9wt, a 10wt, and a couple of spey rods. Was planning on going to Spey O Rama in San Francisco in April...but life has a way of changing my plans.

Thanks Martin for the response.

Man do I hear you on the "life changing my plans". But hey, one of these we'll wet the line.

Martin,

Congrats on the surf perch. Keep up the good work. Hope you post a Halibut next time.

Beaver

Thanks Beaver. Say, what type of fly can I throw for Halibut?

Martin,

I would go to Lee Baermann's site www.flyfishthesurf.com and check out the fly's there. Also on fishingnetwork.net there is a guy by the name of Wingnut on that site that has caught Halibut on the fly. There is a thread on there last year that has a picture of some the flies he was using. Can't remember which thread it was, but it was the end of the year when he posted it. I know clousers should work and Eric's tackle shop in Ventura has some flies also. Good luck.

Beaver

I haven't checked today....but for quite awhile now Albrignt has had their Spey rods discounted very deep. They are listed as $370 MSRP. I do not know it that is their normal price or not. But they have three different spey rods marked down to $79 each. You cannot buy decent components hardly and build a single had rod for that. These are complete and come in a very nice tube.

They have a 13'.....8/9 wt
14'....9/10 wt
15'...10/11wt

I don't think you will ever find a better time....or even better deal on a spey rod.

Jim

Sorry, I reaalize I posted this info earlier. However cannot delete it as another post just came in on the thread. So I will just leave the post as is.....

Checked today, still on sale, no longer shows the tube with the 15' one....not sure what that means....but still a steal. The link:
http://www.albrightflyfish.com/closeouts
It starts out showing waders...but just scroll down till you see a small post on spey rods, listing the three....and click on one of your choosing
I have the 8/9 now and the 10/11. I got to cast the 10/11 one time with a friend and loved it. Just him showing me on a pond. Did not fish or hook into anything. But I really like that 15' one. Probably oversized for surf or PNW fishing. But I really liked it, and it's length.

Martin, excellent report. I keep repeating to myself ... "...someday, salt; someday, salt..."

Kelly.

Thanks Beaver, I'll check that website. Jim, I'm sure you'll be able to catch fish with anything longer than 9', you'll get more distance and I hope you can try it out here one of these days. Thanks Kglissmeyer, if you have the chance go ahead, it is worth it.

Great report and pics Martin. One of these days I'll get over to Socal and try that. It looks like a blast.

It's great Brandon, glad to hear from you.

I am always here, just usually quiet.

I know Marina del Rey, is that the area you fished? I am a Socal native but AZ is nice.

Boy am I slow!!!! That's what I meant to say Marina del Rey. It was really slow around the jettie so I just walked to the beach and boom, a couple of perch, that was good enough for me thou.
Arizona is nice, I just live happier near the beach is all.