Barred Surf Perch – Keep Calm and Fly Fish

Stinson Beach is an easy day trip from the Sacramento area that we’ve made several times within the last few years. Although the drive is always worth it we wanted to try something different and stay the night at one the local hotels, the Sandpiper Hotel. With spring in the air and no pressure to get home before midnight, I was going to fish the hell out of the Stinson Beach.

Good Morning Stinson Beach

The beach is something both the missus and I can enjoy; I get to go fishing and she gets to soak up the sun on the beautiful California coast. I brought both my spinning outfit and my fly rod just to change things up however I ended up using my fly rod for the majority of the trip. I tried a new rig by adding a perfection loop to my leader which allowed me to fish a Simple Shrimp with a loop-to-loop and a clouser at the end.

Stinson Beach fishes well in the spring and provides ample opportunity for several different species such as surf perch, striped bass, jacksmelt, and halibut. I’ve found evenings to be the most productive on Stinson Beach no matter the surf conditions or tide, the majority of the stripers and surf perch that I’ve caught have been hooked in the evening. Always be prepared for everything because you never know what you’re going to catch out on the surf .

Fat Redtails

The beach was looking pretty rough when we arrived around noon. Heavy north west winds made casting difficult and I gave up after fighting the strong gusts for a few hours. I would try again later in the evening when the wind finally died down. I had two hours before sunset to find a productive area to cast into and find my fish. It took a few minutes hiking up and down the beach but once I found the fish, I found the fish. I caught several species of surf perch, got two doubles, and landed my first trophy surf striper. It was an amazing evening that made me fall even more in love with this beach. My stripping fingers are currently bruised and my legs are sore from standing and hiking all day but it was worth it.

Pulling In My First Double

Trophy Surf Striper

The surf conditions the following morning were much more favorable than the previous day. I was hoping to recreate the success I had last evening however I wasn’t able to find any other species aside your resident surf perch. Stinson Beach never disappoints.

Stinson Surf Perch

We are all finally in 2018 and what’s a better way to start a new year than taking a trip to the beach? Stinson Beach as always was our destination and we were set for some fun in the sun.

The coast is always so much nicer in the winter than it is in the summer. Our day at Stinson was absolutely beautiful. The downside of this visit was that we were fishing an outgoing tide from our arrival to sunset and that there was a lack of structure on the beach.

Barred Surf Perch

First I set out my crabbing rod to see if I could find any crab out in the surf. The beach was looking very flat so I knew that my chances were going to be low but it was worth a shot. Once the surf rod was set, I rigged my fly rod and starting fishing. My set-up was my typical two fly rig with a Simple Shrimp as the trailer. Within about an hour I was lucky enough to hook into two fat hard fighting barred surf perch on the Simple Shrimp before the surf began to recede. There were no signs of crab in the area so we decided to pack up and venture to a new beach that we hadn’t been to before.

Bolinas is a small town that sits about ten minutes away from Stinson. The only public beach in this area is called Bolinas Beach which can be found on the western end of the lagoon separating Stinson Beach. Parking was limited to only one lane but we were able to find a spot after making a second go around. I changed out of my fly fishing outfit due to the ebb tide and shifted focus on finding some crab. Once we arrived on the surf I scouted around the beach and noticed a rocky area that looked like a great spot to set up. As we made our way through the rocky area we noticed small jets of water shooting out all around us. It wasn’t long until it clicked, “I those are clams!”

Buried Treasure

We weren’t prepared to do any clamming so we started digging with our hands. It wasn’t long until our hands started bleeding from all the sand, grit, and rocks. We tried digging with some of the things we had brought but nothing worked well enough. After looking around we found some big gaper clam shells that worked well for both digging and scooping out the water that would fill our holes. With the power of teamwork we managed to dig ourselves out a few gaper clams, Washington clams, and a couple of little necks that were all brought home for chowder.