Zen Fly Fishing: Winter 2005/2006 Gallery


The reports are in reverse chronological order with the latest report on top. Click on the pictures to view a larger version and on links to see more. I usually publish reports (in my sleep deprived state) very late on the evening of my trip. I frequently make a few changes after sleep recovery. If it is not obvious, I am almost 100% catch, snap and release with Barred Surfperch. I take self-portraits because that shows scale and I usually include a close-up that shows the targeted water in the background.

I didn't notice that spring equinox passed this year. It occurred on March 20, 2006. Winter storms are still with us. I haven't had any good reports lately but there are reports of a few fish. I should get out but am involved with other interests and also working a little on tax returns every day. Well, I wanted to get out during the week of April 3, 2006 but it didn't happen. I'll try in the 3rd week of April. I think we need a few days of steady weather/swell conditions get fish concentrated closer to shore. Good luck if you get out and send reports if you do - thanks.
It is over one month since my last trip! Today is: February 20, 2006. Cathy (my wife) is in London - as a nanny for my daughter who is an international make-up artist. She is caring for our grand-daughter, Akira. Today was open so even though tides were not moving much in the late afternoon, I need to walk the beach. I took the Lance and Honey - they need exercise anyway. I was on the beach by 4:00 pm. I would park them to fish and walked them as I worked down and up the beach. It worked out fine! There was some decent looking water. I worked those areas completely but they held no fish. It was windy. I went to a longer leadcore head so I wasn't casting well. Around 5:00 pm, the wind laid down, my casting improved and the fish started eating. I've always heard that the bite starts towards sundown independent of the tide. It might be true??? This is my first time fishing into sunset. I didn't get a nibble until 5:15 pm, my first Barred Surfperch. I ended up catching two more - all about the same size. The largest is shown at the left, a scrappy female Barred Surfperch (close-up). I fished until sunset around 5:50 pm. I had 3 hits and caught 3 BSP today over 2 hours. We are going to have a stretch of smaller swells this week. This might provide some stability that will allow fish to concentrate. I've had reports of decent to good fishing lately if you hit is right. The pipe was still showing. I think this will be a good year for structure - the beach is starting to look good. I caught one on a Surf Miki 3 on point and others took a size-8, rubber hackle worm tied in tandem off of the point fly. It was really great to get out!!! I'll start to fish at least once a week again so stay tuned...
This is first trip of the year: January 17, 2006. I was on the water by 8:15 am. I fished the last of the incoming and high tides until 12:15 pm. There was some decent looking water. I worked those areas completely but they held no fish. I caught my first fish at 8:45 am, the nice mid-sized Barred Surfperch shown at the left (close-up) - my first BSP this year! The swells were smaller today but certain areas/times swells were up the 3-ft overhead. Wading was generally easy but there were occasional exploding waves and surges so I had to be watchful. There were not a lot of fish in close today. I got 4 hits and 4 fish, all Barred Surfperch. Two were really small and the other was hand-sized. It was great to get out. The first fish was a thrill! It took 90-ft plus casts to reach possible holding water. I caught fish in the deepest areas of flat water. All of the bigger fish took the Surf Miki 3 on point and the smaller took a size-8, red bead eye Surf Miki. The big swells have moved a lot of sand off of the beach. There is a particular pipe sticking out of the surf that I was buried all last year. Sand levels have to be more than 3-ft lower now. Swells will be building again tomorrow. - peaking on Thursday. I'll try again early next week.
I have been watching the surf reports over the last two weeks. It finally looks like it might be worth fishing so on January 9, 2005 I went to scout the beach near low tide with my wife, Cathy and dogs, Lance and Honey. The beach looks flat as a result of the sustained long period swell action over the last month. The beach did have some promising areas near low tide at sunset as the picture on the right shows. I'll try to get out this week to see if I can find fish. Readers who have gotten out during higher tides say they found no reachable fish. Lower tides look promising...

Questions or Comments Contact:
Glenn Yoshimoto
glenn@zenflyfishing.com
Los Gatos, California

zen fly fishing home

This page © Copyright 2006, Glenn Yoshimoto