SURF’S UP FOR A BEACH ANGLER SOCAL SHORE TRIPS WITH FATHER LONG AGO FUEL FISHERMAN’S SEARCH FOR NIBBLES ON FAR SIDE OF THE PACIFIC By Lance Sawa
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henever the California weather was good and my dad and I had the time, we would go surf fishing. A couple of rods and some jigs were all that we had to carry along with us. The light weight of the equipment helped if we had to walk any distance to the water. We didn't have any one place we preferred; instead, we would drive along the beach looking for some type of structure. Sometimes it was a street water runoff outlet or a river mouth; others, we’d spot a group of rocks in the middle of a sandy beach. A couple of times Dad heard about certain spots from his friends where someone had
Now living in Japan, author Lance Sawa headed to the west coast of his new country to surf cast into the Sea of Japan, rekindling memories of Southern California beach fishing with his dad. (LANCE SAWA)
caught a big fish. We fished broken, rotten piers and even the outlet to a power plant, and no, I never saw a three-eyed fish! Once we had arrived at our spot and dressed in shorts, we left our shoes in the car. Sand can get scorching hot in the California summer, so sometimes we had to run into the water to cool off our feet. Only then was I able to take in the scene: The gentle sound of the waves crashing against the sand and slowly melting and sliding back into the sea; seagulls chatting to each other as they fly overhead; the salty air swirling around as the cool ocean water laps at our feet. Over the years I’ve heard and seen many fish being caught from the California beach – from halibut
to sharks, white seabass to barracuda. Though I only ever caught barred surf perch, I was still happy with that. My dad did catch a smallish halibut once and a short sand bass another time. Everything was catch and release for us when we went surf fishing, as we didn’t want to carry any fish around with us. I remember us trying different lures and baits from time to time – perhaps a fillet of anchovy or a piece of squid on a leadhead would finally get us that big halibut. Surely a flashy lure would get us a barracuda. One time we even brought out live bait and let it sit past the surf, hoping for a large fish to devour it. In the end it was always a grub-tail lure that caught the most fish.
calsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2021 California Sportsman
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