San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Fished Barrett yesterday for the first time in 5 or 6 years. Physical issues kept me away.

Made the trip out there yesterday with my brother. He lives nearby with kids and work its difficult to get together to just hang out. Plan was to go spend the day and take what we could get. Got a later ...

Most of the hype, conversation, and advertising for quality fly rods revolves and the mid through high cost range but there are a still some pretty good rods for less than $200 from established fly gear companies that sell through brick and mortar dealer networks. Unfortunately prices have risen ...

Fly pattern colors haven't mattered as much most days with fly action seeming to be the discriminating factor on some days when a fly that had a greater tendency to drop vertically worked better than one that dropped slowly fell more on a slope.

Curious what factors influence how a fly drops in ...

Got onto San Diego Bay this morning for a pre storm session as well as testing a TFO NXT Black Label 6wt rod.

Not very breezy and mostly dead calm from 0800 to 1000. No rain. Small tidal change. Fished from about 0645 to 1030. Pretty good catching on the last part of the outgoing tide but things ...

Another good outing in the South Bay this morning. Started casting around 0700. Started catching around 0702.

High tide just before 0700. First couple of hours of the outgoing was pretty good then it slowed for us after but still getting a few here and there until quitting about 1100. Fairly calm ...

Finished the 2023 calendar year out on SD Bay this morning. Light breeze and occasional mist. Fished from 0700 to 1020. Quit early due to recent back injury. Both of us had fish on with our first casts. Pretty steady bite until it slowed down where we were about 0940. Red/Yellow clouser minnows and ...

Launched my kayak from tidelands this morning and fished around the bridge and various flats in the vicinity. Fairly slow morning but sunny and beautiful. Caught a few bay bass, a smelt and a nice sculpin at one of the Coronado bridge pylons which was surprising. I caught fish on flies I tied ...

Nice ties there.

The Borksi Slider (also called a bonefish slider or redfish slider) is a really good pattern for a lot of local species. Tied with a weed guard and snaked through kelp it can be very effective for Calico bass. A lot of folks think they are difficult to tie because of the spun deer ...

Went on a vacation to Belize. Wasn't a fishing trip but hired a guide for a half-day morning trip on of the days we were staying at one of the Cayes. I didn't plan on fly fishing but the guide had two rods rigged up and one of the spots we stopped at had Tarpon swimming around. They didn't like the ...

It's always fun catching fish on flies you've tied yourself. I'm continually amazed that fish sometimes fall for my god-awful creations. I'm currently experimenting with spoon flies (purists, avert your eyes) thinking their oddball movement might attract some attention. I'm also focusing on small ...

I have a very well-worn Clouser that looks similar to your top fly with the barbed hook. It lost so much bucktail I thought about throwing it out but the darn thing keeps catching fish, even better than when the fly was new and had a fuller profile!

What are some of the advantages/disadvantages ...

Have you ever tied a fly using your own hair? Serious question. I would imagine an enthusiast would have to try it just to see.


I have. Growing up, my mom was the family hairstylist, always cutting my extended family's hair. My parents got me one of those fishing encyclopedia books and they had ...

Have you ever tied a fly using your own hair? Serious question. I would imagine an enthusiast would have to try it just to see.


I typically keep my hair cut too short to be of use. Human hair tends to be a bit brittle too compared to animal hair and fur. I know a couple of tyers who have tried ...

After working at the Zoo for 32 years . I managed a number of Fur / hair samples , and quite a few feathers of now unknown origin, should have marked them better . Fun to try different materials . I still find myself collecting seagull feathers from carcases when I want some traditional Bonito jigs ...

We have been fishing once or twice almost every week since the new year from National City to the south. Fishing has generally been pretty good for a spotties along with a few barracuda, mackerel, corvina, halibut, smelt, and bonefish.

Some days have be great with 2 dozen+ fish each for a four hour ...

Hit the surf with the fly rod again in Coronado last weekend , got 5 perch including this tank! Used red surf flies like the crabby patty pattern which was super fun. The water seemed to have some smell too it from the natural Tijuana spring water but I had waders so I was good i hope.

Hit the surf with the fly rod again in Coronado last weekend , got 5 perch including this tank! Used red surf flies like the crabby patty pattern which was super fun. The water seemed to have some smell too it from the natural Tijuana spring water but I had waders so I was good i hope.


Nice ...

Got into some perch and snagged a few shovelnose at Blacks on Sunday. 4 perch on the morning falling tide, and ended the day with a beefy 12 incher.

Beautiful perch. Is there much structure at Blacks?


There's always a few cuts right at the trail to the gliderport, but I tend to find most success near the north trail by the golf course. Interestingly, google photos has a new heatmap feature of where pictures were taken so you can actually ...

Like the Pfleuger , Fenwick , combo Thanks for the report .