Lucky Craft, wind knots.

[Everydog]

That's interesting; I haven't tried that kind of light, close to the beach C-rig fishing yet. I do have some interest, and what you're saying makes perfect sense. Can you get those bites on 8- or 10-pound line? You may want to be ready for a corbina. I would break off a very high percentage of decent-sized fish on 4-pound test in the surf!

[Midnightpass]

8-10# would be fine.. But the 6#, 4# leader is my everyday setup.. I’m pretty sure I would have caught that spot fin croaker, if it didn’t wrap around a barnacle incrusted piling.. I caught that 25”+ corbina in my avatar a year ago today on that same set up…. I’ve caught mid sized bat rays and leopard sharks on the same set up.. But they take awhile
… That soft rod and mono stretch has made up for a lot of my mistakes…
Butch

[Everydog]

You were not kidding about the stingrays, Butch. I was at Del Mar again, and there were a lot of them, about the size of a dinner plate.
Not a ton of other fish. I farmed a keeper halibut, which just came unbuttoned in the last little wave, and got a 15-16 inch Calico. And just one perch and one croaker fooling with the c-rig.

How did it go this morning if you fished?

[Midnightpass]

You were not kidding about the stingrays, Butch. I was at Del Mar again, and there were a lot of them, about the size of a dinner plate.
Not a ton of other fish. I farmed a keeper halibut, which just came unbuttoned in the last little wave, and got a 15-26 inch Calico. And just one perch and one croaker fooling with the c-rig.

How did it go this morning if you fished?

Yea, I kicked up a bunch of rays this am too.. Keep doing the shuffle if you’re wading… I did pretty well on BSP… Probably 30+ of decent size fish.. Nothing big and no corbs or croakers.. I reported on my Crystal Pier 2025 post….. You did well on a good sized calico and keeper ‘but plus the others… 4 species day is really nice….
Butch

[Everydog]

True confession, I did have trouble with the leader to braid knots in some reels. I have not been having that; I've gotten past it with extensive freshwater fishing. It had to do with the wet and sloppy conditions of fishing in the surf, as well as my poor line-spooling technique. I will be reconsidering that.
Oh yeah, I have surf fishing fever, Tight lines!

[Everydog]

12lb mono works great throwing lucky crafts. I throw them on conventional bass rod. No problem with distance on any jerk bait style with weight transfer system.

12-pound pulls in a legal halibut in surf pretty well?

From experience I can say that a quality 12 lb mono is pretty tough , particularly when it comes to pulling a lure off a snag . I use bait casters in most of my surf fishing and have had problems with braid digging in when an equal pound test is used vs diameter . Most of my bait casters I have reworked and tuned and still maybe get 20 lb max drag . Talking Shimano Calcuttas 250 , 300te, 400 s . I personally cant see using 40 - 50lb braid for needed diameter to function with only 20 lbs of drag or 8 to 20lb line rating on the rod . Yea I know dinosaur here . Tight lines , WR

Hello, William, if you come back around and would like to, I'd be happy to hear what you think of those Calcuttas and what rod, say, with the 400, which seems most popular. Which one is for 5" to 6" swimbaits with, say, 3/8 to 3/4 ounce of lead? 3/8 and 1 once wouldn't be the same combo.
One thing I have seen is people fishing the reefs with really heavy leaders on braid. Do you try a heavier leader on your mono for abrasion resistance?

Russ

[William Ritchie]

@Everydog , Calcutta reels are very nice reels , I could make a list of all the attributes but they are in their own class. There are an amazing number of very high quality reels that can match the performance . Daiwa , Shimano , Okuma , and others all will fit the purpose . Guess the first question is your hand size . Some people like myself have larger hands and can palm round reels , others not . As far as reel size 200 and 300 sizes will be more than adequate for the surf for the application mentioned . The 400 is starting to be a bit overkill on line capacity for the task . If you can pick out one that fits your hand so you can wind while having your thumb and forefinger on the line for feel and tension purposes take that one . The low profile reels have a bigger main gear and most will have larger drag surfaces that match , high speed gearing seems to be the norm . Personally the high speed retrieve is a disadvantage , we all tend to get in a rush and working most of the commonly used lures and baits speed is not necessarily your friend . There are of course times when that extra speed could be used but in the surf not so much . I use mono primarily , Izor copolymer in 12 lb for most my surf applications with a bait caster . Have used heavier leaders from a boat for different applications for toothy critters . In general tie straight to the bait is what I do in the surf . If i say that you could pick 1 rod to do the mentioned tasks here is one I suggest Daiwa DSX 801HFB pretty much does a good job of it , as I recall you may indeed have one or at least used to . The 1-6 oz rating is BS as with my casting technique anything over 2oz. would surely bust the rod unless it was just a lob cast. So if a round reel fits your hand and you want to pimp it up with some custom work , Shimano Cardiff 300 would be an excellent candidate . Easy to get at the brake system , easy to find parts for and right at the 100 buck price point for a start . shares a lot of the Calcutta design with some differences in materials that will be noticed in longevity but not in general use . We can get into pimping the reels of any design latter . Well probably bored everyone so thats it for now . WR

[Midnightpass]

@Everydog , Calcutta reels are very nice reels , I could make a list of all the attributes but they are in their own class. There are an amazing number of very high quality reels that can match the performance . Daiwa , Shimano , Okuma , and others all will fit the purpose . Guess the first question is your hand size . Some people like myself have larger hands and can palm round reels , others not . As far as reel size 200 and 300 sizes will be more than adequate for the surf for the application mentioned . The 400 is starting to be a bit overkill on line capacity for the task . If you can pick out one that fits your hand so you can wind while having your thumb and forefinger on the line for feel and tension purposes take that one . The low profile reels have a bigger main gear and most will have larger drag surfaces that match , high speed gearing seems to be the norm . Personally the high speed retrieve is a disadvantage , we all tend to get in a rush and working most of the commonly used lures and baits speed is not necessarily your friend . There are of course times when that extra speed could be used but in the surf not so much . I use mono primarily , Izor copolymer in 12 lb for most my surf applications with a bait caster . Have used heavier leaders from a boat for different applications for toothy critters . In general tie straight to the bait is what I do in the surf . If i say that you could pick 1 rod to do the mentioned tasks here is one I suggest Daiwa DSX 801HFB pretty much does a good job of it , as I recall you may indeed have one or at least used to . The 1-6 oz rating is BS as with my casting technique anything over 2oz. would surely bust the rod unless it was just a lob cast. So if a round reel fits your hand and you want to pimp it up with some custom work , Shimano Cardiff 300 would be an excellent candidate . Easy to get at the brake system , easy to find parts for and right at the 100 buck price point for a start . shares a lot of the Calcutta design with some differences in materials that will be noticed in longevity but not in general use . We can get into pimping the reels of any design latter . Well probably bored everyone so thats it for now . WR

I don't, for the most part, use conventional reels in the surf (shark and ray fishing I do) but have had this goofy want for a Calcutta... Why, I don't know... Maybe my early years of only using round reels or they look cool... I don't think at my age I need to change up my surf fishing style, but I've still got this hankering for a small Calcutta.... Thanks for adding to that lust, Bill. ... I should probably just buy one and get it out of my system. ...
Butch

[Everydog]

Thank you so much, William. I do have that rod and the MH as well, and I just bought one even cheaper, a 9" Diawa North Coastal 3/8 to 1.5 ounces. I have a lot of poles and reels, all low- or mid-grade, and a long driveway to cast in, trying out different things.

I know that gear lust that Butch mentions. It started with the Diawa millionaire when I was a not very affluent kid! I just have it for Calcutta too, but yeah, I don't need it, and I should wait and see how much I fish and how the already too many options work out. So, it, seems like spinning is the way for me to go with Lucky Craft-type lures.

I can palm a basketball, and a 400 size is quite comfortable. My Cardiff 400A is in pretty good shape, and I appreciate that you say it's not a significant setback compared to the Calcutta.

Just for fun, I put the 20-series conventional on the swimbait rod you mentioned. It would fish fine. LOl.

[William Ritchie]

Take a look at tuning that 400 Cardiff there are some good videos on youtube that show the process . I take the surfaces that need work down to 3000 grit wet or dry before a work over with a metal polish , drag washers , bronze brake drum surface , interior of the pinion gear that rides over the spool shaft Etc . You will be surprised at the improved spool spin . Each has their own casting style , try to focus on loading the rod for maximum lure speed . Think of throwing a fast ball , the lower you can be to the surface with the arch the better stop the lure in the air with your thump to avoid the inevitable overrun . Probably why you see so many throw side arm with spinning gear . Beware , your thumb will probably need some extra education for the slicked up reel at first . Have fun with it . WR

[Everydog]

Great tip with the fastball analogy and other things you said. William! ...all of a sudden, the 400 Cardiff and the new North Coast rod are throwing jerkbaits as far as the spinning reels on steelhead rods. With your idea of the fastball, lots of "snap on it, the line doesn't billow out on the spool while the lure is in flight like it was with the pendulum cast, which, as you know, is all essential to having a good backlash-free day.

[Everydog]

Sent the lucky craft to San Vicente Island. Unfortunately, it was no longer attached to my rod and reel. I got bumped once before returning to bait fishing. Getting the bugs worked out.

[Midnightpass]

Sent the lucky craft to San Vicente Island. Unfortunately, it was no longer attached to my rod and reel. I got bumped once before returning to bait fishing. Getting the bugs worked out. Croaker.jpg

I think you've got the bugs worked out...Nice SFC...
Butch

[Everydog]

Getting there with help. It's a lot of fun.

[William Ritchie]

Pretty amazing just how much energy can be stored in a lure . Always disheartening to hear that dreaded SNAP . Nice Spotfin by the way . WR

[Perch killer]

Sent the lucky craft to San Vicente Island. Unfortunately, it was no longer attached to my rod and reel. I got bumped once before returning to bait fishing. Getting the bugs worked out. Croaker.jpg

Just got around to catching up on the LC posts & saw your fish. Nice spot fin, well done !

[Everydog]

Thank you, I was thinking of your sdfish screen name out there. I want to be called "spotfin killer," but I'll take more big sargo too. Yet, I haven't caught a "bean" or even seen one, and the YFC are all little ones where I'm fishing so far.
Tight lines.

This one was yesterday... I lost another one with a pulled hook, and it was half on the beach...An excited surfer was watching that fight, which made it all the more fun!

[Perch killer]

Another nice one, congrats. Lot of spot fin reported this season to date. More than I can remember from past years. Now sargo is still on my bucket list, never caught one. Beans have been tough to come by, I think for everyone. I'm still looking for my first this year. Haven't seen any in the waves or charging up on to the beach in the skinny water after crabs. Real strange so far.

[Everydog]

Another nice one, congrats. Lot of spot fin reported this season to date. More than I can remember from past years. Now sargo is still on my bucket list, never caught one. Beans have been tough to come by, I think for everyone. I'm still looking for my first this year. Haven't seen any in the waves or charging up on to the beach in the skinny water after crabs. Real strange so far.

Thanks for the feedback on the beans. We will get some.
For the sargo, I used the distance casting method, employing a heavier combo with a three-ounce weight and a dropper loop to reach the reef. Shrimp was the bait. I got a lot of little ones when I was a kid, but this one was a solid fish. I gave it to my friend, so eating one is still on my bucket list.

[Perch killer]

Ah yes, the reefs. Good for sargo, bass & other species. From or near jettys & rocky structure as well I'm told. You must be fishing TP and/or north. I'm mostly at SD & south, open beaches for the most part. I know I should venture north once in awhile but can't seem to get motivated to do the drive & back. So much easier to be on the beach at gray light in 15 minutes.