North County trips.

[Everydog]

Or an Angel shark in the reef territory . They pull pretty good . Watch out if you land one , surprising amount of teeth in that weird looking jaw .

That's a good warning. I have seen other people catch them only.

[Everydog]

The perch bit fast and furiously as the sun was setting last night,

This is the first time I've had the super shallow perch bite going on, although it was brief, just at sunset. They got smaller than the few I got earlier in the evening. Big fish of about 15 total were a 14" YFC and a bean, the same length but skinny. The bite shut off for me when it got dark. 100% sand crabs with at least one bump on the swimbait, which I don't have a lot of patience with, given it's not Halibut peak, and I wasn't so much in bass territory. The size of the largest YFC has gone up on three consecutive trips.

I fished a very crowded section of beach and ended up sharing some fishing time with a visiting couple and their inquisitive youngster. I have similar nice stories surf fishing.

[Perch killer]

Decent size YFC. I love to do sunset sessions but last I did about a month ago was a bust due to heavy salad conditions. Almost impossible now at the SD beaches I fish because of the lack of parking after 4 pm. Can always find in the early mornings but not after 4 pm in the summertime.

[Midnightpass]

Nice croaker… I never fish evenings…. Like PK said, too crowded fighting traffic and lousy parking… It worked for you though..
Butch

[Mike A]

Went this morning 7:45 to 11. Perchapalooza only. Used crabs, only caught perch. Switched to swim bait for 1/2 hr, nothing.
Back to crabs = perchapalooza. Switched to LC for about 45 min, nothing. Saw 4 others fishing, saw them only catching perch on crabs.

[Everydog]

Del Mar continues to provide decent numbers and variety on every trip, likely most beaches do during fishable conditions. There are way more anglers than in June, especially after work. And you have to travel quite a distance from significant parking areas to fish during the day. Haven't had a salad-free day in a long time. I have to learn the parts of the tides where it tends to be less bad.
My wife and I booked a hotel for the grunion run, but they were no-shows at Moonlight Beach. I went back a little too late in the morning and was immediately swamped by surf camp groups. It was great to learn new beach access points and parking strategies while driving the 101 back home. However, this area, as you are all aware, is now primarily reserved for tourists. It's good to see people out having so much fun.
Best fish since the 21" corbina was a 19" Spotfin. I caught a small halibut on sand crabs near a mix of sand and rocks.

[Spektrum]

Where do y’all park at Del Mar?

[Everydog]

I go at odd hours and park on surface streets. Sometimes I have had to lurk a while until someone left. Last week, we paid for parking at the power house because I had guests and was doing things on their schedule. That is tight...don't take a large car in there even if you want to pay.
https://www.delmar.ca.us/201/Parking-Information

[Bendo]

Squidco had Ghost Shrimp, I stopped there on my Bonefish quest, got some good info and 8 dozen Ghost Shrimp. Spendy but I wasn’t going home until I caught one and saved money by sleeping in my Truck. I got several on my 2nd dozen then opened up the Ice Chest to all that wanted to try them. We landed quite a few that first day as well as Corvina, Spotties, Shovelnose and Round Stingrays. They remind me of giant Sardines. They sure go berserk on 6 pound.

[Spektrum]

Squidco had Ghost Shrimp, I stopped there on my Bonefish quest, got some good info and 8 dozen Ghost Shrimp. Spendy but I wasn’t going home until I caught one and saved money by sleeping in my Truck. I got several on my 2nd dozen then opened up the Ice Chest to all that wanted to try them. We landed quite a few that first day as well as Corvina, Spotties, Shovelnose and Round Stingrays. They remind me of giant Sardines. They sure go berserk on 6 pound.

You can also pump them right there at low tide

[Mike A]

Hit it today from 8:30 to 10:30. Only 2 perch. Crabs were pretty scarce. Found a few to fish with that were thumb nail size though. No crab = no fish today. Oh well

[Perch killer]

Heard from a few other folks also having difficulty finding crabs at other beaches the past few days. That's a bumm. Water temps drop or what ? I wouldn't know as been out of commission with a bad back since last weekend. Hoping I can get back at it soon. Bill Varney always says to take a backup bait in case crabs don't show so now you know !

[Everydog]

Yesterday afternoon, I took a 6-pound test C-rig to Del Mar to catch ANY fish I could on the lightest line I have ever used in the surf. But the current and the kelp were pretty bad where I landed in the reef/sand section, and I was too lazy to move. I went the longest so far this summer without ANY bite!. Eventually, I went to a 2-ounce fish finder rig with shrimp and caught a few good-sized perch and a few others, including a thornback skate. Finally, at sunset, the 6-pound was fishable, and I landed a small corbina, a good YFC, and another perch before the darkness made it impossible to see. There wasn't much in the skinny water at all, or so it seemed; even the stingrays were gone—plenty of sand crabs.

[Mike A]

Everydog sounds like it ended up a pretty outing.
Wondering about the 6 lb rig. What size rod do you use 6.5’ ?

[Everydog]

It was fun, Mike, The rod is 7'3, 3/8 to 5/8 ounce, allegedly fast. I had a 3/8 egg weight. It has an 8-15 pound line rating. But it's more like 6-12 on action. Ugly stick carbon...the red fresh water one, not the blue inshore one. Honestly, it felt good bringing in fish, all mono and light wire hooks. I had this for bass fishing, so it's not purpose-bought.

[Mike A]

Went this morning. 6:30 to 9:30
Caught 4 perch and a shovelhead. Largest perch was 10”.
Shovelhead was 19”. I was using a 7’ rod with 10 lb test.
Perch really put a decent fight. I was periodically getting seaweed, I definitely felt the shovelhead bite.
After a few seconds, no more fight. Felt like a load of seaweed

[Mike A]

It was fun, Mike, The rod is 7'3, 3/8 to 5/8 ounce, allegedly fast. I had a 3/8 egg weight. It has an 8-15 pound line rating. But it's more like 6-12 on action. Ugly stick carbon...the red fresh water one, not the blue inshore one. Honestly, it felt good bringing in fish, all mono and light wire hooks. I had this for bass fishing, so it's not purpose-bought.

Thanks, i have a couple of rods in the 6’ to 7’ range. I guess I have to give them a try. Seems like the seaweed would determine that like you indicated.

[Everydog]

It was taking a long time to drag the seaweed in and recast on the light outfit. With the heavier pole 20-pound fish finder rig, I could pull it in fast, or even bust out of it and get back out there. A lot of people might just call that too much work and go home, and they might be right!

[Everydog]

I fished the last 2/3 of the incoming tide this morning. I wanted to put in the work to find the elusive dime-sized soft shell, but it just wasn't happening, and the greylight was slipping away. So I fished the small crabs and had a good run of mixed sizes of perch and a baby leopard over about 300 yards of South Del Mar beach. Still wanting to try new spots, at about 10 AM, I thought of packing it up and trying to catch at least one fish at South Torrey Pines. Would I find parking that I didn't have to pay for? Probably not. So I stuck with it a bit more and got two 18-20" spotfin and another good-sized perch. One of the spot fins hit with the rod in the spike, bait and wait, and I lost one like that, too! Someone has a sense of humor. Time to bring the beach chair? The water was mostly free of weeds.

[Everydog]

The other fish is with a rather bad photo of the angler, and it shows I caught it with an Ugly Stik, too. ...doing ya'll a favor skipping that one.