Mission Beach 5/24

[jwacky]

I returned this morning better equipped than yesterday. Pretty calm conditions, low surf. I was there from a little after 6:00 until about 8:30, fishing the outgoing tide.

Not much of note. Handful of small perch, and I did catch my first ray of the year. Guess it’s time to share shuffling those feet in the water!

The larger sand crab beds were visible once the tide receded to the 2-2.5’ mark. I was seeing lots of tiny ones near the surface, and some decent sized with a little digging. For now, only the giant crabs have roe.

All fish (and ray) that I caught today were on dried lugworms. I hooked up a large crab for fun and got nibbles but no takers. Mussels were all but ignored over the last two days, so I’m wondering if it’s time to be done with them for a bit as all the fresh crab starts to surface? I’ll give them one more weekend but otherwise will plan to start shifting over to crabs and Gulp sand worms in addition to the lugworms.

All in all a decent couple of days.

[Perch killer]

Thanks for the report Joe. Yeah, crabs should now for the summer months be the "bait de jour". Dried lugs or fresh bloods a good back up.

[kastmaster]

Nice work out there. I was walking between towers 19 and 22 around 10 am, saw lots of holes and many sand crabs from micro to jumbo range. Highest crab densities seemed to overlap with the feeding snowy egrets and gulls I saw picking crabs. Looked hard for corbina in the skinny water, didn't see any.

[Andrew_WOT]

How do you manage to keep dried lugworm on the hook, most of the times dinks or whatnot just pull them off. And yes, I've watched Bill's video on how to use them.
I've probably managed to land 2 at most of all times using them, with Gulp Sandworms it's almost always a successful hookup, except when tiny ones having fun with it.
And related question, has anyone ever had success with Fishbites, Nick swears by them but I have never had a single bite using them on C-Rig.
https://surffishingsocalsd.com/fishbite ... e-results/
They are supposed to serve as a substitute for sand crabs, at least in theory.

[Perch killer]

How do you manage to keep dried lugworm on the hook, most of the times dinks or whatnot just pull them off. And yes, I've watched Bill's video on how to use them.
I've probably managed to land 2 at most of all times using them, with Gulp Sandworms it's almost always a successful hookup, except when tiny ones having fun with it.
And related question, has anyone ever had success with Fishbites, Nick swears by them but I have never had a single bite using them on C-Rig.
https://surffishingsocalsd.com/fishbite ... e-results/
They are supposed to serve as a substitute for sand crabs, at least in theory.

Have to agree with you on hooking the dried lugs, whether soaked first or not. Not as easy as BV makes it look. Using a thin wire hook a must to use em effectively. Re Fishbites, never had a bite let alone a hookup, tried several different colors/flavors.

[jwacky]

How do you manage to keep dried lugworm on the hook, most of the times dinks or whatnot just pull them off. And yes, I've watched Bill's video on how to use them.
I've probably managed to land 2 at most of all times using them, with Gulp Sandworms it's almost always a successful hookup, except when tiny ones having fun with it.
And related question, has anyone ever had success with Fishbites, Nick swears by them but I have never had a single bite using them on C-Rig.
https://surffishingsocalsd.com/fishbite ... e-results/
They are supposed to serve as a substitute for sand crabs, at least in theory.

I haven’t much problem but I basically hook the worm twice. I’ll thread it through the end as much as I can, and then once the hooks comes out the side of the worm, I’ll slide it to the end of the hook and then put the hook through the middle of the worm. It ends up almost looking like an “S”. I’ll leave maybe half and inch to an inch of worm hanging off the back of the hook.

It might not be ideal but I have no problems getting bites and hookups this way, and unless a fish devours it I can get 2-3 hookups off a single worm.

I have not had any success at all with fish bites. Maybe a nibble here or there but not worth the effort at all. It’s probably the one “recommended” bait I think of that I’ve had no success with.

[Andrew_WOT]

Yeah, threading on the hook is not as much of a problem, although a bit tough with dry ones, it's just keeping them on the hook once they turn into goo after hitting water is the issue as even little nibble can pull them off completely, even with Owner Baitholder hooks.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions on Fishbites "usefulness" in SoCal, seems like east coast has better luck with them.

[jwacky]

Yeah, threading on the hook is not as much of a problem, although a bit tough with dry ones, it's just keeping them on the hook once they turn into goo after hitting water is the issue as even little nibble can pull them off completely, even with Owner Baitholder hooks.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions on Fishbites "usefulness" in SoCal, seems like east coast has better luck with them.

Interesting. I truly hate to be “that guy” who says he doesn’t have that problem, but they seem to work ok for me. Sometimes, yes, they get pulled off the hook but when I catch something, I often get 2-3 fish with the same worm. Or maybe my expectations were off from the start and what I see as working is actually a problem. They seem generally tough, though. Not quite as tough as gulp sandworms, of course.

What I’ll say, though, is that when I use them they seem to get swallowed almost immediately, no nibbling. Size of the perch relative to the cost of the bait hasn’t been the greatest ratio lately but I won’t be too picky, haha.

Either way, we all agree on fish bites. No bueno!

[Andrew_WOT]

Interesting, may be I got some defective batch, but they literally turn into gooey mash when hitting the water. I should try opening another bag.
It's also quite possible that my expectations are high after getting used to the toughness of Gulp Worms.

EDIT: Just making sure we are talking about the same lugworms.
https://surffishtackle.myshopify.com/pr ... ait-3-pack

[jwacky]

Yep, those are the ones.

If I don’t get a nibble, it just looks like a wet worm when I pull it in. And sure, I suppose they degrade with extended time in the water, but nothing that ever struck me as a problem.

[Fullmetal37]

I’d have to push back on the fish bites. I started using them this year. The EZ-Flea and Clam. Just a small piece on a hook has been killing it for me. The perch don’t seem to go for it as much but I’ve had several 10+ fish sessions this year on solid yellowfin and spotfins. A single piece typically lasts for 3-5 fish as well. Have yet to find a corbina though

[Midnightpass]

I like fresh or dried blood worms much better than the lug worm equivalent.. They are much tougher… Especially the dried ones… I’ve had 1-2 last me a whole session..The problem is the cost and availability.. Ridiculous! …. I’ve got a dwindling batch, that I’ve made over the years, from leftover fresh ones.. They last forever in the freezer…Too bad there is no place near me to get them anymore….
Thanks for the report, Joe…
Butch

[Andrew_WOT]

I’d have to push back on the fish bites. I started using them this year. The EZ-Flea and Clam. Just a small piece on a hook has been killing it for me. The perch don’t seem to go for it as much but I’ve had several 10+ fish sessions this year on solid yellowfin and spotfins. A single piece typically lasts for 3-5 fish as well. Have yet to find a corbina though

That could be an issue as I have used them during fall/winter when most sand crabs and species feeding on them are gone and perch does not go after those for some reason. Tried 2 weeks ago, still nada.
Thanks for the encouragement, may try again this week if don't find any decent sand crabs.

[Andrew_WOT]

Anybody has any luck with those, reddish color, might work better than green pale lugworms.
https://www.amazon.com/Awakingdemi-Sand ... B0BB344BTW

[Fullmetal37]

I’d have to push back on the fish bites. I started using them this year. The EZ-Flea and Clam. Just a small piece on a hook has been killing it for me. The perch don’t seem to go for it as much but I’ve had several 10+ fish sessions this year on solid yellowfin and spotfins. A single piece typically lasts for 3-5 fish as well. Have yet to find a corbina though

That could be an issue as I have used them during fall/winter when most sand crabs and species feeding on them are gone and perch does not go after those for some reason. Tried 2 weeks ago, still nada.
Thanks for the encouragement, may try again this week if don't find any decent sand crabs.

I bet using it in conjunction would sand crabs would be killer. Ben at AmericanSeaFishing fishes them this way (crab + fishbite). He fishes it on a high low rig but it should work just as well on a Carolina

[Andrew_WOT]

I bet using it in conjunction would sand crabs would be killer. Ben at AmericanSeaFishing fishes them this way (crab + fishbite). He fishes it on a high low rig but it should work just as well on a Carolina

From what I've read he put sandcrab first and fishbite on the top to secure it. Was always wondering how it works as once fishbite is on the hook the only way to take it out is to cut it off. How does he change the crab?

[Fullmetal37]

I bet using it in conjunction would sand crabs would be killer. Ben at AmericanSeaFishing fishes them this way (crab + fishbite). He fishes it on a high low rig but it should work just as well on a Carolina

From what I've read he put sandcrab first and fishbite on the top to secure it. Was always wondering how it works as once fishbite is on the hook the only way to take it out is to cut it off. How does he change the crab?

Yea I would probably just then start putting crab in front of fish bites. I doubt it matters a ton. I kinda think it might work better that way. The orange color backing the crab can give off the idea of eggs even if it doesn’t have eggs. I’ve never really had an issue with sand crabs falling off the hook anyhow unless it’s a soft shell.