San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Fishing makes no sense.

Went north of Mission Beach boardwalk this morning, just to switch things up a bit. Caught a couple perch early, and then a ray and a GNSF. I brought spare leader line that ran out on me, and at some point I was just fishing using main line that was all curled up for whatever reason. It was a mess. I was ready to call it a day around 8:30 since I had a few fish, but figured I’d toss some bait just for the hell of it. I was already there so why not, type of thing.

Jankiest line ever and I caught 4-5 decent size perch over the next hour, ha. Went against all logic of how the setup should be but apparently the fish didn’t care. I had a few other big bites that I couldn’t land, but thinking they may have been rays. No real loss, if so.

Makes you wonder why we even bother sometimes, ha!

Nice session to end the weekend and nice to again see that sometimes the bite just isn’t happening and there’s nothing you can do about it.

My Buddies’ line was getting progressively worse as we fished last week. Turns out he had a crack in the ceramic tip. It was shaving slivers of line as he was reeling in. Looked like Spider Webs. He had to turn the Rod sideways to reel in the rest of the trip. It cost $6.10 to replace at The Longfin in Orange.

I use straight 8lb mono and the fish don't seem to care. Of course, old weak line matters after you get bit

Btw, I've been using Sufix Tritanium for about 2 years now and I really like it. It is soft like Izorline XXX and I think slightly more abrasion resistant.

jwacky wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 12:34 pm Fishing makes no sense.

Went north of Mission Beach boardwalk this morning, just to switch things up a bit. Caught a couple perch early, and then a ray and a GNSF. I brought spare leader line that ran out on me, and at some point I was just fishing using main line that was all curled up for whatever reason. It was a mess. I was ready to call it a day around 8:30 since I had a few fish, but figured I’d toss some bait just for the hell of it. I was already there so why not, type of thing.

Jankiest line ever and I caught 4-5 decent size perch over the next hour, ha. Went against all logic of how the setup should be but apparently the fish didn’t care. I had a few other big bites that I couldn’t land, but thinking they may have been rays. No real loss, if so.

Makes you wonder why we even bother sometimes, ha!

Nice session to end the weekend and nice to again see that sometimes the bite just isn’t happening and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Hey Joe, don't know how far north did you get yesterday? Earlier in the week I got all those fat perch up by T22, about 1/4 mi south of the pier. Past couple of weeks I've been trying to stay away from the central beach, from T12 up to north of BP to T16. Been just too much angler traffic for my liking. Counted up to 14 guys fishing every 75 yards or so last time there. I guess its good there's enough beach to accommodate everyone if you're willing to do some serious walking, LOL

Perch killer wrote: Mon Aug 25, 2025 8:37 am

jwacky wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 12:34 pm Fishing makes no sense.

Went north of Mission Beach boardwalk this morning, just to switch things up a bit. Caught a couple perch early, and then a ray and a GNSF. I brought spare leader line that ran out on me, and at some point I was just fishing using main line that was all curled up for whatever reason. It was a mess. I was ready to call it a day around 8:30 since I had a few fish, but figured I’d toss some bait just for the hell of it. I was already there so why not, type of thing.

Jankiest line ever and I caught 4-5 decent size perch over the next hour, ha. Went against all logic of how the setup should be but apparently the fish didn’t care. I had a few other big bites that I couldn’t land, but thinking they may have been rays. No real loss, if so.

Makes you wonder why we even bother sometimes, ha!

Nice session to end the weekend and nice to again see that sometimes the bite just isn’t happening and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Hey Joe, don't know how far north did you get yesterday? Earlier in the week I got all those fat perch up by T22, about 1/4 mi south of the pier. Past couple of weeks I've been trying to stay away from the central beach, from T12 up to north of BP to T16. Been just too much angler traffic for my liking. Counted up to 14 guys fishing every 75 yards or so last time there. I guess its good there's enough beach to accommodate everyone if you're willing to do some serious walking, LOL

Hey Bill... I was probably just a little further south than that, closer to T21. I was there early, around 6:00am? The beach felt more crowded, in general, but less people fishing. Might just be because the sand, from street to water, isn't as wide as Mission Beach (especially south) so everyone is just more consolidated. More surfers, but they go past where I typically cast anyway so there's room for both! Plus, I enjoy watching them surf while I let my bait soak.

Vibe was off Saturday at SMB; people arguing/fighting in the lot over parking spots. Despite the beach being wide open someone felt the need to set up and fish maybe 20 yards next to me (joke's on him, nothing was biting anyway, ha!!). Positive side to Saturday was that there was some sort of fly fishing group out there so it was fun chatting up some folks about what they were doing as we collectively caught nothing.

I figure the heavier than usual crowds are due to summer coming to an end and everyone squeezing in last minute vacations, Dodgers in town, etc. Regardless, Saturday's experience was my motivation to venture north a bit. I like driving those empty streets early in the morning, as typically its a place I/we avoid entirely on weekends if we can help it.