I leapt from bed early this morning here in Encinitas, California. Granny and I were eager to get to the Torrey Pines State Beach. She wanted to do a run while I was aiming to once and for all catch my elusive corbina on the fly. When we got there at 10 AM the tide was high and the waves dumped a frothy mess of mud and foam against the rocks.
Tides play a huge factor in saltwater fly fishing. I knew high was at 9 AM and that because of the present full moon it would be a spring tide (highest high tides of the month). Prevailing wind made the tide higher than high and the wind created larger than large waves. I’m disappointed to say I sat in one place for three hours and made a mere ten minutes worth of casts. Fly fishing the surf was useless this morning.
We had till about 3 PM before returning to Encinitas to grab a bar stool for the Cubs game. We went to the river near Del Mar. It looked grim but I grabbed my rod and tossed some flies and low and behold I caught a barred sand bass (Paralabrax nebulifer). He’s tiny but a new species for the list nonetheless!
I caught another fish as well, a spotted bay bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus). I’ve caught heaps of these in Baja but I’ll take more any day. It was a tug and man was he pretty. It’s amazing what you can do simply by keeping a fly in the water.
So the fishing was challenging today but what a Cubs game! Granny and I celebrated hard and the Cubs are up Game 1. This is my favorite time of year and to have the Cubs competing in the NCLDS – doesn’t get any better!