I’m pretty sure I can blame Dan Blanton for getting me addicted to surf-zone striped bass. In the June 1986 issue of Saltwater Sportsman, he wrote a piece about targeting stripers in the Monterey Bay surf. The article focused on fishing jigs from a skiff, but the picture of Dan handing a striper to a friend at the old Moss Landing launch ramp was all I needed to see. I’m guessing the fish weighed about ten pounds.
I had just emigrated from the UK, where my largest saltwater bass (a different species) had been about two pounds. To my eyes, the fish in Dan’s hand was a monster. Needless to say, I tried mighty hard to catch a striper, making frequent trips to the beaches near Moss Landing. Success actually came a year later, while fishing for surfperch on a Santa Cruz beach. It was only a three-pound schoolie, but it fought much harder than any fish of comparable size and looked quite magnificent in its striped suit. That fish sealed my fate.
It has been over thirty-three years since that first striper. Since then, I have read and learned a lot about catching surf-zone stripers. Digging through my stack of back issues of California Fly Fisher (which includes the 1993 “Last Free” copy), it appears there have been four articles devoted to surf-zone striped bass, two of which were penned by yours truly. I wondered if there might be something to be gleaned from rereading these pieces.
“Striped Bass Basics” By Ken Hanley
The January/February 2000 California Fly Fisher carried a piece excerpted from Ken’s Fly Fishing the Pacific Inshore. For a number of years, Ken and his fishing partner, Jay Murakoshi, hosted surf fly-fishing schools along the beaches of Monterey Bay. While not the first to ply these waters with a fly, these two were certainly the first to popularize California surf fly fishing effectively. The primary focus of their classes was surfperch, but there was always a chance of getting into stripers. I have fished with Ken on many occasions and can honestly say very few people come close to his level of passion for the surf. I have no doubt that with the right technology, Ken’s enthusiasm could power a small city.
He starts by laying out the history of striped bass fishing in California and then covers their natural history. It is in the section on feeding habits that he begins to discuss fly selection. He points out that stripers feed primarily on baitfish such as anchovies, sardines, smelt, surfperch, and herring and that a selection of streamers from two to six inches long will cover most situations. If the stripers aren’t feeding on baitfish, he suggests trying patterns that match crustaceans such as mole crabs, shrimp, and shore crabs. A sidebar in the article provides details on how to tie Ken’s Labyrinth Crab and Jay’s Grass Shrimp.
While baitfish and crusty patterns are clearly important, Ken also suggests imitating marine worms with V-Worm and Woolly Bugger patterns. This is the kind of suggestion that comes only from having spent a lot of time on the beach. Marine worms are more common than most folks realize. Stripers will often cruise very close to shore to suck down these soft tubes of protein and fat. At times like this, a 50-foot cast can be 20 feet too far.
“Stripers in the Surf” By Robert Ketley
I finally plucked up the courage to write about surf stripers myself in the July/August 2003 issue of California Fly Fisher. Much of what I wrote was similar to Ken’s article, though there were a couple of notable differences. I suggested the use of a stripping basket, which I considered indispensable for long casting in the surf (and still do). While some folks may be able to deal with 60-plus feet of stripping line sloshing around at their feet, I can’t. A hard plastic or foam stripping basket, while certainly not a perfect solution, makes handling lots of line much easier.
I also recommended tying flies on cheaper hooks, my argument being that the surf is brutal on hook points. I’m not so sure I’d make that suggestion now. Modern chemically sharpened hooks have points that average 30 microns across. That’s half the width of a human hair and five times sharper than most “sharp to the touch” regular hooks. When you have 70-plus feet of line between you and the fish, that extra sharpness can mean the difference between a bump and a hookup.
Obviously, it pays to check your hooks frequently when fishing the suds. A few trips through the sand can easily damage a chemically sharpened point that’s little more than a sliver of steel. But don’t bother using the frequently suggested fingernail or thumb-pad test. Hooks with bent points will still snag the ridges on your finger or scratch the nail, providing a false positive. Instead, I suggest you use a small plastic magnifying glass. Four or five powers of magnification means you can actually see a 30-micron point, which 20-20 vision can’t. I have lost count of how many times this little trick has revealed a blunt or bent point.
I’d also suggest you tie on a new fly. The typical hook file, even if it uses fine diamond dust, is too coarse to restore the point to less than 100 microns wide.
This is why I mainly use tube flies for surf stripers. When the point gets damaged, I simply snip off the hook and replace it with a brand new one. It’s a lot easier to carry a plastic baggie full of tube flies and a dozen factory-fresh hooks than a bulky fly box.
“Big Stripers in the Surf” By Robert Ketley
Having somehow escaped ridicule with my first striper piece, I decided to up the ante in the September/October 2007 issue. Monterey Bay striper fishing was on a definite upswing in the early naughties. Mixed in with the bread-and-butter schoolies were bigger fish that often dragged long lengths of backing through the waves. Ten-pounders weren’t unusual, with a few 15s coming to hand each year. Most of the die-hards had landed at least one fish over 20 pounds. The article’s main photo shows Dave Sellers holding a 42-inch fish that probably weighed a solid 30 pounds. Stories of encounters with even bigger fish weren’t that uncommon. I had one fish that fought me through three rips and dragged me down half a mile of beach before the hook’s hold gave out. I can still see the waving tail that accompanied the premature release — it was as wide as my forearm is long.
By this point, it had become clear that the ability to cast far was a significant factor in connecting with big fish. While it was certainly possible to find large fish in close, the double-digit thugs were usually hooked by folks who could throw a large size fly 70 feet. Twelve years later, this still holds true. If you really want to get into the 20-pound club, learning how to cast should be on the top of your list.
I had also discovered a smooth drag is a big help. When a large striper heads for the horizon on its first run, you really want a drag that doesn’t jerk or grab. A good way to ensure things will go smoothly is to set the drag and pull off about 20 feet of line with forceful tugs before you begin fishing. This usually clears out any crud or sticky spots.
“Targeting Big Stripers in the Surf” By Loren Elliott
In the July/August 2011 edition of California Fly Fisher, Loren Elliott presented his thesis on catching big stripers. The article has a picture of him holding a fish that looks to be over a yard long. That’s a big fish in anyone’s book.
On the first page, Loren makes a really good point that precious few are willing to follow. If you want to catch a big striper, you need to commit to the task. Way too many folks hedge their bets by fishing smaller surfperch flies. They catch perch and the occasional striper, but the odds of hooking anything huge are somewhat remote.
To catch big stripers, Loren recommended using large flies. By “large” he means flies that are over six inches long. Not surprisingly, these flies can be tough to cast. Taking advice from Dave Sellers and Steve Cali, two guys who have plenty of experience in the surf, he dressed his flies in synthetic materials that don’t absorb water. Having flies that quickly shed water is a huge factor in making long casts.
Loren also suggested adding some small dumbbell eyes to help these large flies turn over. This was a trick noted East Coast saltwater fly fisher Mark Sedotti pioneered in the 1990s. Mark was able to cast foot-long flies over 100 feet by wrapping them with nine inches of 0.03-inch lead wire. Not surprisingly, Loren was a fan of 9-weight rods and shooting heads weighing 350 to 400 grains.
I won’t argue with his large-fly approach. I seldom fish any fly shorter than four inches and have absolutely no hesitation using flies that are more than double that. With ultralight synthetic fly-tying materials and a sound casting stroke, you can actually throw these flies over 70 feet with a 7-weight But there’s no denying it’s a lot easier for most folks to do this with a 9-weight.
Loren also makes an interesting observation about finding a deep rip and sticking with it through the tide. His argument is that a big fish is more likely to come into a big rip, and the time taken to walk from rip to rip is time with your fly out of water. It’s hard to argue with that logic.
2019 Update
I’m still as passionate about fishing for surf stripers as I was in 1986, when Dan led me astray. Thirty-three years later, stripers still eat flies in Monterey Bay. The season usually kicks off in March, with the first fish showing on Monterey County’s beaches. By late April, the action usually picks up on the beaches of Santa Cruz County. Most of the time I start by seeking schoolies, using patterns that mimic small perch, smelt, or sand crabs, since schools of anchovies or sardines usually don’t show up until May. Once I have caught a few schoolies and proven I haven’t lost my mojo, I switch to focusing on larger fish with big flies.
Local surf striper addicts usually fish the open sandy beaches with their strong rips and wide troughs. With 11 miles of uninterrupted striper surf from the mouth of the Pajaro River to the Cement Ship at Seacliff, there’s plenty of room. I certainly put in a lot of time on these waters, but I’d like to suggest you consider checking out the “frog water” sections of the bay. From Capitola to Natural Bridges, there’s another 9 miles of coastline that’s punctured by numerous small bays. Unlike the open beaches to the south of Capitola, the surf is usually less aggressive in these spots. The only time it gets rough is when there’s a south swell running. By June, schools of anchovies have moved in close to shore, and these small bays can be stiff with them. Looking down from adjacent cliffs, you’ll have no trouble spotting the schools of anchovies. They give the water a distinctive purple color. You’ll also know when the stripers have moved in to feed on them. The surface will start boiling as anchovies and stripers leap clear of the water. This is when a large streamer worked close to the surface or a splashy topwater fly can be absolutely deadly. Most of the time, you’ll hook schoolies in the two-to-five-pound range, but don’t be too surprised if something over a yard long makes a connection. They’re certainly out there.
