Wow,
I’m not quite sure how to start this one. I’ll say right off, we whacked’em. We Whacked them good.

I finally got Pete to leave the Big Hammer cave and actually fish. I started about 5:45 and fished till dark. Pete was already there and had two fish on the 3 inch Hammer Seawolf. We fished for a while with a few bites and a few standard 6 – 8 in. BSP.

I could tell right away that it was a bit cleaner then last time, but still pretty heavily salad. I was telling Pete about seeing bait getting crashed on last time, and finally I see a single bait pop up. I cast to it and get instantly bit. We start seeing some boils and then some wakes as perch schools rushed the inside. Several times they crashed the bait within 10 feet of me, with bait fish and small perch erupting out of the water.

We started slugging them. Most fish were good quality in the 8 to 10 in. range. Then Pete gets bent hard and lips a solid 12 in model. It was a good fight with fully bent rod, pulling drag and boiling slab in the surf.

We both continued to get fish, I think I had five and Pete probably seven. I’m throwin the, you guessed it, the redrum Mini Hammer on ¼ oz. yellow Hammer Head, Pro-cure Krill gel.

I can tell as soon as it bit that it’s a SOLID fish. I basically instantly have my rod pointed at the fish and it’s heavy. It’s taking what it wants. Pete is laughing at me as I start down the beach. It shoots down the beach and then comes straight in and boils on the inside, but fairly far down. It wasn’t till the second boil that I could tell it was a perch. I could tell it was slug and just hoping it stayed on. I fought it for a while with multiple runs and boils and finally got it to the wash. It was hard to tell just how big it was until I saw the mouth come up out of the foam, you could put a golf ball in it.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7342-slug_12x.jpg

This thing had serious girth

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7347-girth_12x.jpg

After this we continued to slay the fish, and were seeing crashing fish and bait in the surf line. Pete was fishing the 3 inch sexy smelt. I had a run of four fish in four casts at one point, still in the nice 8 to 11 range. Bites or fish every cast at some points.

It finally got dark.

I had 11 total fish with the big one at 16.5 inches and pushing 3 pounds on the boga.
Pete had at least that many with a solid 12 incher. Most on the 3 inch and a couple on grubs.

Enjoy the show.

Bryan

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7344-measure_12x.jpg


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http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7346-money_12x.jpg

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Holy smokes! That is the biggest perch i have ever seen.

Congrats.

Bryan, I have tried the 1/4 oz Hammers before in the surf but can't seem to get a decent cast with such light wieght? Are you guys getting long casts? or just before the surf? Any Tips?

I am always using 3/4 - 1 oz Carolina rig with a grub or blood worm up here between Morro Bay and Oceano. My set-up is a 9 foot Okuma Surf rod and a Shimano spinning reel with 8 lb line. ( P-Line)

Now is the time to be out around here...I have to make an after work trip.

To fish is to live!

Santa Barbara is very protected from the swell that you see up your way. So the smaller waves are breaking closer to shore. We are also typically wading about waist deep and jumping the big ones. I'm throwing these baits on a Shimano Compre spinning rod and Stradic reel with 8Lb. P-Line CXX. I can toss it pretty far with that set up. But to be honest, the day I got that big fish, I made casts that were as short as 10 feet as the perch would charge in and erupt on bait practically at my feet. The big boy hit about 25 feet out.

Bryan

P.S. you can step up to the 3/8ths head and get a bit more distance but you have to fish it a bit faster.