Malibu 4/7
Spring a couple years ago Breakwall Don and I fished the coast north of Malibu. What snuck up on us was a nasty south swell, which sent breakers of five feet crashing on beaches from Santa Monica northward to Point Mugu, which are all south-facing. Basically, all that wave action made it impossible for us to fish any of the great-looking rocks adorning the shoreline.
Quite a while back we selected today as our next attempt to access the rocks near Deer Creek at low tide. The past week we watched the swell chart for any indication to a prognostication of how the waves might treat us, seeing again a south swell of over five feet wiping out most south-facing beaches inside the Southern California Bight. Saturday the swell switched direction, once more coming in from the usual northwest. Sunday, Samo Bay was down to a presumably fishable two to three feet.
Wrong presumption. After parking along PCH near the coastal access, Breakwall Dan and I didn’t even launch two casts before KABLEWY we were both soaked at five thirty in the freakin’ fifty-degree morning. Dan was the smart one. Like a good boy, he put on his sweater and rain suit before venturing out, still the big splash soaked his shirt by entering through the top zipper. I was too lazy to don my waterproofing and paid the price. We tossed Fish Traps here and there between wave sets but with no hits in over a half-hour, we hiked the quarter-mile back to the truck, returning to the road north seeking friendlier spots.
We stopped here and there along California State Highway One, dentro del Arroyo Ciervo y Punta Mugu, to peer down the bluffs but didn’t observe rocks large enough upon which one could walk far out into the water to cast.
South on the highway near our first stop we saw Don’s truck parked next to an access stairway. Dan and I ascended many steps to say hi and give’er a shot. Dan went around the corner to cast a Fish Trap and a chunk of white shrimp. Don was on the beach with multiple poles and sand spikes casing squid and shrimp into the surf anchored to the bottom by pyramid weights of three ounces. I got up on a high rock and flung the Fish Trap around some other rocks out there just below the surface. I actually felt a tap-tap transmitted up the line and upon reeling in saw my shiny new swimbait body had become impregnated by teeth marks resembling those of a sand or calico bass. A few casts later I was on but it felt small. Couldn’t tell you what it was, for it was off the hook before landingment.
Big Dan came to pay me a visit near my rock to soak a shrimp. One good thing about purchasing white shrimp at the grocery store is that if you don’t catch any fish with’em, you can at least take your bait home to make shrimp tacos. I’ll be Dang, Big Dan hooks up, easily reeling in a cabezon not twelve inches in length. To celebrate such a two-fold accomplishment – he caught something under adverse fishing conditions and he managed to land more than me in one day – I tossed the disgusting looking bastard (not Dan) into a tide pool so we could look at’im a few times before he was sent on his way courtesy the next high tide
We tried bait while casting from platform rocks within walking distance to the north. A while there with no bites and the next thing you know it’s almost 9am. What I’m thinking is these little two- or three-foot waves were causing such a ruckus here because the water is generally shallow with a sandy bottom. The waves break in front of the rock you’re standing on, majorly splashing you, churning up the sand and detritus, unlike Laguna or P. V., where a small swell goes past your casting rock to break on the beach behind you.
Our next and last stop was the rocks at a small point at the end of Mulholland. Again the area is shallow sand, which caused a two-and-a-half footer to jump up and cover Don head to toe, now making all three of us standing there looking gawdawfulsoakidly stupid.
Amidst the fog of war, Don did come up with a thought. He said this area would be better fished at high tide. Pointing back behind us he said during such high water episodes we can cast from those rocks up there. I tend to agree with that. I will check for one-foot swells during a morning high tide this coming early November.
We The Breakwall Crew until then will focus all our attention on reaping gains while casting from the rocks of low tide Laguna, especially Sargo Point, Monday, April 21st, meet at the Crescent Bay stairway 5am.
On the way home Dan and I stopped in Gardena to visit a Jap restaurant and grocery store. In the market we loitered near the fish counter, where displayed were specimens of a score of species cooling within the confines of crushed ice. The man asked if we needed help, to which I replied, nah, we went fishing this morning, didn’t catch any. We just came in to look at and smell some of your fish to clear our heads. That was good for a giggle. I did buy a chunk of prepared mackerel for a buck. Tasted great.