Very cool, WB. Unlike other baleen whales which feed exclusively in the water column, gray whales are known for sucking up crustacean-rich sediments and then sifting the food from the mud. They will target areas rich in mud shrimp or mat-forming amphipods. They leave shallow pits behind.View attachment 58289View attachment 58290View attachment 58291
No fish today, but finally saw the gray whales, the Sounders. Totally made my day. Got checked by WDFW which also made my day.
The high tide line had whale shit/ghost shrimp carcasses all down it
Steve, what fish would you speculate just follow these guys along, eating whatever mud shrimps are stirred up? They clearly tease up a feast, all kinds of waterfowl were working their debris lines....Very cool, WB. Unlike other baleen whales which feed exclusively in the water column, gray whales are known for sucking up crustacean-rich sediments and then sifting the food from the mud. They will target areas rich in mud shrimp or mat-forming amphipods. They leave shallow pits behind.
Steve
Hi WB,Steve, what fish would you speculate just follow these guys along, eating whatever mud shrimps are stirred up? They clearly tease up a feast, all kinds of waterfowl were working their debris lines....
Just out from the Hook in Santa Cruz there is a spot where gray whales do this so regularly their faces are worn from the digging. Apparently it is the same whale(s) for years and I think the person on the whale watching boat we were on said it is a learned trait passed through the same whale family.Very cool, WB. Unlike other baleen whales which feed exclusively in the water column, gray whales are known for sucking up crustacean-rich sediments and then sifting the food from the mud. They will target areas rich in mud shrimp or mat-forming amphipods. They leave shallow pits behind.
Steve
Good and bad day on the water today! The good: Hooked my first fish (Besides that inch long sculpin) after a year of seriously fly fishing. Unfortunately I tried to put it on the reel and lost it. If it was the same fish I saw jump a couple times down the beach it was small enough to strip in. I also worked out an issue with my casts: Too much elbow, not enough shoulder. In terms of the bad, my reel decided to fall off its seat today, and it turns out my daily casting practice on land for the last month has done nothing besides reinforce bad habits. Oh well, time on the water will fix it
Great job hooking up! Keep putting in the time and it will all come together.
You know the old saying, make them earn the reel .
SRC, as feisty as they are, have never once earned the reel for me that I can remember. My guess is it will take a plump 20+ incher in some scenarios to do so.
That said, I’ve made that same mistake myself learning new fisheries as recently as when I first started fishing coho off the beach. I always tried to get any decent fish on the reel and lost some nice fish in the process. Not sure why. I think I thought the drag of the reel could handle the short fast bursts of a coho better than I could manually. A member here called me out on the beach about it and he was right. It was not needed. Since then, less than a handful of coho a year have truly earned the reel. The majority of the time it’s a solid fish, hooked really early in the stripping process.
Absolutely this! Only times I've had fish on the reel is when a big one eats it on the first strip or so and immediately takes line, but still so rare I can't recall those instances.Great job hooking up! Keep putting in the time and it will all come together.
You know the old saying, make them earn the reel .
SRC, as feisty as they are, have never once earned the reel for me that I can remember. My guess is it will take a plump 20+ incher in some scenarios to do so.
That said, I’ve made that same mistake myself learning new fisheries as recently as when I first started fishing coho off the beach. I always tried to get any decent fish on the reel and lost some nice fish in the process. Not sure why. I think I thought the drag of the reel could handle the short fast bursts of a coho better than I could manually. A member here called me out on the beach about it and he was right. It was not needed. Since then, less than a handful of coho a year have truly earned the reel. The majority of the time it’s a solid fish, hooked really early in the stripping process.
Thank you! I think next time I’ll let the fish put itself on the reel, otherwise just stripGreat job hooking up! Keep putting in the time and it will all come together.
You know the old saying, make them earn the reel .
SRC, as feisty as they are, have never once earned the reel for me that I can remember. My guess is it will take a plump 20+ incher in some scenarios to do so.
That said, I’ve made that same mistake myself learning new fisheries as recently as when I first started fishing coho off the beach. I always tried to get any decent fish on the reel and lost some nice fish in the process. Not sure why. I think I thought the drag of the reel could handle the short fast bursts of a coho better than I could manually. A member here called me out on the beach about it and he was right. It was not needed. Since then, less than a handful of coho a year have truly earned the reel. The majority of the time it’s a solid fish, hooked really early in the stripping process.
I’ve used 12lb mono or fluro (Nowadays fluro unless it’s a surface fly) since I gear fished, even when I was running 8lb mainline. They also seemed to key in on larger presentations, so I am not surprised they aren’t leader shy. My best gear setup was a 2/3oz lil cleo or #4 Blue Fox (Both in silver) with a pink hoochie on the hook. Would tying directly to a tapered leader be a good idea? My casts are getting better but long untapered leaders are still tough for me to castThe corollary to these good points people are making about typically not needing to get fish on the reel is that you shouldn’t be afraid to use pretty high test line. I think I use 8lb maxima for SRC and winter rezzies, but I know others do fine with 12 lb. Think I’ve been using 12 or 15 lb for salmon beach fishing, but know others use 20lb without issue.
I’d probably bump up a size if I thought it would help, but I’ve been able to horse fish in just fine with what I’ve got. Course I’m not one of the lucky guys who has hooked a good size king from the beach.