After having some success on the 3" swimbaits on Saturday, I went back to Goleta beach on Sunday to try the big hammers again on the perch.

Success!! The first perch went (no kidding) 15" and just over 3lbs ;-) Ten perch total, the smallest being 10", with most in the 12" size. All (except one, see below) were caught on the 3" Prizm Rainbow Trout and the 3" Pepper Trout, with a 3/16 oz jighead, 6lb test. All fish were released with tender loving care.....keep on growing, big guys, so I can catch ya again!

Edit:
One interesting note is that sometimes the fish will hit just about anything...after my swimbait was torn to shreds, I rigged two 1.5" grubs on the leadhead, one in front of the other. The end result looked something like a twin tail scampi. Ugly as heck, but I chucked it out and sure enough got hit three times and hooked up an 11" perch. Just goes to show you gotta experiment sometimes!

** tight lines make all my troubles go away **

Right on!

Were you fishing North or South of the Pier?

North of the pier. I've never even gotten a bite through three trips fishing south of the pier, though I know others have had success fishing to the south.

** tight lines make all my troubles go away **

woah! those are toads! bitchin going.

I Fish...Therefore I Am

Way to go dball!

A 15" Bardie is an absolute stud! She probably is on steroids! :D I really needed to read that because my Perch jerkin down south here has been the pits lately. Thanks for posting!

Tight Lines.

Aztecwin

no kidding, the best i've done this year has been barely above the pound, havent heard of any TOADS showing down here (San Diego that is)

I Fish...Therefore I Am

>no kidding, the best i've done this year has been barely
>above the pound, havent heard of any TOADS showing down here
>(San Diego that is)

Last February I caught a sweet Bard Babe that measured 14". I was really stoked and thought WOW! here we go and then all of the damn Alaskan Storms hit and screwed everything up.

From that time until now, I haven't done squat here in Oceanside.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS...BLAME IT ON EL NINO! :D

Aztecwin

Yep, been pretty slow around So. OC as well...hopefully we will get some TOADS soon!

thanks for the words of support everyone! it wasn't too long ago that i was getting skunked every time out, and all of you gave me such great advice and tips. i just had to find a couple honey holes where the big ones were holding up and lo and behold the techniques that were recommended came through!

** tight lines make all my troubles go away **

i retract the small fish remark, yesterday on a whim did the IB surf trip for about 1hr and landed two perch that went over the 12" mark, all on a 1.75" motor oil/red grub. STOKED! biggest perch yet this season. BTW chit loads of sandcrabs, i was standing between three patches about 40' in dia, almost every time i dug i would find a good sized softshell.

also nailed my first corbina of the year, on a softshell, a WOPPING (not!) 10 incher :P

I Fish...Therefore I Am

Nice job on the perch!

DBLAZ'