Flatness is Good

When you hear the word flat and your first love revolves around waves negative emotions consume your psyche...

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...but the closer you become to full watermen the more you realize the ocean has to offer. When the surf goes flat I just switch gears into fishing mode. Flat, calm, glassy conditions are ideal for running about the bay and ocean.

Besides the flat ocean conditions I love hunting down the flattest of all fish, halibut. The last few months I have been learning more about the habits, habitats and hiding spots of these bottom dwellers. I have experimented with a ton of artificial baits and narrowed down three that are productive. But when it comes to the heavy hitting halibut live bait is the ticket. I hate giving the bait barge $25 bucks for a half scoop of disorientated, sluggish, beat up sardines. So instead I head out to the edge of the kelp and sabikki up my own bait. I usually get between 20-30 healthy smelt that last me all afternoon. Plus its more sporting if you put time into finding your own bait and catching it.

Sometimes fishing doesn't always produce fish but you always learn something new that can be used at a later time. A few weeks ago in one of my halibut spots I had a strange drift heading in the opposite direction. The water is only 14feet so you can see the bottom real good and there is one section were the sand ends and you hit a small kelp bed about ten feet wide then right back to sand. I got some short halibut off a plastic jerkbait there a few weeks ago by fishing both edges of that sand to kelp patch. Yesterday we had that same drift and I fished it the same way with some big live smelt and first drift I got a keeper on the front side and the next drift I got another keeper on the opposite side. It has taken a few months to get a keeper but it is rewarding when it happens.

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Until the Light Washes Out

As the sun runs toward the horizon so do quirky, bizarre women posing by the surf for that perfect backlit yoga pose for their new facebook wallpaper. Along side of them are two middle aged cunts, one owning this Chihuahua which whimpered and yacked in a cocoon of black sweaters. Then there are the droves of 9-5 surfers who have been cooped up all day in their cubicle waiting to unleash all their pent up aggression on a knee high wave or any poor soul that gets in the way a slashing cut back. 

And lastly there is me, who has already surfed during "Gentlemen’s Hours", between 11am and 3:30pm and now has migrated back to the beach to hunt the ghosts of the surf, the ever elusive and hard to catch Corbina. A fish of a thousand casts—wading out in heavy beach break in anticipation of my line going tight and feeling that explosive first run. Then the light washes out behind the breakers…

surf fishing photos : : Casey Allred and Scott Wyss

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The Waves Will Wash It All Away

Woke up early today before my flight to get one last quick surf in and to try and shake this nasty hangover out of my head. Dogfish Heads  "Midas Touch"  did me dirty last night. Compiled with an onslaught of other various depressing thoughts bouncing around in my head I hoped the saltwater would wash away everything. 
It could be worse, way worse so Im grateful for where I'm at.

A clear and cool 65° ocean awaited me with off shore winds spraying these perfect 3 to 4 foot peaks. No one out or even on the beach. Then this guy rode his bike up next to me checking the surf, "hey I just bought a water housing for my camera would it be ok to take some photos?" Well sure, hell yeah. After the session he stopped by my beach house and gave a cd with the photos. Super stoked on the photos, it really shows how beautiful the water, waves and beaches are out here. 

All water photos taken by Erik Blaum. Good luck on your travels the next few months in Hawaii and Costa Rica. 

striper bites

B l a c k e n e d    S t r i p e d    B a s s    S a n d w i c h 

local caught wild Atlantic Striped Bass sauteed in a garlic lemon extra virgin olive oil—on top of a whole wheat bun layered with a bed of fresh spinach, thinly sliced cucumber with caramelized shallots and avocado

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hand-to-mouth (hand 'tə-mouth')  | Idiom
(adj.) having or providing only the bare essentials: a hand-to-mouth existence.
(verb) to satisfy one’s basic needs ..................................................................................................................................................................................

 

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G r i l l e d   S t r i p e d   B a s s   F i s h   T a c o s

marinated striped bass fillets overnight in lemon olive oil and white wine. grilled striper fillets on high heat. served on grilled corn tortillas over spinach and sauteed onions with a lime zest   

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Biannual Migration : : Spring Edition

This is my 7th Season coming back east since I started teaching and had the summers off. There are certain moments in life which are hard to duplicate as you grow older. That feeling of pure freedom when your in 3rd or 4th grade and the last school bell rings at 2:45pm and you know you are off for the summer, that's a hard one to recreate. Well get a teaching job and check the box on your paycheck for a 12 month salary and you are there come June. Your not going to be rich by any means but you will have time. Time to travel, explore and experiment as if you were 9 years old all over again.

I migrate east for two reasons, one to spend time with my family and friends and second to catch the biannually striped bass migration. I got the fall run this Thanksgiving when they were headed south for the winter months and was hoping to catch the bass moving north again this spring. With huge pods of bunker moving up the North Eastern Seaboard you need to find the right bunker pod with bass under them. Usually you have to hopscotch from one bait ball to the next but as we came into casting distance of the first pod we saw the bunker getting real nervous which is a great sign. We end up getting into fish right away. The bunker were moving fast being chased by bass so we ended up following this particular pod for awhile. From the first cast to the last we had steady action. Super fun. All bass were in the 30+ pound class.
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WE INTERPRET VISUALLY

I see life in angles and lines of perspective. Subtle glimpses of magic that other people may pass by. Cameras 
help me translate, interpret and understand what I see.  
Sometimes it's necessary to make a print, which probably no one needs, except for the people who want to make it.
My mom always encouraged us to make up our own mind for experience and be inspired. I never set out to 
become anything in particular but to just live creatively. I feel genuinely lucky to say hand on heart that I love 
what I am doing. If I only scrape a living, at least its a living worth scraping.

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Shirts and Prints Now available at EAST WIND  { l i m i t e d   r u n }

4966 Santa Monica Avenue, Suite C, San Diego, CA 92107

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Black and White with some gray areas

TIDE | San Diego : :  Thursday 5/17/2012 | 3.9 high at 8:23am and 1.4 low @ 1:40pm
Moon Phase : :  Last Quarter
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Everybody fishes for different reasons, fun, food, bragging rights. For some, the sport transcends fun. Instead, it becomes a near-mystical experience, combining the cerebral—outwitting the bass with artificial lures—and spiritual—communing with nature.

Fishing also requires a basic understanding of several other sciences. You need to know about ichthyology—study of fish—as well as limnology and hydrology, sciences related to water and its movement and quality.

6 Calico Bass, 4 Spotted Bass, 2 Sand Bass {all catch photo and release}

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