frozen feets

I took Elise out...we tried finding someplace to fish yesterday, but everything was so cold...at a beach in Oceanside we thought the sun being out would help, but the wind in our face was frigid, and the clouds soon rolled in and dumped on us. The water was choppy and gray-green and the shore break was right at our feet. All the same Elise managed two fish before we ran for it.



Barred Surfperch are the primary species we target at this time of year. They're breeding near shore, or at least have bred recently, and large, aggressively feeding pregnant females are close in. They put up a tremendous fight, but you have to let them go quickly (if you don't intend to cook them) or they'll prematurely deliver their babies, often all over you or the beach. Barred surfperch give birth to live young (viviparous), and it's alarming as hell to have a bunch of baby perch start squirting onto your hand.

On our way out, we found a couple fry (baby fish) on the path and Elise ran them back to the surf. Though they swam away, they're not likely to survive. A small chance, however, is better than the no chance they'd have sitting on a path 100' away from the water. A car pulled up as we started our car and a fellow we'd spoken with who was fishing jumped out. He had a tupperware dish with a bunch of baby perch in it, and dashed down the path. Apparently he hadn't been aware of the pregnancy issue. I commend his attempt to save the fry, but possibly it was hopeless...especially if he had them in fresh water...

Fishing can be brutal.