hey guys!!

great to see some familiar names still on here in TFF Carp forum! Hope all of you back in TX are having a great time carping the usual swims at WRL, Emma Long, Grapevine, etc. etc.

anyways, I haven't done much carping here since moving back to SoCal... especially with the Pacific Ocean about 30 minutes away

so I just got back from a nice 3-day trip up north a little along our coast (just north of Santa Barbara) to a state beach called Jalama beach... there's no cell phone/internet there, but they do have really nice cabins! and of course we fished the surf a lot...

hope you guys don't mind me posting and sharing this trip with you all!

hey everyone,

you guys probably were wondering how come there weren't any deal posts lately? Well... we just came back from 3 days at Jalama beach and there's no cell service/wifi/internet up there!

After our former moderator Robert (rfdesq) saw my post from last year about Jalama and the cabins we stayed in, he wanted to setup a trip back to Jalama since he had never been before! So, about 6 months ago, we picked a couple nights to stay in the cabins with some good tides so we could fish both am and pm high tide sessions.

A few days ago, the weather forecast didn't look so good.. predicting that the 11/8-11/10 would be the windiest/coldest/wettest days there... so I was kinda bummed about that, but it turns out that the weather wasn't so bad after all and we got some decent fishing in too

Just in case, here's my old post from last year that has more info on the cabins:

http://www.scsurffishing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=77338&highlight=jalama

so Thurs am rolls around and we get the CRV loaded up:



took 3 setups for the usual surf fishin (Shimano Clarus and G.Loomis 8'6" rods with Stradic Ci4 3000 reels spooled with 15# PP braid and a longer 9' Shimano Tiralejo surf rod with a Thunnus 8000 reel in case we wanted to soak some squid/perch for something bigger)



The Mrs. and Alfie are ready for Jalama part 2!





met up with my parents in Ventura and had some great clam chowder and fish/chips at Brophy Bros in the harbor there



it was drizzling/cold in Ventura, but once we hit got further north into Santa Barbara, and the road to Jalama, just overcast!

enjoyed the drive to Jalama just like last year!



Coming around the final bend, it's great to see the water/sand/Jalama:



here's a quick vid from the road above Jalama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDYpMzRA--s

Check-in was around 3pm, and I think we got there around that time...
Robert and his gf Renee were in the car just ahead of us at the ranger station! We got 2 cabins side by side for the trip (Plover and Sandpiper units):



here's a view from the cabins... a 5-minute walk down to the water from there!



well... we quickly unloaded the car and of course Robert and I headed down to the water for a session before it got dark!

it was pretty breezy and cold, but manageable... the water was cold, minimal salad, with some pretty big surge, and not much structure really... the beach was pretty flat up and down coast, but the bite was wide open! a bite on every cast

view down coast... there were a couple other long-rodders there I think that weren't having any success really:

Robert and I started working the beach and caught too many to count in the 2 hrs we had... mostly small to mediums



approaching sunset:



typical first day perch:

unusual looking perch with some unusual markings... hmmmm?





also another unusual looking perch with some different markings... Robert said this was NOT a walleye:



here's one of the nicer mediums the first day:



and a decent medium for Robert:



well... it got dark, so we called it... and retreated to our warm/cozy cabins!

for dinner, pops prepared some sashimi from a couple of the bigger perch we kept and we had a whole spread of other yummy things:





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNCib9F1na4

after dinner... Robert brought a ton of firewood for us to sit around the firepit and keep warm during the night!



we threw some sweet yams and potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the firepit and man they were great!! Robert/Renee also brought smores too!

unfortunately, it started to rain after maybe an hour or so around the campire, so we all headed back inside and relaxed a while before going to sleep so we could fish early the next am!

Pops and alfie chillin:



It rained pretty hard overnight, and was still raining when we woke up... got a little worried that we might be rained in all day, but just like that... the rain stopped and the skies cleared up!! :shock:

so we get geared up for the am sesh... I look like I'm going out ice-fishing or something.. but hey.. I wasn't cold at all :

light winds in the am the 2nd day... still relatively salad free, with medium waves and strong surge still. Oh by the way, sand crabs were plentiful there, but they seemed to bite on the crack (camo/bloody) much better.

sunrise shot:



bite wasn't wide-open like the day before, but we still got decent numbers for the am sesssion:



off in the distance... there were patches of storm clouds headed our way... and saw this awesome rainbow as we were fishin:



I took this freakin awesome panorama shot with my phone:



the tide started to go out and the rains came in... so we headed back to the cabins and relaxed... pops with some coffee:



the rain came and went, and we headed back out again around 3pm or so for another sunset session... this time thought... the winds had really picked up and it was pretty darn cold... the fishin was tough, but we still managed a few bigger models...

here's one of the biggest for my dad there:



quick vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXIQT4ytOFw

later that night... we cooked up some pork on the electric pan with all the trimmings (lettuce, ssamjang, etc.):



this was followed by another session at the firepit and had some great smores/potatoes/yams again man we had the fire roaring!! thanks again for the firewood Robert!

slept well, and was hoping for a great am session on our last day before checking out...

sunrise shot:



wow, the conditions had really deteriorated overnight... tons of salad everywhere (look at all that beached salad in the pic above), big waves, big surge... made the fishing really, really tough, but we stuck it out and moved up/down coast to find open water... at least the winds were ok:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0gDhUlTO5E

the action was kinda slow, but we got the biggest perch of the 3 days the final am... and the salad later cleared out as the tide went out too:

Robert with a big model:



my dad with another big model:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_MRSJS-Gyo

and Robert with another... I don't know how Robert just fished in his usual shorts and t-shirt... with a light sweatshirt, but he did :shock: :shock: :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFcoI3yHTkQ

headed back to the cabins to pack up and made it down to the Jalama beach store to have one last meal together... of course we had to try the famous Jalama burger!!

my dad approved (I got him a Jalama hat too)!



the Mrs. was happy too:



thanks Robert/Renee for buying us lunch!!!

one last group pic before heading back to civilization and the internet/cell phone service



I think the Mrs. and Alfie were pretty pooped out from having a great, relaxing, and memorable trip



thanks for reading everyone! sorry if I made it too long as usual....

just might have to go back again next year (thx Robert for taking this awesome pic of me)

hope all you regulars are doing well... hello Jesse, Chris, Curt, Clayton, Crago, etc. etc. are still landing those huge carp/buffs!

Of course I miss those Emma Long runs and hearing my bite alarm scream....

That's Cool. Thanks for the update- And hurry back! Lol

It just don't get any better than that!

Cool. Nice lil feeshies!

great post that food was delicious

Good to hear from you again Danny. Looks like a great time. Love me some fresh seafood..

nice report Danny. i see your doing well up there!

Great story board and pictures Danny! Always nice to hear from you!
I know you are cherishing trips like that with family; they are precious.

love your reports, feels like i was there. Thanks for sharing the trip bro.

awesome! Looks similar to the trip we took to Galveston!