David Siskind | Sunday, 9 August 2026
I foul-hooked two fish. I hate that. It’s been awhile but a foul hooked fish always colors my mood for a while. I’ve foul-hooked carp too. I think the mechanism is a little different for them but with both carp and corbina it’s a problem that stems from the combination of weighted flies, and bottom feeding fish in shallow water. I think, can always be avoided by right fishing. It’s a sin of inattention and imprecision. My joy of a perceived eat is infused with doubt. I hate it. Hate hate hate.
Corbina showed in a variety of postures, crowding the backside of flooding waves, surfing in front of them, tailing in pooled water when a set flooded a flat, and nosed into the beach fighting the currents while making divots. Conditions were good all week - the middling tides fished well. Still only a couple ate and I failed to hook those.
I did get an excellent class in spotting them in all manner of swashes, in low light and bright sun. And at the end of the day I stopped spooking them. I think they’re freaked out more by the line than the fly. Fish continued to feed if the fly landed first. I think I’ll lengthen my leader and try to get real close - fly-first.
But best of all, I mat Dan Apodaca. He’s a LA Fireman who works the beach. He’s an avid trout fisherman who has yet to catch hiis first corbina. He’s eager and ready - tying crab flies in the firehouse. He’s been studying the fish on breaks and during lunch all season (at least). Going down there just to watch must clearly enhance understanding the fish’s behavior. I can’t manage it very often. I'm fishing. Dan, like Bernard, takes insightful pictures and videos. He provided my FP cover photo and a little clip of a skinny water push.
I’m fearing my improved fish sighting has led me to abandon my most successful tactic - casting ahead of incoming swash to a targeted crab bed. I focused instead on pushes and tailers. Its like whack-a-mole. The rooters are leaving divots but I have not successfully placed a fly in front of them. By the time I see them the water has shallowed. I'm unsure of my target. I haven't found the right place to put the fly. I watched sharpie Glen Ueda fish last summer. He often keeps his line in the air with short false casts. We did not discuss what he was targeting. I can combine the two techniques making the cast ahead of the swash, fishing it while looking for tailers and fish rooting in the sand. A quick pick-up-and-laydown, snakehead style, might work. We’ll see. I’ll have to wait until I get back to LA. I’m in NY for two weeks.
See Benji Kim for further insight. He fishes live sand crabs on light spinning tackle. He casts ahead of the incoming water after spotting fish. It took two hours casting among visibly feeding fish to hooked up. I guess they’re tough fish for everyone.
Keep Trucking,
David Siskind