BY ANDREW NAVARRO
HUNTINGTON BEACH — I showed up in-between tides after the low and got straight to work with the one fly dude I’ve been seeing weekly now. We both had the beach to ourselves, and I’ve been noticing more crabs on the smaller side on my last few outings, and even though I got one on a large crab profile last week. I wanted to downsize a bit and experiment a little like I read on one of Glenn Ueda’s write-ups. That dude’s pure inspiration.
The night before,I flipped my house upside down in search for the handful of handties I’ve built and held onto throughout the years.
The first sighting was within the first five minutes. I made the cast, and like many times before that, nothing. But as long as you don’t spook them, you can pitch right back until they disappear into the wash which is exactly what happened. I was optimistic but no-go fish after fish. This went on for the next four hours. What can I say? Tricky fish, indeed, but my determination is a resilient one if you don’t know how I roll.
By now, I’ve been pacing back and forth pitching and casting at multiple pods of rooting finicky corbina. Too many to count to be honest. Tails slapping, sliding in and out, and teasing me to the point of insanity. I was tying on different types of flies including some of my hard-shell crabs I’ve sold in the past.
Bouncing from one technique to the next. Swinging, twitches, dead sticking, etc, I even dropped in leader size and re-tied a longer one to maximize my opportunity. After covering sand as much as my legs can handle, I decided to finally walk back and call it.
Just then, the biggest group of corbina I’ve seen all morning slid up and set up perfectly. I knew this was the best opportunity I was going to ever get, and I hit the record button just in case. Made the pitch. nothing, made the pitch again,nothing. One last try before I lose them forever in the rolling wash and bam, I was on! Sick runs followed by a tug of war at the hard pack. I reached in and pulled out my prize that I freakin’ earned, respectfully. Talk about commitment!
My camera caught the whole thing from start to finish. It was footage I didn’t think I’d ever get. Way Stoked. What a humbling experience.