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Rise and shine. This is Early Bird Fishing. Prepare for world class fishing instruction, stories, and news, in less than 5 minutes.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• The lowdown on a recent fishing trip for surfperch 🐟

• A very questionable way to dehook a shark 🦈

• A Florida charter captain got caught shooting and poisoning dolphins 😔

• Scroll To The Bottom - we have an unreal referral program and offer rewards for ONLY 1 referral 💸

🎣 Surfperch Madness At The Beach

I recently moved from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California. The beaches are sandier, the swell’s different, and the water feels a bit warmer. I didn’t expect it to feel familiar. It didn’t.

But the process of figuring it out is the same: walk, cast, observe, repeat. On this trip, I was targeting surfperch. I started by scanning the water—looking for seams, deeper troughs, and anywhere waves were breaking unevenly. I moved often. If a spot didn’t feel right after a few casts, I didn’t wait around.

Eventually, I landed next to a small jetty—nothing huge, but it created just enough structure to pull current and stack fish.

That’s when things came together. I timed the session around high tide, and it paid off. The 30 minutes before and after high tide were the only time the fish really showed up. I landed around seven surfperch in that window. After that, the bite died. It wasn’t luck—it was just timing and finding the right water.

My rig was simple: a Carolina rig with a sliding egg sinker, bead, swivel, 16-inch leader, and a small octopus hook. Bait was a Gulp sandworm in camo. For anyone trying this setup, here’s the only tweak that matters: don’t fish the whole worm. Cut it into 1 to 1.5-inch sections. More bites, less waste.

Fishing a new coastline is a good way to test your fundamentals. You can’t rely on old habits, and the ocean doesn’t care where you’re from. You either figure it out, or you go home with clean hands. All in all - an awesome day on the water.

Tight lines,

Paxton - Founder, Early Bird Fishing

P.S. We’re trying out a new format. Do you like post like these from Paxton? Let us know here:

🎣 IN THE FIELD

• Doesn’t it seem like there should be a better way to do this:

• A charter boat captain from Florida has been sentenced to 30 days for shooting and poisoning dolphins that interfered with his clients’ fishing lines. He reportedly used a shotgun to deter the dolphins - gross behavior in our waterways.

• What an epic fish to catch:

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AI CORNER

Every week we generate fishing related AI images. See the coolness/weirdness below:

💋 CHEF’S KISS - RECIPE OF THE WEEK

A super simple surfperch recipe that you can’t go wrong with: