David Siskind | Sunday, 2 August 2026
Conditions at the beach and home limited me last week but I got out a couple of times. Despite forecasts of a substantial swell I imagined the full moon would bring grunion in close. I went out Thursday at dawn and fished a green and white clouser in the incoming tide. I paired the overweight SA Sonar 6 wt with my HT8 instead of the HT6 I usually take to the beach. It handled the clouser nicely. I didn’t see any signs of bait in close - two moons ago I saw cormorants slurping grunions and strange big tails. Not this time but an hour in I saw a few corbina in the swash and switched to casting a pink merkin crab at them. The fish were showing randomly, in differing postures, and the big surf created enough foam to make spotting and following them difficult. No one ate. I went out Friday filled with hope, but fewer fish showed and I’m pretty sure I didn’t show anyone my fly. Still starting the day on the beach is a joy.
Tides will be moderate next week and I’ve wondered if my favorite shelves would be attracting fish for a longer duration than the short burst of activity I see with the extreme, faster-rising tides. I feel like I’m fishing pretty well - even rocking my roll casts (they do work better on water than grass), I fish a stopless cast in the surf unless I've got to get stealthy and low.
At 12:15 into Paul’s Roll Cast Part 2 Master Class Instruction, we’re introduced to the stopless forward cast as a wind cast. He spends five minutes discussing the three stops that he taught me when I first started studying with him - standard, pull-back, and stopless. The stopless cast, whether on the business end of a roll cast, or applied with a full backcast, is fast, accurate, and wind-resistant. It paints the line and leader all the way to the target, facilitating immediate contact with the fly. It works for me when sight fishing sunken flies anywhere. But I fear that my stopless cast may not be quite what I was taught. It works for me but my method and external references may be limiting. From a relatively high backcast, 180 degrees from the target, I cast to the target but instead of making an abrupt stop forming the loop I drive the rod tip all the way to the ground (or water). I do so on a path and speed that maintains tension in the rod leg until the rod tip lands. The line then paints its way to the target. There does seem to be a loop formed but it’s relatively wide yet pointy. While it gets there fast It doesn’t quite look like Paul’s and may not be as good. I attempted to film it at the park but my efforts came to nothing. I’ll try again and get Paul’s verdict.
Oh Jeanine
Jeanine Piro announced she is dropping the reflecting pool vandalism charges against David Hearn. Trump is mad, insisting the vandals took the handles. I’m surprised she did this without asking him first. Maybe she didn’t. If she did she must have been motivated. Given she had no evidence of Mr. Hearn’s felony, it’s interesting that she got a grand jury to report out an indictment. She could have lied to them and is now worried about repercussions. Couldn’t happen to a nicer person. That’s what you get for shouting all the time.
Root for Justice,
David Siskind