The Dogtown Dispatch: Issue #04

THE GOOD, THE BAD, 'N THE UGLY

Another week in the bean trenches — highs, lows, and everything in between. LA County gave us fire on Monday, weird water midweek, and the season’s best bite on Thursday. Ventura stayed its unpredictable self — flat one day, full of life the next. Refusals tested patience, perfect eats fed the addiction. Tides shifted, fish moved, and the grind stayed real.

Los Angeles County: August 4 – August 10, 2025

On the sand before first light. Rod in hand while the streetlights were still humming. Back again when the sun bled into the horizon. This week had teeth.

Monday came out hot — beans tailing tight to the edge, sun sharp enough to cut glare, water clean and moving just right. Both tide swings delivered. The kind of day that makes every 0-for-5 morning worth it.

Tuesday brought the same tides, the same light, and absolutely none of the magic. First beach held one lonely shadow. Second beach — dead silent. Crazy how 24 hours can strip the life out of a stretch. Went home, cracked a cold one (more like 3), tied fresh Merkins, and started running tide math against my notes.

Wednesday was a short window, but I came in ready to thread the needle. Incoming tide. Four beans sliding up a crab bed. I posted up and watched for ten minutes, dissecting every movement. Dropped the fly right over the bed, four ticks, head down — eat. Side pressure, rod loaded, fish running hard in the skinny water. Every surge ripped through the line like it meant to cut it. Got her all the way to my feet… and POP. Fly gone. FUCK... Stood there with the surf around my ankles, staring at the spot she’d been. Ten minutes later, same drill. This one decided to stay buttoned. On the walk back to the truck, I spotted another pod chewing hard just down the beach. One angled cast, let the push drift the fly into the pocket. Two strips in, line ripped through my fingers. Smallest corbina I’ve touched all season, but one of the sweetest eats I’ve ever seen.

Thursday was a grind. Big surf, surge chewing up the inside, and almost no clean shots.

Friday looked better — two beaches holding good numbers of beans — but the bite was stone cold. Jason and I took rejection after rejection, fish tracking flies like they were window shopping. Finally, a quick fly change cracked the code and one fish lit up. That one eat flipped the day from frustration to victory.

The weekend brought the crowds. Pods still cruising, but tight-lipped. It became a thinking man’s game — less about chasing tails, more about reading water and trusting the gut. Vicinity casting over sight fishing. Dropping it in the lane and betting the fish would be there when the fly arrived.

Shop Owner Trey Finton with a site fished bean in the skinny. (Featuring random German Shepard)

Key Takeaways – Los Angeles Beaches

• Monday was a gift — clean light, moving water, and active beans.

• Tuesday proved how fast the surf can turn. Same tides, zero fish.

• Wednesday brought heartbreak and redemption — one lost at the feet, one small but perfect eat.

• Thursday was blown out — big surf, messy inside, tough shots.

• Friday had numbers, but refusals ruled. One quick fly swap saved the day.

• Weekend = pods + people. Vicinity casting was the move.

Fly patterns: Pink and natural Surf’n Merkins carried the week. Attractors found some love when conditions lined up.

Bottom Line

Corbina fishing is a rollercoaster built on heartbreak, hope, and one perfect eat that erases everything else. This week gave us that — once. The rest was refusals, blown shots, and miles of sand. But that’s the game. That’s why we show up before sunrise, walk until our legs ache, and smile walking back skunked.

Ventura County: August 4 – August 10, 2025

This week in Ventura was a split personality — slow and stubborn up front, then finally showing some teeth toward the end.

Early in the week, the AM tides were flat and thin on life. The kind of mornings where you walk a mile before you see anything worth posting up for. Rising evening tides fished better if you could find a stretch without a ripping sideways current. That was the trick — hunting soft water in a week where most of the beaches felt like conveyor belts.

Mid-week brought a shift. AM tides started turning up pods at multiple beaches. Numbers were there, but the pattern was chaos. Ventura’s structure problem is real right now — most stretches are flat and featureless, so the beans were just running the up-and-back patrol. No set lanes, no predictable passes. You had to park it, watch, and be ready to throw when the ghosts slid through.

Water quality got a lot better as the week rolled on. Still, a few stretches stayed stained and forced you to lean on the subtle tells — a faint swirl, a dark shadow, nervous water against the light. This wasn’t “see it, cast it” fishing. This was patience and persistence, same as it’s been all season.

Jason Minderler with a absolute stud of a Corbina

Key Takeaways – Ventura County Beaches

• Early week AM tides were dead slow. Evening rising tides had a shot — but only in low-current pockets.

• From mid-week on, AM tides produced more beans, but with no rhythm to their movements.

• Flat, structureless beaches kept fish in a random up-and-back cycle.

• Water clarity improved throughout the week, but some stretches stayed murky.

• Sight fishing meant keying in on the smallest tells: swirls, shadows, and subtle pushes.

Fly patterns: Natural Surf’n Merkins stayed solid. Subtle variations picked off the few aggressive fish.

Bottom Line

Ventura is still a grind — not because the fish aren’t there, but because the setup isn’t making it easy. This week rewarded the ones who walked farther, watched longer, and stayed locked in even when the beach looked dead. A few good eats made the miles worth it.

Looking Ahead

This week’s shaping up to be a patience game. On paper, the tide cycles look solid — early AM lows that creep in before sunrise, pushing into mid-day highs, then falling again into late afternoon. That’s the skeleton. But the muscle? That’s up to the wind, the swell, and whether the fish feel like playing.

In LA, the early lows will be worth the crawl out of bed, especially if you can find water that’s clean enough to see past your shadow. Thursday’s magic last week was all about light and clarity — but don’t count on a repeat. You’ll need to hunt for it.

Ventura’s got its own puzzle. The AM lows will expose more sand, but with most beaches still running flat and structureless, expect corbina to cruise without a clear lane. That means more “up-and-back” sightings and fewer predictable staging spots. If you’ve got the legs, keep walking. The fish are there, but they’re not lining up to meet you halfway.

The surf forecast shows some energy midweek — not huge, but enough to rearrange the playing

field. Pushy water could wipe out the few delicate troughs still holding fish, but it can also dig fresh crab beds and give you new lines to work. Watch what the swell leaves behind and adjust.

Water temps should stay steady in the mid-to-high 60s, which means the beans will keep feeding if the conditions line up. Light will be your friend — especially in the afternoons when the sun’s high and the wind (if it’s coming) hasn’t fully stacked the surface. Keep it at your back when possible, and don’t ignore those tiny swirls or shadows just outside your comfort zone.

This is one of those weeks where reading the water is everything. Don’t just cast at fish — cast where they’re going to be. Vicinity plays will matter as much as sight shots. Strip pace and angle will decide your eats.

Bottom line — bring your patience, your legs, and your A-game. This week won’t hand you fish. But if you put the pieces together, it could hand you the kind of eat you’ll be thinking about in December.