Greetings from an outsider

O

Oscarsdad

New member
Hi chaps,

I have recently joined the forum - I am a mad keen hunter and fisherman from England (see my post in introductions) - to learn about how you guys hunt over there - my wife and I will be over in California for our honeymoon at the end of April / beginning of May and was hoping to find out about possibly doing some hunting / fishing (if she will let me) - have I completely mis-timed it and all of the hunting seasons have finished or could there still be opportunities at that time of year?

Many thanks

OD
 
Welcome Oscarsdad. You will be just in time for the tail end of spring turkey season which runs through the first weekend of may and there is also year round seasons for wild pigs. I would suggest a guided hunt if you decide to give it a go as turkey calling has a steep learning curve and most guides have high success rates on bagging a nice big tom and most will usually have pig hunts as well. Fishing is great that time of year especially for large mouth bass which California has many world class fisheries for. What part of the state will you be honey mooning in? I may have some fishing/ hunting suggestions. Again welcome to UPH.:cheers:
 
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Thanks quail hound - I will take a look for turkey guides, would these be shot with a shotgun, a rifle or a bow? Bow hunting is not legal in anyway in the UK but I reached Bowman standard at target archery with my recurve bow before I got bored shooting at static targets!

I would love to catch a largemouth - I have started using US style soft baits here with some success but would really like to have a go for those bass.

As for where we are going, we are still planning the trip, I think we will fly into LA and out of San Francisco (or the other way around) and we want to see the a coastline and especially Big Sur, most of the National Parks but specifically Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Sequoia, Yosemite and Redwood - a lot to fit into 15 days or so and a lot of driving but since gas is basically free for you guys compared to our $11.70 a gallon I don't mind so much haha!

If you had any good suggestions of must sees (or anywhere to avoid) then that would be very much appreciated.

OD
 
I can help you.

I was born and raised in southern california. If i was you i would flay into LA and leave,head north an hour and a half to a little town called Ojai(Its beautiful). There is a resort there Called the Ojai Valley Inn and has a descently priced spa package for the wife( its pricey to stay the night but there are some Great alternatives). Lake Casitas ( in Ojai) is one of the premier bass fishing lakes in CA but its hard to fish.I suggest getting guide ( mark Matrany of Ojai Anglers). The ocean is 15 min away and if if you are into ocean fishing I can point you to the right boat to go on ( i've worked deck on most of them).There is great golf and hiking in the area to. As far as turkey hunting goes you can use a bow, air rifle or shotgun. Big Sur is awsome but check out Carmel or Monterey. If you see a mad irish woman say hi, its my mom, she would be more than happy to give you some advice or show you a good pub. if you need anything else let me know.
 
Kworth86 said:
I was born and raised in southern california. If i was you i would flay into LA and leave,head north an hour and a half to a little town called Ojai(Its beautiful). There is a resort there Called the Ojai Valley Inn and has a descently priced spa package for the wife( its pricey to stay the night but there are some Great alternatives). Lake Casitas ( in Ojai) is one of the premier bass fishing lakes in CA but its hard to fish.I suggest getting guide ( mark Matrany of Ojai Anglers). The ocean is 15 min away and if if you are into ocean fishing I can point you to the right boat to go on ( i've worked deck on most of them).There is great golf and hiking in the area to. As far as turkey hunting goes you can use a bow, air rifle or shotgun. Big Sur is awsome but check out Carmel or Monterey. If you see a mad irish woman say hi, its my mom, she would be more than happy to give you some advice or show you a good pub. if you need anything else let me know.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips...I will definitely check out Ojais. I don't think I have heard anyone within a good word to say about LA - it's the only place I have been in CA as I was there for work and I stayed in Long Beach - it was ok but a bit touristy for me. The fishing sounds good and the advantage I have is that the wife won't want a spa day, she will want to come fishing! The disadvantage is she will probably out fish me!

I had a brief look for ocean fishing but I think was looking in the wrong location as they were all full charters whereas we would need a party boat type trip I think to keep the costs (I did a trip like that in Florida last year and despite being sceptical whether it was a "proper" fishing trip it was absolutely brilliant and probably the best value fishing I have had anywhere in the world).

We considered going south from LA as well towards San Diego...is it worth a visit?

OD
 
I used to live in Monterey. It is one of the best places in the world! I would highly recommend a visit to Point Lobos which is just south of Carmel. It's a beautiful wildlife area where you can walk around the point and see many types of ocean life. I would also recommend the Monterey bay aquarium. It is one of the top 5 aquariums in the world.

It's difficult to go wrong eating anywhere in the Monterey/Carmel area but here are a few places I would recommend: dinner restaurant - The Fishwife, the Tap Room at Pebble Beach, Monterey Fish House. Lunch - huge great sandwiches at Compagno's Market and deli, Oaxacan Mexican food at La Tortuga in Seaside, Turtle bay Taqueria is known for fish tacos. Dessert is at Rosine's ridiculous pieces of cake.

If you are a golfer, there are certainly something's you must do. Drive 17 mile drive into Pebble Beach. It's $500 for a round of golf, but it's free to park along the side of hole 17 in the coastal access parking and walk around the famous golf links. Get a few glimpses of the best golf course in the states as you drive through Cypress Point Golf Club. Then for practically nothing play a round of golf at Pacific Grove municipal golf links, commonly called "poor mans Pebble Beach" the front 9 is dull, but the back 9 is on the ocean and it is truly amazing to be able to golf a location like this for $40.

I am not much for the touristy places. I would suggest staying away from anyplace in any city called "fisher mans wharf" or "pier #__". They are almost all tourist traps which are lined with t-shirt shops and "I didn't know it was cold in San Francisco so I will be a San Francisco coat" shops.

However there are some very touristy things we found we enjoyed. Alcatraz in San Francisco is a must see. Book your tickets far in advance. If you can go on the last tour of the day, the sunset tour. They will operate the cell doors and do a few other special things on that tour they don't do throughout the day. While in San Francisco I would highly recommend taking in a Giants game. AT&T park is a great place to take in a ball game, Oco coliseum in Oakland is not (the sewage backs up into the locker rooms and bathrooms a couple times a year). The next 2 suggestions are a little odd and entertainment level can very some based on your tour guide, but we found over time our visitors always rather enjoyed these. The Winchester house in San Jose. Pretty much the heiress of the Winchester fortune went bat sh!t crazy and built the absolute strangest house ever conceived. Plus there is a good collection of old Winchester rifles to check out. The mystery spot in Santa Cruz. It's goofy, you know it's not real, yet it does such a trick on your brain you might just find yourself thinking this was an alien landing site. Plus it only $5. Some people love doing the Hearst castle tour, and I will say the place is incredible. However the day we went it was completely fogged in and we had a terrible tour guide.

There are some very good wines produced in the Carmel valley. If your trip is not going to make it Napa or Sonoma a quick stop at Chateau Julien for a wine tasting is a good idea and not out of the way coming up the coast.

If it's a nice sunny day while you are in the area go take a stroll down Carmel beach. It is the nicest beach not in Southern California.

I will think of some other suggestions for you, I am sure.

All this talk about Monterey, I am thinking I need to plan a vacation and go back!
 
Thank you - there are some great tips in there, my wife wants to go to Alcatraz (maybe I could leave her there haha!) but I wasn't that fussed but I do like the idea of the last tour there.

We have some friends over for dinner tomorrow (I am cooking them pheasant!) who have been to California quite a few times and so they are going to help us to put together a draft itinerary which should help planning and then I will ask you guys for any more local knowledge - primarily if there are places we really shouldn't go for safety reasons.

OD
 
If it was me I would skip anything south of LA and save it for a trip north of San Francisco(maybe Fort Bragg area). The reason I say this is because , in LA or south, a trip that should take 2hrs can easily turn into 5hr+. I ve drove from ventura to san diego many times and its taken me 3 hrs and other times its taken me 6hrs. As far as ocean fishing goes go to Ventura and check out Channel island sport fishing go on the Erna-b(its my dads boat) or the Aloha Spirit. Dont fall for the buy one get one free boats , they are cattle boats( no shoulder room). If you go during the weekday you should be able to get a ticket for around $60 a person but plan on spending 100 for food and what not. When your in the bay check out the jet boat ride, its kind of touristy but its a blast( look on you tube).
 
Everybody should do it once I guess. :confused:
Disneyland is #1 CA attraction and Venice Beach is #2.
My Bride and I have done it a few times, our kids live in Maria del Rea,so it's right there.
We do it ONLY in the Winter months though.
Summer I think would be even more insane. :eek:
 
Late April to early May is usually a key time for striped bass fishing in the delta and Sacramento river system. Lots of guides to choose from if you want to catch a striper, black bass, maybe an American Shad and all on the same trip if you ask to do it. Ocean salmon season should be open too with the best fishing starting at that time of year down off the Monterey/Half Moon Bay area. Lots of party boats or 6 Pack boats (max of 6 passengers) to choose from.
If you do play golf, go to the "Golf Now.com" website and look for Hot Deal tee times. You can save 50% or more. Lots of Indian casinos too if you like to gamble. Our Native Americans are doing a good job using them to get even for what we did to them in the 1800s.
Prepare your wife for the fact that although we all speak the same language the putative English speakers on our side of the pond tend to butcher it and her ears may start to bleed a little late in the trip. The upside is that at least you're not going to Louisiana or Mississippi. What they speak in the South makes my ears bleed.
 
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OD, when you return to England, look up Paul Sharman who writes for one of UK's major fishing publications. Paul is a great guy and even better angler who lived and fished in southern California while here on a work visa before returning to England. Make sure you tell him I sent you.
 
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