Chasing the Elusive Corbina in the Surf, with Al Quattrocchi

The Orvis Fly-Fishing Podcast

James Hathaway

Sports, Wilderness, Education, How To

4.8 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before you rule out this podcast because you don't live in southern California, you may want to listen to my interview with master saltwater fly fisher Al Quattrocchi [24:46] because he gives lots of great advice on fishing in the surf in general. You'll get tips on lines, leaders, approach, and how to find fish in the surf. So, whether you chase striped bass or redfish in the surf, I think you'll get some great tips here.

In the fly box this week, we have some great tips as well as interesting questions, including:
How can I keep my dropper tag from tangling around the standing part of the tippet?
How can I find out about etiquette on local rivers?
A tip from a listener on fishing streamers with a Euro rig in low, clear water
I am confused by fly casting instructions. Lefty Kreh recommended that we pretend our arm is on a shelf and then flick the wrist. Should I try casting this way?
My local river is high but there are some ephemeral side channels. Do you think these are worth fishing?
Is it true that tungsten beads will become expensive and hard to obtain?
A tip from a listener on using a Magic Eraser for cleaning cork grips.
I fish some tight, brushy rivers. Would it be better to get a trout Spey rod or a 10-foot 4-weight for fishing these streams?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and welcome to the Orvis Fly Fishing podcast.
0:15.8	This is your host Tom Rosenbauer.
0:17.6	And my guest this week is Alcatrochi. And if you do any saltwater fishing in
0:24.5	California, you probably know of Al. He's kind of Mr. Southern California saltwater fly fishing.
0:33.8	And Al is going to talk to us this week about fishing for Corbina.
0:39.3	Corbina is a fascinating fish.
0:42.2	I've never seen one.
0:43.6	I've never caught one.
0:44.8	But I've heard a lot about them.
0:46.0	And it sounds like really engaging fishing.
0:51.4	It's sight fishing.
0:52.9	It's site fishing in the surf and the fish are not easy to
0:57.8	catch. They're not terribly big, but they're big enough to give you a good battle. But they just
1:04.0	sound like a fascinating fish that are available to people who are, you know, not very far from the city. It's almost urban fishing
1:15.2	along the Southern California beaches. So available to nearly anybody with a fly rod. Now, if you're
1:22.6	not going to California, if you don't live in California, you're not planning and visiting there,
1:26.4	you still might get something out of this podcast because Al has a lot of good tips on general surf fishing, lines to use, leaders to use, approach, and some history of chasing Corbina with a fly rod, which is kind of some really interesting fly fishing history that I
1:47.5	didn't know about. So anyway, I think you'll join it if you're interested at all in any kind of saltwater
1:52.8	fly fishing. And before we do the flybox, just wanted to tell you about some Orvis endorsed
1:59.5	operations that you might be interested in
2:02.0	visiting this year. The first is independent guide E.J. Stern. E.J. is based in Wake Forest, North
2:09.8	Carolina, and he fishes the noose, the tar, the Eno, the Haw, and Cape Fear Rivers. He offers spring of shad and white bass fishing
	...

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