Float tube fishing in San Diego Bay:

Gear, Tricks and "Secret Spots!"

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An introductory look at gear and techniques, with considerations of the elements of tide and weather, followed by tips on fishing all the "secret spots" at Tidelands, Glorietta Bay, Liberty Station at both Corvette Diner and Farragut, Grand Caribe, Bayside Park and J Street Marina. 

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Mel's Bio

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Brief Bio of Mel Ochs for SDFF Presentation Mel Ochs is an Iowa farm kid who is a relative “newbie” to fly fishing. He went to the University of Iowa Medical School and was brought to San Diego courtesy of the Navy as a Flight Surgeon stationed at North Island in 1969. He became the first career Emergency Physician in San Diego County (“which means that I am OLD!”) and retired in 2017 after 47 years as Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Bay General/Scripps Mercy Chula Vista Hospital.

 

His son, Chris, in Colorado introduced him to fly fishing with a trip to Alaska in 2018…”but you have to learn to fly cast before you come up!” Enter Stroud’s, Lake Murray and many mentors later, and he became one of the instructors at Lake Murray, and was “drafted” by Bob Pharoah into heading the Wednesday Bay Fly Fishing group, and was “drafted” to the San Diego Fly Fishers Board of Directors by then-President Jim Castelluzzo, who was searching for “someone who could type.”

 

He gives 1 on 1 “Fly tying 101” instructions to some folks at his home, and has a couple extra float tubes and gear to take newcomers out on the Bay for their introduction to fly fishing from a float tube in the Bay. He fly fishes almost always in the Bay with only rare local fresh water trips with Club Outings but goes out weekly on Wednesdays and once a month on Saturdays for the folks that are working mid-week. He does not believe in “secret spots” to fish and likes to share information on where to fish in the Bay and what flies are catching fish. “Come fish with us.”