Despite the best of planning, it requires luck. Yet, now is the time to try, as the unusual fish that live in waters off the California coast begin their highly stylized spawning rituals on Southern California beaches.
Females dig their tails into the sand to lay eggs, which are then fertilized by several males.
Then the fish flop about until the surf washes them back out to sea. You have to be in the right place at the right time. When a small party met Thompson recently to scour county beaches during the last prime night for finding grunion, the surf fishers saw none for hours. It didn't help the disappointment that a young couple strolling Ocean Beach enthused about the multitudes of grunion that had slithered about the previous night at the same spot. Like fishing with lines, hooks and bait, grunion spotting has as its lore such things as the run that got away or the rich cache just a beach away.