I stood on the sand at Doheny, watching each wave as it crashed, then receded backward leaving nothing but a new layer of wet sand.
“Here, fishy fishy fishy…” I chanted to myself.
Nothing. The grunion were late. The small fish are usually spot on, coming to spawn on shore exactly when the tide predictions say they are supposed to. Their expected arrival time of 11:15 p.m. had long past, and it was getting closer to midnight.
Then, the rain started.
My nice little chant quickly turned into a desperate plea.
“Come oooon, fishies!!!!!”
I started walking fast toward tower 12, my pants sticking to my legs as they dampened. I quickly made my way up to the lifeguard stand, taking cover with the rest of the people on the beach who had forgotten an umbrella.
The Grunion Greeter event last Friday down at Doheny State Beach – put on annually by the state folks – had been cancelled because of the freak storms that hit. CLICK HERE to see the KDOC segment I had on it this week.
But that didn’t stop a few dozen people who desperately wanted to see the grunion running, a fascinating fish frenzy where the slimy, silver creatures are washed up to shore during a full moon to make sweet love on the sand.

“I think this might be a first for the whole family,” said Jesse Gonzales, who brought his son down from Orange to see the run. “I always see it in the movies. It’s supposed to be a romantic thing, I guess.”
Well, I guess it is a romantic moment for the fish. When washed up to shore, the females lay their eggs in a hole, then the males are washed up and do their thing in the hole and viola, babies are made. 

I had seen grunion running since I was a kid, and the late-night science lesson was one of my favorite memories with my dad.
The grunions are found only along the coast in Southern California and northern Baja. They come up on shore to lay eggs only during spring and summer months. The eggs stay in the ground for about 2 weeks before hatching.
I chatted with Linda Daly, who brought the family down to make memories with her family.
“I saw it when I was in high school 20 years ago,” she said.

“They (my family) love watching nature shows, so I thought it was a good way to see it in real life, instead of the television.”
Brendan, 3, had a light held on his forehead by a strap wrapped around his head, so his parents could keep an eye on him. The family held onto hot chocolate they picked up at nearby Arco.
His father, Desmond, said the cancelled event wasn’t going to stop them from checking the grunion out.
“The fish are going to show up anyway, they’re on their own schedule, not our schedule,” he said.
It was apparent the grunion were on their own time table, as the grunion groupies stood on the sand, flashing the lights into the water, trying to find any sign of fish flopping around.
But at about 11:45 p.m., scout grunions were starting to show on the sand – many earning a dreadful fate by the birds waiting on the shore to scoop them up.
I was walking toward tower 13 when I started chatting with Victor Carreon, who watched a video I did at last year’s event before showing up. Yup, if you Google “grunion and Doheny,” I’m the first video that comes up. How’s that for a claim to fame?
Well, last year they came in much better numbers, with thousands being washed up, on time, under dry skies, to the delight of hundreds of spectators. Past years have drawn up to 1,500 people. But Friday’s adventure had its own uniqueness – few grunions showing up, with just a few people on the sand determined enough to wait out the rain. 
 “This is really, really cool,” said Josh Carreon, 12. “It looks really cool when they wobble out of the sand. I want more fishies!”
Me too!!!

Did you miss it? They’ll be out for a while

The grunion’s peak months are 3-4 nights after the new and full moon. They run through August, but the best months are now through June. You can’t catch grunion during April and May. During other months, they can be picked up with only bare hands, and a fishing license is required for anyone 16 and over.
Click here for a full schedule.

If you want to eat them:

Here’s a recipe if you want to eat them. Put them in a pan with a little oil and squeeze some lemon on them, and cook like bacon. Bones are soft, so you can eat the whole fish. Got an e-mail from Mike Green, who warns that you must descale them by running a knife backwards from tail to head to get the scales off. “I ate them as a kid in Santa Ana, then 18 years out of California came back to Ventura and got some grunion.  Forgot to scale them and they were terrible.   Most people
also gut them first too.  They look and taste like fresh water smelt that you find in the midwest, only smelt don’t have the heavy scales.”

Here’s an insider tip: Halibut love to eat grunion, so many people will shorefish during grunion runs to try and catch halibut.

Have you seen them? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

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