The beaches I hunt are more south. Like Coronado to La Jolla Shores but I often trek North to Laguna and such... I won't get into the water at Aliso or most beaches from Carlsbad north. It's super rough.. I've often watched people (usually older tourists) go out into the surf and get POUNDED until they can barely walk back in. There most certainly are awesome finds out there. Unfortunately it's just to dang hard to get in to....
As for Salt Creek it kind of sucks because you can't night hunt there. There is ZERO parking until 5am and that parking is a pay lot. I tried looking all around that area to park and walk but unless you hike a mile out, it's just not worth it.
If you ever wanna meet up sometime (preferably a night hunt on Sun Mon or Tues ) let me know.
I put the 11 on the CTX this morning and will be trying it out pretty soon again.. As of late, I've been using my Excal more than the CTX.