The Beverly Hillbillies Grunion Invasion show aired in 1971.

The headline of the Malibu Sandpiper screamed “Grunion Invasion Tonight” in the largest font possible to allow the three words in a single row. Granny came from the kitchen with a double-barrel shotgun, sounding the alarm; Jethro, from outdoors with a carbine; Jed from the parlor with a muzzle-loader; Ellie May, last but never least, bounding down the stairs with her slingshot.

This mustering of troops came about because Mr. Drysdale didn’t want to lose any of ol’ Jed’s money from the bank after Jed decided he wanted to sponsor an ocean-research project with forty-eight million dollars – something Drysdale couldn’t fathom with his shallow mindset, so he concocted the ‘Invasion’ story based on the headline.

If you need to add to the grunion invasion conspiracy theory, one of the top oceanographers in history, Columbus O'Donnell Iselin, died the very night the Beverly Hillbillies’ Grunion Invasion show aired in 1971 (season 9, episode 13).

Either way, the grunions from the island of Grun have not yet been thwarted and they will begin their annual assault on southern California and northern Baja beaches this weekend. The second hour of the second day during each run is usually the best, so Sunday just before midnight to 1AM or so might be the better time to ‘defend the beachhead’. Grunion can be collected by hand only during March, June, July and August runs, and there is no bag limit other than the advised ‘only what you can use’. During April and May runs, the spawning grunion are protected and there is no take.