November 1997

Southern California

Imperial Beach Pier - John Munoz, at Cox Bait & Tackle, says things appear to be slowing down. There does continue to be a fairly steady catch of perch, bass and sting rays at the pier but the mackerel and other species have diminished. There haven't even been any reports of sharks lately.

Ocean Beach Pier - Vicente, at the Ocean Beach Pier Bait Shop, says fishing has been really good. The main headliner has been bonito which have been making an on again, off again appearance. There continues to be lots of mackerel, queenfish and salema for the bottom fishermen while anglers fishing at night continue to pull in leopard sharks and gray smoothhound sharks. Inshore, the sandy surf area is offering up barred surfperch and yellowfin croakers while anglers fishing the rocky side of the pier are pulling in some sheephead while using fresh mussels for bait. The pier was closed for part of the day on November 1st due to high waves.

Crystal Pier - Ben Szu reports that mostly what he is seeing is undersized bass, lots of smelt, and yellowfin croaker, again generally on the small side. Biggest excitement recently was a large sized shovelnose shark (guitarfish) that put up a good fight and had everyone on the pier watching until the line snapped. He's also seen quite a few white seabass (although he didn't say how large they were).

Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado) - Ritchie Reano reports that "fishing at the pier has been up and down during the month. Some days were dismal with no fish caught. Mackerel still make some good runs by the pier. When they do come by, usually early morning or late afternoon, they come in large numbers. Fish them with the usual bait rigs. A technique that I use is smallish size live smelt fished about 2 feet under a small bobber. In addition to mackerel, you can catch needlefish which provide an exciting aerial display when hooked. The halibut seem to have left the pier. Bass fishing is decent with the best catches at night. In talking with the night fisherman, the shark fishing seems to be quite good. Notable catches of the month: 1 lobster hooked on squid and a 14" smelt. The lobster was returned to the water."

Shelter Island Pier - Ed at the Shelter Island Pier Bait & Tackle shop reports good fishing and beautiful weather. Anglers continue to bag good numbers of mackerel while fishing the top with strips of squid while those who drop their baits (mussels and ghost shrimp) to the bottom are latching on to yellowfin croakers and sand bass. Mix in a few halibut and you've got some steady, if unspectacular action. Biggest news of the last week was a baby 10-pound black sea bass that was returned to the water.

Oceanside Pier - Carl, at the Oceanside Pier Bait & Tackle shop, says things are still hopping, although there aren't the number of fishermen that you found during the summer. Inshore, spotfin croaker and buttermouth perch continue to hit mussels and bloodworms. Further out, from the mid-pier area to the end, there have been huge schools of big sardines (10-12" range) which have been filling buckets for anglers so inclined. Carl says there are also a lot of sand bass and calico bass (kelp bass) being caught. Seems the life guards are stripping the mussels off the pilings in an attempt to lessen the weight of each in case El Nino storms hit the pier. The food which falls into the water by the removal of the mussels seems to be attracting scads of the tasty bass. Shark action is fair although lots of shovelnose sharks (guitarfish) and quite a few bat rays continue to add excitement. Carl said it was 80 degrees and beautiful the day I called (November 1st) and the water temperature remained a warm 68-69 degrees.

San Clemente Pier - Vivian, at the Pier Tackle shop, says that a lot of fish are still being caught. Out toward the end, anglers are finding the usual schools of mackerel but are also finding a lot of sardines mixed in with the Macs. Bass also are a winner and it sounds like one of the best years for bass. Shark fishermen continue to haul in good numbers of shovelnose guitarfish and big bat rays while the surf area is offering up some yellowfin croaker, spotfin croaker and sargo. An unusual catch this week was a needlefish, while families at night continue to bring in buckets of spiny lobster.

Aliso Beach Pier - Barbara, at the Seaside Cafe on the foot of the pier, for the 4,372 straight month, reports the same old thing -- mackerel and jacksmelt together with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Newport Pier - Bombermom reports she hasn't been able to get a group together to go fishing this month -- so no report. She wonders if they're any fishing clubs out there that might be interested in visiting the piers.

Seal Beach Pier - Bob at the Seal Beach Sportfishing shop, says that most anglers continue to pull in lots of jacksmelt and mackerel while the regulars have also managed to pull in quite a few keeper halibut recently. Inshore action remains strong for yellowfin croakers and spotfin croakers (but be sure to use the right bait -- ghost shrimp, fresh mussels or bloodworms). Part of the bait shop operation is moving into the marina on November 1st, although a bait shop and some half day boats will remain at the pier.

Belmont Pier - Winter, at the Belmont Pier Sportfishing shop, reports that good numbers of sand bass continue to be landed by pier anglers fishing out toward the end of the pier. The best success comes on frozen anchovies fished in the morning or early evening hours. A few corbina continue to be caught on fresh mussels inshore, some halibut are being picked up in the mid-pier area, and mackerel and sardines continue to make runs out near the end. When the mackerel are around, use Lucky Lura type riggings for the fish. Shark action is on and off.

Redondo Beach Sportfishing Pier (King Harbor) - Kevin, at Redondo Sporfishing, says almost all the action is on the bottom. Water temperature remains high and the bonito, and mackerel for the most part, have deserted the harbor for the open ocean. About the only mackerel have been a few flurries around sunset. Still, anglers fishing on the bottom with mussels, shrimp or small pieces of squid, are pulling in nice strings of sargo (up to 3 pounds), blue perch (halfmoons), and opaleye. Kevin says netters also continue to catch a lot of spider crabs but he really hasn't seen too many lobsters.

Hermosa Beach Pier - Don, at Just Fishing by Pete, (near the entrance to the pier) says that action still remains good on several species. There is a wide open bite on jacksmelt for anglers using bait rigs, especially the Hayabusa rigs, and some have been pretty good size. There also continue to be runs of mackerel and sardines although action has slowed on both species. Inshore, there continue to be a lot of sargo caught on fresh mussels, while good numbers of corbina continue to show up and regulars are getting them on soft shelled sand crabs and fresh mussels. There have also been quite a few sand bass showing up by the reef area as well as a few white seabass and small sharks. The city still hasn't decided when it will close the pier for repairs but it should be before the first of the year. If in doubt as to if the pier is open, call Don or Pete at 310-374-9388.

Santa Monica Pier - Yosh, at the Santa Monica Pier Bait & Tackle Company, reports that things have been real slow for the past two weeks. About the only steady action is on mackerel --although one fifteen pound halibut was landed last week. There continue to be good numbers of BIG corbina showing up in the surf area but no one so far has figured out a consistent way to get them to bite. Finally, action is slow on sharks. The water temperature is 66 degrees and Yosh feels action will pick up as the water cools.

Port Hueneme Pier - Valorie, at the Hueneme Pier Bait and Tackle Shop, says it's still the old standbys: jacksmelt, mackerel and sardines, and all are falling to the Filipino jigs sold at the store. Other than these schooling fish, about all she's seen lately was a couple of big corbina landed on fresh mussels.

Santa Barbara Wharf - Mike, at Mikes Bait & Tackle on the wharf reports a mixed bag of fish. Leading the list is BIG, bonito-size mackerel that sweep by the pier periodically, especially in the morning and late afternoon-evening hours. Good size guitarfish are also hitting (and Mike said he netted a 15-pounder just before I called). Some nice perch are also being caught: barred surfperch, buttermouth perch, and BIG, BIG pileperch. The key seems to be fresh mussels, and for the pileperch, remember to fish straight down, as close to the pilings as you can get. An unusual occurrence this past week was the discovery of a Maine lobster inside the lobster trap of one of the commercial spiny lobster fishermen. It is now a resident of the aquarium on the wharf.

Mike sent me an interesting message mid-month which said: "Yesterday afternoon a young fellow came out to Stearns Wharf with a light rod and reel. He purchased a bag of salted anchovies from me and went out toward the end of the wharf. About one hour later someone came into the shop and said that they needed my landing net out there.` I grabbed the net and took off to see what was up. A 32", 14 lb. Halibut was what was up! Six pound test line, two little split shots and a number 4 hook at the end with a salted anchovy on it. The fellow said that he was used to fishing in lakes and streams in the mountains and had never fished the ocean before." Another message, sent last week, said "Ken, the bonito are finally showing up at Stearns Wharf. This morning - first cast - 2 lb. Mackerel. 2nd cast with 1/2 oz. Silver Kastmaster - 4 lb. Bonito."

Goleta Pier - Boyd Grant reports that things may be starting to slow down at the local piers. Although he recently caught a 21" halibut at Goleta, and heard reports of a 37" flattie, the strikes have diminished. However, he also reports catching 20 mackerel and 10 jacksmelt on his most recent visit so fish are still out there. There have been additional reports of several legal white seabass caught at the pier but Boyd says he's been unable to confirm the reports so far.

Gaviota Pier - As mentioned above, action seems to be slowing. Boyd Grant said the best he could do during visits recently was a couple of short (15" and 12") halibuts. Still, there continues to be a lot of bait (smelt) in the water so larger fish are bound to show up now and then. He also added a message which might be of value to you the readers: "Recently I have been puzzled why even mackerel wouldn't take some of the frozen anchovy I had been using until I smelled it - it had obviously been dethawed and refrozen - it reeked of a varnish smell and the bait was discolored. When I switched to another bag I immediately began to catch mackerel again. Which brings up another point - why is bait not date stamped? I even got some bait which was so old or mistreated that the heads wouldn't stay on during even an underhand cast. When I mentioned it to the bait shop owner he vehemently denied any problem. Do your readers have any tips as to how to eyeball bait in the bag before buying it - since fresh bait makes all the difference". What do you say? Can we give some suggestions to Boyd? If you have any ideas send them to me (kjcapfsh@pacific.net) and I'll pass them on next month

Central California

Port San Luis Pier - Dave, at Avila Beach Sportfishing on the pier says the main action is on VERY BIG sardines, mackerel and jacksmelt. All are falling to bait rigs (sometimes fished under a bobber or balloon). The weather and water remain warm so action should continue to be decent for the time being.

Cayucos Pier - Glenda at the Tidepool (near the front of the pier) reports that action is slow. There's still a lot of jacksmelt, sardines and perch available, but she hasn't seen any halibut or sharks for the past couple of weeks. However, she says the weather is fabulous and she's finally having time to catch up on some of her off-season knitting.

San Simeon Pier - Joe, at Virg's Landing, San Simeon, says that there have been quite a few mackerel caught lately but that's about it except for some smaller (walleye?) perch. Things are slow.

Monterey Wharf #2 - Frank Guarrera, at The Compass Boat and Fishing Supplies, reports that the salmon fishing has slowed but that action on jack mackerel, jacksmelt and blue mackerel (Pacific mackerel) remains very strong. Most of these are falling to Lucky Lura type bait rigs. Fisherman continue to catch some nice sized rubberlip seaperch on pieces of squid or plastic grubs, while night fisherman continue to pull in some bat rays.

Capitola Wharf - Ed, at the Capitola Boat and Bait Shop, says that anglers continue to pull in the ever present kingfish (white croaker) and good numbers of jacksmelt, but the real news was the 8-pound striped bass caught this week as well as a couple of steelhead. The striper fell to an anchovy fished under a bobber while the steelhead fell to Krocodile lures. There has been a swell for a couple of days which dirtied the water, but last week ,when the water was clear, a school of about 70 striped bass came into the shallow water by the pier (and provided a little excitement for those on the pier). Perch fishing is also decent with a combination of barred surfperch and walleye surfperch providing most interest, although one young lady caught a 1 1/2 pound splittail perch (white seaperch). Mackerel action is good some days as is the fishing for sardines, and fishermen at night have been landing quite a few thornback rays (which they released). Evidently a few leopard sharks have also been falling to squid baits.

Santa Cruz Wharf - Cintra, at Andy's Bait & Tackle, reports that action is fairly slow. One lucky fisherman did land a 28 inch halibut, and another got a huge stingray (bat ray) but they were the exceptions. Most action is concentrated on mackerel and jacksmelt and there are good schools of both species. I asked if they've been catching any exotic species with the El Nino and she said that one regular did land an extremely colorful fish which he said was a tropical fish. But what kind? She didn't know.

Pacifica Pier - Tina, at the Community Bait & Tackle, says that action on striped bass has been good lately with most of the fish falling to bloodworms. There are also a few king salmon falling to anchovies or herring fished under a float, and lots of kingfish (white croaker), jacksmelt and perch available for those content with smaller fish. However, the last couple of days have seen some rougher weather and waves.

Brian Hoffman, in his excellent San Francisco Chronicle fishing report on the 23rd, said the following: " It makes no sense whatsoever, but the waters lapping up against the Pacifica Pier buttresses and touching on the beach are full of frisky, slashing striped bass. Nothing real big, mind you -- maybe three to eight pounds -- but there are plenty of them. The guy at the pier's bait/snack hut: "Don't know where they came from, but it's been 75 to 100 fish a day. Got in this morning, and they already had 10 or so. I know it's up to 25 now (3 p.m., or so). Looks like they just came from the bay, 'cause they still got broken lines." The tactic is about as basic as they come: toss out a pile worm, bloodworm or anchovy on a surf-fishing set-up and wait for a pick up. Getting less attention is the fantastic perch fishing. There are walleye and redtail perch, up to three pounds, hitting bits of grass shrimp and pile worm. One for the calendar...The sport Dungeness crab opener is November 8 so stake out a spot along the rail (north side, about three-quarters of the way out)."

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Shoreline Piers - My daughter Kim reports that she stopped by some piers but about all she saw were the normal species. The San Francisco Municipal Pier showed a few walleye and silver surfperch, together with some small sharks. The Fort Point Pier had some black seaperch and small brown rockfish - - and lots of crabs. The Oyster Point Pier hasn't shown much at all although schools of jacksmelt occasionally swim by. Finally, the San Mateo Bridge Pier continues to produce brown smoothhound and leopard sharks -- as well as bat rays at night.

Berkeley Pier - Jeff Green, who fishes the pier about once a week, reports that most of the recent action has been on sharks. It's generally catch and release fun on the brown smoothhound sharks and leopard sharks (and he's caught about 25 in the last month). He says he has also seen a few striped bass caught, some kingfish (white croaker), and schools of jacksmelt that come and go. When the smelt are present, bloodworms are the key bait. He says there have also been some nights when the bat rays go crazy and he and his friends catch the rays one after another. The rays are hauled to the surface of the pier with crab nets and then released to fight again another day. Bravo!

Point Pinole Pier - The Angler's Edge reports that striped bass action has slowed a little. Most stripers are being caught on anchovies or plugs used during outgoing tides. Kingfish (white croaker) and sharks are also hitting on outgoing tides and one sturgeon was caught two weeks ago.

Vallejo Pier - closed for repairs.

Antioch Bridge Fishing Pier - The Angler's Edge reports that anglers continue to haul in striped bass on anchovies and sardines. The largest striper recently was 26 inches long. Unusual catches recently were two five-pound catfish.

McNear Beach Fishing Pier (San Rafael) - John, at Western Boat & Tackle, says that action has been good out on the pier for small striped bass with most hitting on grass shrimp. Anglers patient enough to fish with live bullheads (staghorn sculpin) are also pulling in a few bigger fish. He also said that the sturgeon have been jumping for nearly a month around the pier but the first fish wasn't landed until this week. Sturgeon action seems just around the door. Anglers fishing from the docks and piers in Sausalito continue to pull in a nice mixture of perch when they use pile worms or grass shrimp for bait.

Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier - Keith reports that he caught a 30 inch striper using anchovies and a sliding sinker rig. This private pier is the long pier which sits next to the north end of the San Rafael-Richmond Bridge -- geographically midway between the McNears Beach Pier and the Paradise Beach Pier.

Elephant Rock Pier - closed for repairs.

Northern California

Spud Point Marina Pier (Bodega Bay) - Patty, at Wil's Bait & Tackle, says that perch fishing is fantastic. Anglers are getting buckets of striped seaperch and silver surfperch when using pile worms for bait. Spots to try include the Spud Point Marina Pier and local docks around the bay. Good numbers of jacksmelt are also falling to fisherman and huge numbers of rock crabs are being brought up by the crab netters. Biggest talk remains the 82-pound albacore caught from one of Wil's boats -- a potential world record fish.

Point Arena Pier - Reports from the pier indicate that the normal mixture of striped seaperch, kelp greenling, cabezon and lingcod continue to provide sport for anglers. Some schools of smelt are also showing up as did a couple of small salmon but the first four species provide most of the action. Remember to use pieces of shrimp, fresh mussels and pile worms for bait.

Del Norte Street Fishing Pier (Eureka) - Ralph at Bucksport Tackle says that anglers are still pulling in a few perch from the local piers. Most of the perch are pileperch but mixed in will be a few redtail surfperch, walleye surfperch and silver surfperch (and most are caught on tube worms). Halibut fishing has slowed but anglers fishing at night continue to pull in some sharks -- both leopard and sand sharks (brown smoothhound), together with some bat rays. He says he has also heard reports that this may be one of the best years for Dungeness crabs in quite some time.

"B" Street Pier (Crescent City) - Linda at Popeye's Bait & Tackle reports that the winds been a blowin' and it has put a damper on the fishing. When calm, schools of jacksmelt and Spanish mackerel continue to offer good sport. They are generally caught on bait rigs sweetened with a piece of shrimp or worm . One angler nabbed a large bat ray the other night on squid but perch action is slow. She says the real action is at the nearby Whaler's Island which sits across the harbor. There, anglers are catching sacks of black snapper (black rockfish) and lingcod from the rocks.

Kevin Atwell (Loxley, Alabama)
Richard Kenway (Flint, Michigan)
David Thornton (Mobile, Alabama)
Daniel Franks (Sparks, Nevada)
Gordon Holland (Vinita, Oklahoma)
Patrick Whalen (Canoga Park, California)
David Goings (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Joyce Evans (Suisun City, California)
Bud Raridon (Dana Point, California)
Ariel Blason (Walnut Creek, California)
Scott Strickland (San Jose, California)
and Henry Chi (Los Angeles, California).

If you're a "pier rat," a regular who fishes on one of these piers, knows the ins-and-outs of the pier, and knows what is being caught, send me a message and I'll make you a monthly reporter. You may not make any money, and you may not get much glory, but at least you'll help make this the best pier fishing site in the universe.