June '97

Southern California

Imperial Beach Pier - John Munoz at Cox Bait & Tackle says things are picking up. Most attention has been on halibut and corbina with the halibut being caught midway to the end of the pier, and the corbina in the surf area. The inshore areas also kick out a few barred surfperch, spotfin croakers, and yellowfin croakers, but corbina has been the prize. Deeper waters are also seeing a few bonito but so far the barracuda are absent. Mackerel schools are thick one day and missing the next; the mac attack just isn't present yet. Ditto on tom cods (white croaker); some are being caught but they aren't thick There are however an increasing number of herring (queenfish) and small sand perch (walleye?). Shark action is slow although a few shovelnose sharks (guitarfish) have been landed as well as a few thresher sharks. Water temperature is up to 70 degrees so fishing should starting getting better and better.

Ocean Beach Pier - Chuck at the Ocean Beach Bait Shop says the action is the best so far this year. Water has warmed to 71 degrees and it seems to have brought barracuda and bass (kelp bass) with it. Most of the fish are being landed on live anchovies (which are available at the bait shop) but some are also being landed on lures. Check at the shop to see what is working the best. Anglers continue to catch lots of mackerel, mostly on Pescadero bait rigs, while the queenfish action is steady but not spectacular. Halibut action has been poor, only a few fish and most of them too small to keep. Anglers do continue to pull in leopard sharks and bat rays including some pretty good size fish; most fall to squid and fishing is generally better in the p.m. hours.

Shelter Island Pier - Buddy Hanks at his Shelter Island Pier Bait & Tackle reports a continued good run of bonito. In fact, he says it's as good as he has seen it in his sixteen years at the pier. He also says they're a nice size, averaging 2 1/2 to 3 pounds each. Lots of sand bass, a few calico bass (kelp bass), and halibut are also being caught. Most of the halibut are short but there are a few keepers every day and one angler landed a nice 32" fish. Most fish are being caught on live anchovies. Mackerel are also abundant; they fall to live bait or strips of squid. Rounding out the action are yellowfin croaker (mostly caught on mussels) and white seabass (averaging 20" and thus illegal). At night, a few sharks and rays continue to fall to anglers using squid for bait. Down the bay, Embarcadero Pier anglers are also doing good on bonito and mackerel. There, the anglers have to use lures or frozen anchovies, but they still are catching a lot of fish. Big leopard sharks are on hand too, some to nearly 5-feet in length. Buddy says that if the Embarcadero Pier had live bait (which it doesn't) it would be even better than Shelter Island.

Oceanside Pier - Charley at the Oceanside Pier Bait & Tackle shop says the water is warming up (70 degrees) and the fishing is getting hot. Top news has been the number of halibut landed along with a lot of big croakers, both spotfin and yellowfin. The halibut are hitting all around the pier with the best bait being anchovies or live bait that has been snagged; most days are seeing 3-5 keepers. The croakers are hitting inshore and are smacking fresh mussels and bloodworms. Buckets of mackerel are being caught at the end of the pier, most on bait rigs, and they're running a nice 1-2 pounds in size. White seabass are also being taken out toward the end but almost all are shorts -- and make sure you don't keep them. Finally, although perch fishing is slow, quite a few sculpin (California scorpionfish) are being landed and they're one of the best tasting pier fish.

Dumb move of the Memorial Day weekend was the capture of a black sea bass weighing around 150 pounds. It took three drops of a treble hook gaff to snag the fish and then four people were needed to haul it up onto the pier. These fish are of course illegal and the smart move would have been to simply cut the line when the angler saw what it was. Instead, the determined angler heading down the pier dragging his catch behind him -- only to meet the game warden. A severe fine will be the result; perhaps in the two grand, $2,000 category. TRULY DUMB!!! (By the way, a more positive story concerns a black sea bass taken far to the north in San Francisco Bay. A halibut fisherman (on a boat) pulled in a blackie estimated to weigh about fifty pounds. Deckhands quickly netted the fish, removed the hook, and gently lowered him/her back into the water. That was the right thing to do. Let these fish make a comeback!!!)

Huntington Beach Pier - Our reporter, Audrey Kim, reports that fishing was hot until about a week ago when things slowed. Anglers were getting a mixed bag with some nice sized barred surf perch and quite a few sharks at night. He says one angler hooked and landed a 50+ pound black sea bass which was spirited away to the car. Dumb move! Like the fellow at Oceanside (see the report above), the angler is liable for a severe fine. PLEASE, let these magnificent fish grow, have some babies, and repopulate our waters.

Seal Beach Pier - Aara at the Seal Beach Sportfishing shop on the pier reports a good mix of fish. Most attention has been on halibut with quite a few keepers showing up lately. The flatfish are caught on live bait (herring or smelt) or on frozen anchovies. Anchovies also accounted for a 29-inch white seabass as well as several smaller fish. Some sand bass are also showing up as are an occasional school of mackerel. The smaller species, tom cod (white croaker) and herring (queenfish) appear to be increasing and when they do, all of the fishing improves. Aara didn't have a report on surf species this month although last month saw good counts on all the familiar species -- barred surfperch, corbina, yellowfin croaker, and spotfin croaker

Redondo Beach Sportfishing Pier (King Harbor) - TC at Redondo Beach Sportfishing says that live anchovies have been the key at the pier. Anchovies are available on the weekend and on those days the anglers out toward the end of the pier (and only 8-10 will fit) are almost guaranteed their 5-fish limit. On weekdays, when the live anchovies are unavailable, few bonito will be hooked -- although a few will be landed on lures. Pacific mackerel continue to fill buckets during early morning and evening hours; the macks will hit almost any bait but seem to be driven away during the daylight hours by the sea lions. Bay bass (spotted sand bass) are being caught by anglers tossing out plastic lures -- but they're also primarily being caught during the morning and evening hours. Inshore, the action is a little slow although a number of opaleye (up to 4-pounds) have been landed recently on fresh mussels, as well as a few sargo.

Hermosa Beach Pier - Don at Just Fishing by Pete says that things are about ready to break loose. El Nino is coming (it's already here in spots) and this should be one of those years when the anglers are catching big game fish like yellowtail and white seabass from the pier. The first barracuda showed up last week and some bonito were also caught -- including a five pounder. In addition, a few calicos (kelp bass) have added spice to angler's bags. Most people however are still concentrating on corbina in the shallow waters, and the mackerel, which are found out toward the end of the pier. Most corbina, some to an impressive five pound size, are falling to fresh mussels. The mackerel are being caught on bait rigs such as the Lucky Luras - using a size 6 or 4 hook. Bait rigs also continue to hook jacksmelt and sardines for those so inclined. The normal perch bite is slow and the zebra perch never showed up -- except for one lone fish which hit a plastic grub. Don says the grub must have gotten covered with moss somehow for a zebra to hit it! Sharks continue to be sporadic, mainly shovelnose sharks (guitarfish), although two threshers were reported last week. Look for a great summer!

Venice Pier - closed for repairs.

Santa Monica Pier - 'D' at the Santa Monica Pier Bait & Tackle Company reports that red tide has surrounded the pier for the past few weeks and it has really hurt the fishing. However, some fish are still being caught. In fact, there has been a really good run on yellowfin croaker in the inshore areas -- and fresh mussels are the bait of choice. A few small corbina are also falling to mussels in that area as well as baby leopard sharks that are hitting on sand crabs (and the leopards must be released if you hook one). Out at the end, anglers are mainly getting the smaller varieties: lots of sardines and herring (queenfish), mackerel off and on, some tom cod (white croaker), and a few perch. Anglers continue to pull in a few keeper halibut but things really will not get hot until the red tide disappears.

Malibu Pier - closed for repairs.

Port Hueneme Pier - Pete at the Hueneme Pier Bait and Tackle Shop reports lots of mackerel and crabs. The mackerel are hitting the Filipino bait rigs while spider crabs and red rock crabs are falling to those with crab nets. Inshore, anglers continue to land a few barred surfperch on fresh mussels and bloodworms. Meanwhile, further out on the pier, jacksmelt continue to be available to people using bait rigs sweetened with a piece of worm or fish. Shark action has slowed although some big bat rays (including a four-foot-long fish) are being taken at night. No halibut have been recorded.

Santa Barbara Wharf - Mike at Mikes Bait & Tackle on the wharf reports excellent action on a plethora of different species. Bucket loads of mackerel lead the action but the real news is that sand bass, calico bass (kelp bass), barracuda and even lingcod have been falling to anglers bait. Mackerel are hitting strips of squid while most of the other species are hitting on anchovies -- although Mike says the barracuda are hitting on everything including artificial lures. The barracuda probably reflect the increase in water temperature while the lingcod are a real mystery fish. What the cold-water, rock-loving lings are doing around the pier isn't clear, but a number of lings have been caught in the past few weeks. Most, unfortunately, are under the legal size limit. Halibut are somewhat of a mystery too. Quite a few of the flatties have been landed, including some legal fish, but most are falling to salted anchovies while overlooking fresh and frozen anchovies -- go figure. Shark fisherman aren't getting many sharks, but they are getting a lot of shovelnose guitarfish (up to about four feet in size), as well as thornback rays, even though it's early in the season for both.

Central California

Pismo Beach Pier - Troy from Sheldon's Clam Stand reports that fishing continues to be lousy. Most anglers are catching only jacksmelt (on bait rigs) or smallish walleye surfperch. Not much else has been around. Mackerel are absent and the barred surfperch count has dropped. Shark fishermen at night do continue to pull in some sharks and rays with about 6-7 thresher sharks reported recently - to 45 pounds in weight. The one good report is that the winds have died down and the water temperature is up to 58-60 degrees so fishing should improve.

Port San Luis Pier - Rob from Avila Beach Sportfishing on the pier reports a mixed bag. Perch action has been good with anglers catching a good number of barred surfperch, rubberlip seaperch and pileperch this last week. Fish down around the pilings and use fresh mussels or pile worms! Halibut action has also picked up with most of the flatties being caught on the live bait which is now available at the sportfishing shop (bring your own bucket); the shop has both anchovies and sardines and they're well worth the price. Mackerel have been absent, but kingfish (white croaker) are still around, and a few bat rays continue to be caught at night on squid. Biggest news recently was a 12-foot thresher shark landed on the pier (body six feet, tail six feet). Unfortunately, the fish may have been sick and it may have been snagged by the angler.

Cayucos Pier - Glenda at The Tidepool in Cayucos says that most anglers are concentrating on perch or halibut. Surfperch continue to show up in the surf area and continue to fall to fresh mussels and bloodworms. Halibut continue to bite angler's lines further out on the pier. Most are being landed on live bait snagged by the fishermen - smelt, anchovies or shinerperch. Some jacksmelt are also being caught, most on multi-hook riggings baited with a small piece of worm, squid or anchovy. Sharks and rays continue to be caught at night but none were the special fish seen the last few months.

San Simeon Pier - Ann from Virg's Landing, San Simeon, reports that action is still slow. Most action centers on barred surfperch and rubberlip seaperch with both being landed on mussels and clams. Some kingfish (white croaker) are still around but she hasn't seen too many. "Shark anglers" continue to pull in a few fish at night but most of the "sharks" turn out to be bat rays. Boat fishing has been great -- including lots of big lingcod.

Monterey Wharf #2 - Frank Guarrera at The Compass Boat and Fishing Supplies, at the foot of the wharf, reports that fishing has been up and down. Most action has centered on schools of Pacific mackerel and sardines that seem to invade the pier waters for a couple of days and then leave. When present, the anglers are getting bucket loads of fish while using bait rigs. A few dedicated regulars also manage to pull in some halibut and sole, together with bat rays at night, but for most people the fishing is slow. Perch are absent, most have moved to the beaches north of Monterey. So far, it's been a pretty slow year at this pier.

Capitola Wharf Roslynn at the Capitola Boat and Bait Shop says it is kind of up and down, good one week and slow the next. Best action currently is on smallish sized walleye surfperch. Most fish are falling for pieces of shrimp and anchovies, while some are being caught on small jigs. A few halibut are being landed, including a 24-pounder two weeks ago, but action still isn't fast. The same with kingfish (white croaker) and mackerel. Schools of mackerel will surround the pier one day, and be gone the next. She says she hasn't seen any sharks or rays recently.

Santa Cruz Wharf - Andre at Andy's Bait & Tackle says that things are finally picking up. Anglers have been getting quite a few halibut, lots of perch, and some nice green lingcod. The halibut have been mainly caught on live bait which was snagged by anglers (or on frozen anchovies). The perch, both barred surfperch and rubberlip seaperch, are caught inshore and falling to fresh mussels, bloodworms and pile worms. The lingcod are being caught on a variety of baits, both live and dead -- and at different spots out toward the end of the pier. Andre hasn't seen any mackerel lately but anglers do continue to land a lot of kingfish (white croaker) and crabbers continue to pull in crabs - although they are now rock crabs instead of the large spider crabs seen earlier in the year. Andre says bait must be in the water since a school of dolphin was about 30 yards off the pier when I called -- and he's also seen quite a few whales lately. Two unusual catches were made lately, both by Andre. He caught what he thinks were two sculpin (California scorpionfish) in the last two weeks. Santa Cruz is the northern limit of these fish and one of the fish, which weighed 5 pounds, would have set a state record for the species. I didn't have the heart to tell him the latter information.

Pacifica Pier - Tina at the Community Bait & Tackle says that fishing is still slow. She says the crabbers are doing fine on Dungeness crabs and rock crabs but the fishing is just so-so. Anglers continue to pull in kingfish (white croaker), lots of flyfish (and I don't know what those are -- she says they are shaped like a smelt), and some halibut. The halibut are generally being landed on frozen anchovies or a live bait which has been snagged - small perch or smelt. What's going on here? It wasn't too many months ago that I called this the best pier in the state yet for the past few months action has been terrible -- the Gods must be against me, or crazy (stupid movie pun). Plus, could someone explain to me what these flyfish are? We had gillfish in Santa Cruz in March and I never did figure out what they actually were.

By the way, Audrey Kim, one of our southland reporters, sent me the following interesting note after a mid-month visit to Pacifica. "Hi Ken, It's your Huntington Beach reporter with a question I haven't been able to get answered yet from everyone I've asked. Thursday, I went crabbing and fishing at Pacifica Pier, and caught your usual assortment of small croakers and rock crabs. Then, at about 11:30 p.m. (we started fishing at 8:30-9 pm), we pulled up this alien looking huge crab in our net (we were at the very end of the L shaped pier). We were hesitant to even pull it onto the pier. It had a huge bulbous backend that narrowed down to a point where its head was. It had 5 large and long legs on each side, with negligible claws. I'm not sure how big it was but my guess is 8-10 inches thereabouts. We kept it and a friend took it home. The other crabbers on the pier couldn't identify it. Any ideas? I'd appreciate any help." We have communicated back and forth several times since then and our best guess at this time is that it was a type of spider crab. Any crabbers out there who have a better idea?

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Shoreline Piers - Bob at Hi's Tackle Box in San Francisco says that the boat fishing has been so good that he hasn't had too many reports on the pier fishing. Local piers have seen a few halibut (especially at Berkeley Pier), he's heard of a few stripers by the Pacifica Pier, and a few early season salmon on the piers by the Golden Gate -- Fort Point on the south end of the Gate and Fort Baker at the north end of the Gate. Other than a few perch and jacksmelt, he hasn't had many reports.

Luckily, my daughter Kimberly has been doing some scouting for me. She reports seeing perch (rainbow seaperch, rubberlip seaperch and white seaperch at Fort Point along with some small cabezon and brown rockfish. Anglers said jacksmelt move in and out, and that a couple of salmon and halibut have also been landed. Anglers at Fort Mason, Pier 7 and the Ferry Landing Pier all showed about the same action -- a few kingfish (white croaker), some jacksmelt, and an occasional shark (brown smoothhound and leopard) together with some smaller size bat rays. South Bay piers have shown a drop in action. The Candlestick Point Pier, Oyster Point Pier, and Robert E. Woolley Peninsula Park Pier in Burlingame continue to see schools of jacksmelt, some striped bass and less and less halibut. The halibut are out there but primarily falling to boat anglers. Further south, at the San Mateo Pier and the Dumbarton Pier, anglers are starting to show a more normal summertime type of fishing; sharks and an occasional perch, jacksmelt, kingfish or other type of fish. Sturgeon continue to show up on boats in the area but few are being landed at the piers. In almost every case, the perch are falling to pile worms or grass shrimp, the jacksmelt to worms, and the other fish to cut anchovies.

Berkeley Pier - Scott at the Berkeley Marina Sports Center says that the halibut bite remains excellent off the end of the pier. Anglers are catching 10-20 keeper halibut per day off the end of the pier on live shinerperch (which are now available at the bait shop). A few striped bass are also being caught and two nice sized leopard sharks were landed at the end of the pier - on squid. Inshore anglers continue to pull in jacksmelt and rubberlip seaperch on pile worms and grass shrimp while kingfish (white croaker) have been sparse. An occasional bat ray shows up, mostly at night. The boats by the way are doing fantastic. The day I called, all the salmon boats were back to the dock by 2:30 with limits of salmon - to 24 pounds; the halibut boat reported 24 halibut (to 30 pounds) and 7 striped bass (to 19 pounds) for the 10 anglers. Limits, as usual, for the rockcod boats.

Point Pinole Pier - It sounds like summertime type action according to The Anglers' Edge. Striped bass action is hot for anglers fishing the inshore area with plugs or shad. Further out on the pier, kingfish (white croaker) fall to anchovies on incoming tides while bat rays and sharks continue to fall for anchovies and squid. An occasional school of jacksmelt also moves through the area and likes nothing better than to dine on a sweet looking little pile worm (ugh). Perch action has slowed with the exception of an occasional lost specimen.

Vallejo Pier - closed for repairs.

Antioch Bridge Fishing Pier - Our new reporter, Mark Grim, a.k.a. pier angler, reports that striped bass are now present at the pier although most are undersize 10-15 inch fish (and they have to be 18 inches long to keep). Hoards of the smaller fish are being caught -- he caught and released 20 fish in the two hours he fished during his last visit. He says most of the larger stripers are caught on the east side of the pier -- on the inshore third of the pier. He also says anchovies are the bait of choice for the stripers. Most of the other species common to the pier are absent at this time. Sturgeon, salmon and steelhead are more common in the winter months while catfish action will improve as the summer nears. He says to bring a variety of bait; best choices include grass shrimp, shad, clams and worms. Do be careful because a fishing license is required on this pier. He also says to use caution because of the strong currents at this and other Carquinez/Suisun Bay piers; a man jumped from the pier on the 24th of May and his body is still missing. (Kent Botello of Oakley landed a 25.5 pound striped bass on frozen shad -- Anglers' Edge.)

McNear Beach Fishing Pier (San Rafael) - John at Western Boat & Tackle says there continues to be a mix of fish at the North Bay piers. Anglers at the McNear Beach Pier report a few perch, starry flounder, and tom cod, together with an occasional striped bass, but that's it. A lot of sturgeon are jumping out of the water but they're not biting. Over at the Paradise Beach Pier the pier fishermen are watching lucky anglers, fishing in the boats just out from the pier, land a lot of nice halibut; unfortunately there haven't been many on the pier itself. Toward the Gate, at the Sausalito piers, anglers continue to pull in a mixed bag of perch -- striped seaperch, blackperch, white seaperch, rainbow seaperch, walleye surfperch and silver surfperch. The perch are falling for both pile worms and grass shrimp.

Elephant Rock Pier - closed for repairs.

Northern California

Spud Point Marina Pier (Bodega Bay) - Judy at Wil's Bait & Tackle had knee surgery and hasn't been able to get much information. However, she says people are buying lots of pile worms and that usually means the perch are biting. If it is the normal action, there should be some pileperch, striped seaperch, and black seaperch out by the Spud Point Marina Pier. There should be those fish, along with white seaperch and jacksmelt, over by the Lucas Wharf and Tides Wharf -- together with some sharks and bat rays. Judy, hope you get better!!!

Point Arena Pier - Bill Pettigrew, the Harbormaster reports it's the same-o, same-o species. Most of the fish being caught are rainbow perch (striped seaperch) with some approaching three pounds in size. A few keeper lingcod, some good size sea trout (kelp greenling) and an occasional cabezon round out the action. He says he did see one China cod taken, but that's all. No monster octopus this month.

I was over to the pier on Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend and did terrible -- only 4 striped seaperch in two hours (although they were all good size fish). The minus tides were all wrong for fishing -- but they were great for the abalone divers. Almost every parking spot was taken by divers going after the delicious creatures (although quite a few surfers were also taking advantage of some very good waves). What I found most amazing was that some of the divers were diving in the reefs which run along the south side of the pier -- and some were swimming in areas which a good cast would have reached. It was kind of frustrating for the fishermen on the pier -- although people seemed to be remarkably good spirited. The morning was beautiful (until the wind came up) and it was the kind of day that makes you appreciate the beauty of the Mendocino coast. In fact, it was the kind of day when it didn't really matter if you caught any fish.

Del Norte Street Fishing Pier (Eureka) - The good folks at Bucksport Sporting Goods report that redtail surfperch have entered the bay and some are being caught at the pier. However, most people are catching smaller perch like walleye, some jacksmelt, and sharks and rays at night. Both leopard sharks and sand sharks are hitting at night on squid while the larger perch are falling for tube worms. Quite a few people are still crabbing for Dungeness and most are still filling buckets. It's kind of dead on the pier -- most people are boat fishing outside the bay for salmon (the season just opened) or in the bay for halibut and rockfish.

Trinidad Pier - Manja at Salty's Bait and Tackle in Trinidad says the winds have died down and the ocean is flat. Good news for the boats, bad news for the pier - since all of a sudden it is almost deserted -- at least by pier fisherman. The day I called was the opening of the salmon season (they had already gotten a 30-pounder) and the first day of the lingcod derby; guess where the fishermen were? Anyway, a few souls are still catching rock crabs off the pier and those that do fish on the pier continue to get striped seaperch, greenling and an occasional cabezon or lingcod.

"B" Street Pier (Crescent City) - The weather has been pretty decent most days but the fish report is pretty much the same. Mostly striped seaperch in rocky areas near the Citizen's Dock and a few perch and crabs off of the "B" Street Pier. But, it should continue to improve.

Kevin Atwell Loxley, Alabama

Richard Kenway Flint, Michigan

David Thornton Mobile, Alabama

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.