September '98 Newport Pier/McFadden Wharf For full information on 92 different California piers consult: Pier Fishing in California. Every angler has his or her favorite spot and mine would have to be this old pier. It isn't the longest of piers, nor the prettiest. And many times a parking space can be almost impossible to find. It also doesn't rank among the top piers in my record book. However, this is where I first began to pier fish, where I learned the basics, and where I experienced my first "big day" of fishing. It rates 100% on the nostalgia meter -- and I'm a sappy kind of guy when it comes to the "good old days." I lived nearby in Costa Mesa, only a few miles from the pier, and a short ride on my heavy, but trusty, old Schwinn bike. I would get up at 4 a.m., grab some bait out of the freezer, tie down my bait bucket and tackle box, hang onto my rod, and take off. I'd bike down the street past Newport Harbor High School, then zip down the steep cliff to the Pacific Coast Highway. If traffic was light (and it usually was at that time in the morning), I'd make a quick cut across the road, then pedal down the peninsula to the pier. After locking my bike, I'd hurry out to the far end of the pier and the coveted northwest corner. Sometimes someone else would already have that spot -- but generally it was one of the regulars. If so, it was only fair. I would often be soaked from the morning fog but I really didn't care; it was simply a price one paid to catch some fish. I did catch fish but it took some time before I became proficient. My first few trips saw an occasional small halibut or more often a sculpin (scorpionfish). It wasn't until my seventh trip that I caught a decent-size fish, a barracuda, and it wasn't until the tenth trip that I caught as many as ten fish. However, I soon began to get the hang of it and started to catch a variety of fish: bonito, mackerel, jack mackerel, queenfish, jacksmelt, perch and hake. I was finally becoming an angler. At last, on an early September morning, I had my first "big day." I had arrived, as usual, at the crack of dawn, and was fishing just down from the northwest corner. I was using squid for bait and had experienced very little early success. However, around 5:30 a.m., I had a strike and pulled in an ebony-colored fish -- a type I had never caught before. The next cast yielded two more of these strange colored fish and I continued to catch fish, nearly every cast, for the next two hours. Strangely, only two other anglers were having similar success. Most anglers were fishless. Later, I found out the fish were sablefish, a deep-water fish more common to northern waters. Upon cleaning the fish, I also found the reason for my success. The fish were stuffed with squid that evidently were schooling in the waters near to the pier. Anglers who were using squid for bait, and there were only a few, were catching the fish. I caught 47 sablefish that day, but it was only a start. I continued to catch fish: large jacksmelt, Pacific mackerel and jack mackerel -- 77 fish in all. It was one of the best days I ever had at the pier. Unusual fish, or at least fish uncommon to most southern California piers, are one of the attractions of this pier. The deep-water Newport Submarine Canyon is located near the end of the pier and within 600 feet of the pier the water is over 100 feet deep. As a result, fish like hake and sanddab are commonly caught; fish like sablefish are an occasional treat. Many large spider crabs are landed and every few years will see a run of squid. Most of the squid are small. However, while visiting the pier one night in 1976, I saw a tremendous run of giant squid, multi-tentacled creatures that exceeded ten pounds in some cases, and put up a surprisingly good fight. Unfortunately, I didn't have a squid jig, no one would sell me a jig, and the jigs were the only thing working on the squid. I still tried to catch one of the exotic animals by using conventional riggings, but my efforts produced 0 squid, not a one, nada, zilch. But those anglers lucky enough to have the jigs were hauling them in on nearly every cast. The next morning fishermen were selling excess squid and trading for more desirable species of fish, while squid and squid ink seemed to be everywhere. I have caught nearly 40 species of fish on this pier, everything from shallow-water cusk eels to the aforementioned deep-water sablefish. When you fish on the deep-water end you never know what might latch on to your line. Another attraction for newcomers to this old pier is the dory fishing fleet which is located just north of the pier. The fleet began fishing in 1891 and today it is the last remaining fleet of its type. The boats head out early each morning to collect their fish, return, and then sell their fish right next to their boats on the beach -- along Rock Cod Lane. It's a hard life for the fisherman but a life few if any would give up. It adds to the environment of the pier and, when pier anglers are unsuccessful, provides a ready market for fish to take home. Environment: The pier fronts on a typical southern California sand beach, extends 1,032 feet out into deep water, and is fairly close to the fish-rich waters of Newport Bay, a major nursery ground for several types of fish. There is little kelp around the pier but the pilings are heavily encrusted with barnacles and mussel. The pier is not particularly long or large, but due to the water depth, various types of angling are available. Inshore, one can expect to find surfperch, corbina, spotfin croaker, yellowfin croaker, round stingrays and thornback sharks. Midway out on the pier seems to be the best area for halibut, scorpionfish, walleye and silver surfperch, jacksmelt, topsmelt, queenfish, and white croaker. The far end is normally best for bonito, mackerel, jack mackerel, barracuda (some years), sanddab (both longfin and Pacific), small rockfish, large sharks and bat rays (generally at night). Shovelnose guitarfish can be caught the length of the pier but midway out to the end seems the best. Fishing Tips: Most anglers automatically set up with one of two outfits -- or both. The first is a multi-hook rigging for mackerel in which 3-5 hooks are set six inches or so apart. Hooks range from size 4-2, and are baited with small strips of squid or pieces of mackerel. The line is cast out and retrieved and when the macs are on an attack there may be a fish on every hook. More fun is a single hook a couple of feet up from the sinker. The second rigging is a bottom outfit. Usually a sliding rigging is used which allows the fish to pick up the bait without any resistance. It can be deadly on halibut and is the most common setup for the large shovelnose sharks. Best bait is a live small fish but everything from anchovies to mackerel to squid is used. A third set-up is a simple high/low rigging. Size 6-2 hooks are commonly used and a variety of bottom fish will result. Live anchovies, which you will have to net or snag, are the most desired fare for many of the fish. In deeper water, use live anchovies near the surface for bonito and mackerel; in shallower water, fish near the bottom for halibut, bass or white croaker. The left side of the pier, midway out toward the end, used to be called "Halibut Corner" by the regulars. The right corner, where I liked to fish, was the spot for the bonito. Today, the number of halibut (especially legal size fish) and bonito are much reduced. However, my visits still seem to show more halibut on the left and more bonito and mackerel on the right. Near shore, use live anchovies for guitarfish or thornback rays. Around the far end, a high-low outfit equipped with short leaders and number 4 hooks can be effective. Bait the hooks with small strips of anchovy or squid (no more than an inch long), cast out and retrieve slowly. Often a hungry sanddab, scorpionfish, small rockfish or bass (both kelp bass and barred sand bass) will attack your bait. A snag-line made with number 8 hooks, and baited with small pieces of anchovy, will tempt walleye surfperch when fished mid-depth. Silver surfperch will sometimes be above the walleye, and jacksmelt and topsmelt will be above the silver surfperch. However, the jacksmelt will bite better on small pieces of bloodworm. Sand crabs, fresh mussels, ghost shrimp, and bloodworms work well for barred surfperch, spotfin croaker, yellowfin croaker, corbina, and an occasional sargo or black croaker when fished near shore. Squid is a good bait to use around the end for scorpionfish (especially at night) and small rockfish, but again, be sure not to over do it. Use a small strip of squid no more than a half inch by an inch cut in a V-shape. At night, this can be one of the best piers to catch both sharks and rays. Although most of these will be of modest size, a number of fairly large thresher sharks have been landed, as well as a 225-pound hammerhead shark and a 176-pound bat ray. For these bruisers, a heavy rig is required as is a way to get them onto the pier. Come prepared with sufficient equipment (and friends) if you plan to tackle these fish at night. This is also one of the best piers to catch thornback rays; fish inshore at night using squid for bait and a high-low leader with number 2 hooks. The small rays are fun to catch but release them; they really don't have enough meat on them to keep for eating. Of course, you may also hook onto a large shovelnose shark (guitarfish) or bat ray, so again, be prepared by bringing a treble hook-gaff or net with you. Although my records show that most of the large shovelnose traditionally have been landed in the mid-pier area, a lot of the big fish have been landed out by the northwest corner in recent years. I don't know the reason for the change -- I only report it. Lastly, artificials can be used very effectively here when the pelagics such as bonito and mackerel are running. Bonito feathers used with a splasher or a cast-a-bubble and several types of spoons and plugs have been proven to work for the boneheads. Most mackerel are caught on multi-hook bait riggings but fairly light tackle with a single hook can be more fun. More and more of the regulars are even using artificials for halibut. Most use curlytail jigs on the south side of the mid-pier section, or even closer toward the beach. Early morning hours when the pier is not too crowded offers the best chance for success and I am told that while the larger jigs work well in the winter and spring, smaller jigs are more successful in the summer and fall months. Special Recommendation: Because of elevated levels of DDT and PCB in tested fish, the Cal OEHHA recommends that no more than one meal of locally caught corbina be consumed every two weeks. Since 1995, there have been continual threats by the city to restrict the fishing hours on the pier -- or perhaps even close the pier to fishing altogether (although this is a WCB pier and closure would be illegal). The problem, as seen by the city fathers, and the pier concessionaire (the owner of the restaurant that sits out at the end of the pier), has been the unsightly and smelly condition of the pier, especially the area out at the end of the pier (a.k.a. best fishing area and area adjacent to the restaurant). The source of the problem was seen as the fisherman themselves, at least those whose trash and fish guts frequently littered the pier. The city declared it to be a problem that would no longer be ignored or tolerated. After several meetings, and considerable organization by local anglers, fishermen joined together in an effort to keep the pier clean (as well as instruct newcomers to the pier about regulations). Conditions on the pier did improve and, for a period of time, the city backed off on reducing the hours. Then, in February of 1996, the city closed the pier to angling from midnight till 5 in the morning. Today, signs are prominently posted throughout the pier warning of the possibility of additional restrictions. PLEASE, help the local anglers keep the pier clean by doing the same yourself! (This, by the way, is not the first time the pier was closed. More than a hundred years ago, August 24, 1889, to be exact, the Santa Ana Herald reported that Robert McFadden would be closing the wharf each day from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. He said he was obliged to do it to stop wood thefts on the wharf. The paper was opposed! It said the action "prevents early to late fishing...not considered right... as likely to discourage reader use...it being more pleasant to pursue sport in the cool of the day.") Newport Pier Pier Facts Hours: Open from 5 a.m. till midnight. Facilities: Restrooms are found near the entrance to the pier. Fish-cleaning stations, lights, and benches are found on the pier. The Fisherman's Gallery restaurant is currently found on the far end of the pier (and the owner of this restaurant has led the push for restrictions on anglers). Years ago, this was the area of a bait and tackle shop/snack bar and the source of live anchovies. Today, live bait is unavailable although an angler could use a net and try for his own live bait. However, this is a very crowded pier and others may object. There is limited pier parking at $.75 per hour (6-hour maximum), located near the entrance to the pier. Other than early morning and late night, these pier parking spaces are gone fast. Be prepared to spend time looking for a spot at almost any other time. Handicapped Facilities: Handicapped parking spaces near the pier entrance, a ramp leads up onto the pier and handicapped restrooms are available. The pier surface is concrete and the railing is about 36 inches. Posted for handicapped. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take the Newport Blvd. turnoff and proceed west watching for signs directing traffic to the pier. The pier sits at the foot of McFadden Place. Management: City of Newport Beach.
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