Malibu Pier

Fantail Sole — 2014

 Pier Fishing In California Fishing Reports

April, 1997—Closed for repairs

April ,1999—The pier remains closed as officials try to figure out where to get the money needed to rebuild the pier.

April, 2000—Closed for repairs.

April, 2001—The pier is partially open (out to the wider end section).

September, 2001—Adam Cassidy reports that “halibut is the fish of the month at Malibu Pier; lots of shorts, but there have been some legals caught as well. The bait situation has been amazing, with large schools of anchovies mostly near the beginning of the pier. Make sure to jig for the anchovies with a Sabiki rig using hooks no larger than size 12. Use a sliding bait rig with an egg sinker and ‘troll’ the bottom. White seabass have also been frequenting the pier at night, boiling on the anchovies. I landed a 20” a little over a week ago, just before closing, with a firecracker Wham bait, but a fly-lined anchovy would probably be your best bet. The action on croakers and perch has been slow, but the perch bite should pick up as we move into winter. Construction news—the pier is going to be temporarily closed so work can done on the pilings under Alice’s Restaurant. The end of the pier will not open until next year according to Hayden Sohm, the ranger in charge of the construction for Malibu Pier.”

August, 2004—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports that the big news is still the large black sea bass recently taken at the pier (and returned). Lots of corbina are showing up in the inshore waters but they’re hard to catch. Halibut and white seabass are around when the grunion make a showing and quite a few sharks are also making an appearance.

September, 2004—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports that the big news lately is a 37-inch, 22 pound, 2 ounce striped bass taken from the beach adjacent to the pier by Kenny Leung. It was caught on squid. On the pier itself some of the biggest fish were white seabass (up to about 28 inches) although 7-year-olf Fisher Knudsen caught a 30-pound shovelnose shark. She says there is a lot of bait in the water—anchovies, smelt, sardines and mackerel—and the larger fish are following the bait in. She says some yellowtail have been spotted fairly close inshore by yakers so there may be a chance some will be taken from the pier. Inshore, there are still good numbers of sand crabs on the beach and that means the corbina are also present. The following report was provided by Phillipe: “this month the white seabass started to really make a showing at different times during the day. There was a 31-inch sea bass caught in the middle of the month, but most of them are under 28 inches. They travel in small schools and are caught in the mid-pier area during low tide. Live perch are best, but whole dead anchovies on a dropper loop will work too. The bait remains the same as smelt, sardines, perch, and white croaker. The smelt hang around most of the day, but the sardines only make a few quick appearances and travel in large schools. Some small (3-4 inches) mackerel are also in the mix chasing the sardines. The halibut fishing has picked up… but most all of them are illegal size with just a few legals thrown in. As for sharks and rays, the action has been bad to OK. Some nice 7-15 pound bat rays have been caught as well as a few big shovelnose and smoothhounds. Some angel sharks have also made an appearance. Afternoon fishing is best. For bait use whole squid, mackerel, or live perch. Fishing for walleye perch and white croaker has been off and on all day. Besides jigging up perch, a quicker and more effective way is to have anchovy-tipped Sabikis. Make sure your Sabiki hooks are small as there are lots of palm-sized perch.”

October, 2004—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports that there is lots of bait around the pier—smelt, mackerel and sardines. The result is lots of short white seabass and halibut, especially for those using live bait. Inshore, anglers continue to pick up barred surfperch and corbina. Dompfa ben reported that “big hammerhead sharks are being reported by the kayak guys… People I have fished with have recently hooked big hammerheads in the 10 to 13 foot range (and, they’re close to the pier.)” ChumBucket reported on a trip on 9/20—“Threw a Scampi for an hour or so early in the morning when there were only a couple of us out. Worked both sides up and down once, with no fish. While I was playing with plastic, a bait ball came close to the pier, and the cheerful cry of sardines!! went up as one of the regulars, Ed, started jigging up these most prized of bait fish. I put the plastic away and while I was tying a rig for an eventual sardine, and getting a Sabiki ready, Blythe, Ed’s brother, hooked a 3 ft+ leopard on a fresh sardine. He released it. Within five minutes Ed had a larger leopard. 4ft+. He lost it around a piling as the net was on its way down. The bait ball was swimming out of range and coming in only occasionally. I fished a dink perch and then a mack waiting for my elusive sardine. The bait ball came back in, small smelt followed by 5 to 7 inch sardines, followed by mackerel working the edges of the ball. Blythe caught four short white seabass back to back. Sardine in, white seabass up, another sardine in, another white seabass up. The white seabass were hanging just outside the ball, cruising in to attack. By the end of the day, he lost track of his count, but he guessed around 15 total, from 15 to about 21 inches. Finally it was my turn, I hooked a 4 ft+ leopard on my light rig. 8# mono with a 20# fluorocarbon leader, 1/0 circle hook. It was my best fish fight to date!”

July, 2005—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports a 25-pound, 40-inch striped bass was taken by Ed Smith last Saturday on a live herring (queenfish). Other than that it’s tons of sharks (leopards, shovelnose and what may be dogfish) together with numerous bat rays. Perch and queenfish are also available.

September, 2005—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports that people are still catching large striped bass next to the pier (including a recent 31” and 32” fish). Tons of bait (anchovies, herring, smelt and small mackerel) is in the water, which undoubtedly accounts for the larger fish. On the pier itself there are numerous mackerel, some good-sized yellowfin croaker (many in the 3-pound class), short white seabass, and big bat rays and leopard sharks. She’s also heard of some big thresher sharks lost to the pilings but at least they’re around. PFIC reports indicate pretty decent action (on some days) as the mackerel come and go. Unusual fish recently included an 8-10 pound striped bass and a legal-size barracuda. More common are the leopard sharks, guitarfish, thornbacks, surfperch and occasional ray. A number of thresher sharks have also been hooked but most have been lost.

December, 2005—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle reports good fishing over the Thanksgiving weekend. Top fish was an eight-foot-long thresher that was caught on a live mackerel. Not knowing the size regulations of the fish, the angler released it back into the water. There were also some nice croakers taken as well as halibut. The flatties were mostly taken by anglers using live walleye perch as bait. She says some big jacksmelt are also around together with a few returning mackerel. She says there is a lot of bait in the water.

May, 2006—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that she’s hearing of good jacksmelt and mackerel action at the pier. She says there are also tons of short halibut but a few bigger fish are starting to show up. She also says four black (giant) sea bass have been hanging around the pier.

August, 2006—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle says “fishing is great!” She says there are a lot of fish and some great variety. Big croakers, halibut following the grunion inshore, corbina in the surf, lots of small white seabass (although also a few legals), and mackerel in and out. She says kayakers are getting halibut all around the pier and have seen quite a few black seabass while a kid on a surfboard caught a 14-pound “striped bass.” Go figure!

July, 2007—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle says the fishing is great in the area including the pier. She said there’s a tremendous amount of bait around the pier and as a result the fish are showing up. On 6/30 there was a report of a keeper barracuda to go along with the bass and mackerel that have been hitting. She says the grunion are also bunched up which is bringing in the halibut along with big numbers of juvenile white seabass in the 15-18” range. Biggest news was the world record white seabass brought in by regular Bill Ernst, a free diver. The big fish weighed 93 pounds, 4 ounces. Another diver brought in a white seabass weighing 64 pounds. Now those are some fish. Ginny says she thinks it’s going to be a great year once it really starts.

April, 2008—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle says she’s getting reports of halibut moving in following the recent grunion runs but so far there haven’t been a lot of keepers taken. Some surfperch are also around the pier as well as the nearby beaches; she reports weighing a 3-pound, 6-ounce barred surfperch two weeks ago (and that’s a biggie). She’s also heard of quite a few leopard sharks.

September, 2007—Ginny at Wylies Bait and Tackle says anglers are getting tons of halibut although most are 15-16 inches. Still, a few are legal size. She says anglers are also pulling in quite a few good-sized sargo from the pier, a species she says is really not that common for the pier. Two black (giant) sea bass were also taken (and released) this month. Last but not least, the mackerel action remains strong.

October, 2009— Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that anglers continue to take threshers out at the end of the pier including one that measured ten-foot in length (half being the tail). There are also a few perch and halibut (mostly shorts).

December, 2009 – Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that anglers continue to see BIG sargo at the pier including several 15-17 inch fish (on fresh mussels). The biggest news was a reported 22-inch sargo that several people said was measured. That would undoubtedly have been a record fish since most guidebooks say sargo only reach 17 ½ inches in length. We’re trying to get a picture! Anglers at the end continue to take thresher sharks but too many are baby threshers only 4-5 feet long and locals are trying to get them to stop.

May, 2010—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle said anglers continue to report good perch action along with a few mackerel and some big bat rays including a 120-pound fish that was “taken home to eat.”

 August, 2010—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that the pier continues to yield thresher sharks out at the end along with a mix of sargo, smaller croakers, and an occasional halibut inshore to mid-pier. Most of the threshers are mere babies and should be returned to the water (but of course they aren’t.) As for the halibut, most are shorts but they have been caught to 26”. Four giant (black) sea bass have also been reported and all were supposedly returned to the water unharmed.

November, 2010—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that some mackerel and jacksmelt are showing on top while anchovies are also thick around the pier. Some halibut are showing on the bottom and small white seabass, 23-26” long, are showing in the area. Anglers continue to pull in a few thresher sharks out at the end while leopard sharks and at least one angel shark have contributed to the sharay mix. Lobster action has been slow.

 December, 2010—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle reports that some mackerel and jacksmelt are showing on top but most of the action on the bottom seems to have slowed. A few perch will be found inshore. An interesting 12-foot-long oarfish did wash up on the beach not too far away from the pier AND that would be an interesting catch from a pier.

May, 2011—Ginny at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle says she’s getting some excellent reports from the pier. A few halibut are being reported as well as lots of perch, smelt and mackerel. A few threshers have been also taken out at the end of the pier including one measuring nearly 11-feet in length. Ginny says the surf area is thick with sand crabs and corbina are also being seen although only a couple have been hooked.