Some repeat of previous posts —
Day 1, April 4. I needed to be in San Diego for a meeting on the Ocean Beach Pier and after talking to Webmaster Rich Reano, I decided to head down prior to the meeting to do some fishing and make a YouTube video. However, due to a mix up, I thought I wouldn’t be able to leave until after noon and thus made a reservation for San Clemente instead of heading all the way to San Diego. However, I was able to leave earlier and I made good time down (for the most part). My first stop was at Hogan’s Bait and Tackle in Dana Point to pick up some fresh bait and given the sunshine I decided to make a short stop at the Dana Harbor Pier prior to the short drive to San Clemente.
DANA HARBOR PIER — 2:50-3:50 p.m. This pier generally provides a few fish of mixed variety but not so this day, the fishing was very slow. All I caught were 4 shinerperch, fish fine for bait but not something I wanted. I didn’t see any other fish caught by anglers. Later, after entering the catch into my record book the new stats for me at the pier are 3.69 fish per hour and 5.93 points per hour (an adjusted number that takes into account the quality of fish).
The plan was to check into my hotel and head to the San Clemente Pier but the wind and rain started up and I decided to maybe hit the pier on my way back from San Diego.
Day 2, April 5. After staying in San Clemente Thursday night, and expecting rain on Friday, I assumed I would not be able to fish Oceanside Friday morning. I was wrong. When I arrived in Oceanside it was clear and so I went to the Oceanside Pier.
OCEANSIDE PIER — 8:15-10 a.m. Upon arrival I found that it was low tide (with amazingly little sand left on the beach from the winter storms) and that I was one of only four anglers on the very long pier (at 1,942 feet long it is the second longest wooden pier on the West Coast). I headed out to the end. Unfortunately the rain (sometimes heavy) and wind (sometimes very strong) would arrive and found me huddled next to the snack shop at the end trying to stay somewhat dry and warm (sometime it worked, sometime it didn’t). Unfortunately, the fishing was again slow; all that I managed to catch was three walleye surfperch and one black croaker. None of my various baits—lugworms, mussels, shrimp, or anchovies worked. The most interesting sight of the visit was seeing about 25 life guards in training jumping off the end of the pier before climbing back up onto the pier using the ladder (which has been used several times by anglers releasing giant (black) sea bass and great white sharks). Finally, during a lull in the rain, I decided to head in. By this time there were about a dozen anglers on the pier but I only saw two other fish, two spotfin croakers taken by the inshore croaker fishermen using fresh mussels. After entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 8.00 fish per hour and 13.7 points per hour.
OCEANSIDE HARBOR PIER— 11-Noon. However, arriving at my car I was once again greeted by sunshine. Why not head over to the small pier in the harbor and see if anything was biting there? The pier only had two other anglers and I quickly learned why—the fishing was again very slow. All I caught was one kelp bass and no one else had anything. Later, after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 3.97 fish per hour and 6.69 points per hour. So, not a good start to a fishing trip and with such slow fishing I recalled an April fishing trip along the coast many years ago that ranked as my worst ever pier hoppin’ trip.
Next up was the drive to San Diego and meeting up with Rich Reano. We planned a YouTube video for the next morning at the Ferry Landing Pier in Coronado (hoping the weather and fish would cooperate). We also took a look at the PFIC website discussing some possible changes, some strange things I was seeing, and finally discussed making a Livecast (versus Podcast). I’m not sure it would work but am willing to give it a try.
Day 3, April 6. Planning to do a YouTube film I headed over to Coronado via the Coronado Bridge. I got up onto the bridge at 8:30. The only problem was that midway across the bridge the traffic stopped and there we remained for the next 90 minutes. I initially thought there had been an accident but apparently it was someone on the bridge threatening to jump from the bridge. The only positive is that it allowed me to exit my car and take some pictures looking down from the bridge. Finally, after the long wait I look back and I see that the Highway Patrol had told cars to do a U-turn and drive off the bridge from the entrance area. Eventually I was able to do the same but then had to drive down to Imperial Beach and make a roughly 45 minute+ drive to the pier in Coronado. By the time we finally began to film we had less than a half hour before we had to leave and get ready for the OB Pier meeting. What was great was meeting some PFIC’ers. As usual I was asking anglers if they had ever visited PFIC and some guys at the end said sure and recognized me from the site. They said they liked the site and the YouTube videos and soon after one of them netted a 26-inch halibut for a young angler. An interesting morning but it wasn’t great being stuck atop a bridge.
The OB Pier meeting was at 2 p.m. and turned out to be an excellent meeting. About 400 people showed up, I had a separate table to discuss fishing the pier, and Rich filmed part of the action. At the end I wound up being interviewed by a girl from the local ABC station. A good, long 15-muinute of so interview about fishing, Pier Rats, and the OB Pier which when it appeared late that night on the 11 p.m. news had been reduced to maybe 30 seconds. Maybe they’ll use the rest later?
Day 4, April 7. I was asked to help out at the Day At The Docks, which is an annual BIG event at the Sportfishing landings in SD (and kind of a mini-Fred Hall show). I would up being there basically the entire day from about 8:30 until 5. Got a chance to see several old friends, see some of the big boats (including a couple I had fished on when younger), and in general just enjoyed talking to people; I never mind talking to people about piers.
Day 5, April 8. It was time to leave San Diego and I left early hoping to avoid traffic (which amazingly I did) and to hit a few piers on my way to Long Beach where I was spending the night. I hit the piers but once again the action at the piers was slow.
HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER - 8-9:45. The weather was nice but not the fishing. I only caught 3 walleye surfperch, 1 large queenfish, and 1 topsmelt. I did not see another fish on the entire pier. Unfortunately I noticed the parking rates had gone up to $3 an hour. Later, after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 7.45 fish per hour and 12.6 points per hour.
SEAL BEACH PIER — 10:45-1:00. I had high hopes given recent reports from Fishman Fishman but the action was dead. The pier was crowded with people using the pier to view the eclipse but only a few [people were fishing. All I caught was 1 mid-sized corbina and 2 large jacksmelt. Only other fish I saw were some jacksmelt caught by one angler and 2 thornback rays caught by another angler. Once again I was struck about how poorly the pier had been renovated a few years back. Not enough benches (not even one at the huge ending at the end), no bait cutting board, only one (I think) fish cleaning station on the entire pier. It almost seems more like a viewing pier than a fishing pier. The result is blood smudges throughout the pier where people had had to cut bait and fish on the surface of the pier. Truly stupid job by the city! Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 7.09 fish per hour and 11.6 points per hour.
LONG BEACH SHORELINE PIER #3 — 3:10-5:10 — I thought about stopping at Belmont Pier but hadn't eaten so decided on a late lunch and headed to the Shoreline restaurants. Had a pound of crawdads (a crawdad boil) at Louisiana Charlie’s. Since the Shoreline piers are just a few minutes away I headed there next. The two hours fishing did produce a few fish,7 white croaker, but it still was slow. I did have a great time meeting and fishing with two anglers (Sal Mercado and Blake Mitchell) that were familiar with PFIC including the YouTube videos. I asked if they had ever visited PFIC and Sal says “sure, wow you're Ken Jones.” Turned out both had watched many of the YouTube videos and they said they had learned a lot from the site. Both were good anglers, really seemed to know the local piers, and we may have found a reporter for those piers. Interesting was the bait Sal was using, pieces of shrimp soaked in secret ingredients that produced green pieces of very effective bait. It is always great meeting new anglers, especially those familiar with PFIC. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 2.38 fish per hour and 4.71 points per hour. I finally headed to my motel and the championship BB game.
Day 6, April 9. My plan was to fish the Pier J Pier early morning and then head to the Cabrillo Beach Pier. Unfortunately a wrong turn had me heading onto the bridge toward San Pedro so I decided to reverse the order of the visits.
CABRILLO BEACH PIER —7:35-10:05. A beautiful, warm and almost too sunny morning that found me sharing the pier with only one other angler. I started mid-pier where there is shade but after casting out from the pier, fishing the pilings, and fishing by the jetty side of the pier, all with nary a nibble (even though trying several baits), I headed out to the end. It didn’t help; the fish just weren’t biting. Crazed by the eclipse of the sun? Turned off by the recent drop in temperature and rain? Who knows but they weren’t biting. I only managed 1 sand bass. Two things were interesting. One was a whale that was hanging out from the pier for over an hour. The second was meeting Kevin Fimple, an interesting young angler, who had many stories of local fishing (and fishing back in his home state of Texas). We may have a new reporter? Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 4.43 fish per hour and 8.47 points per hour.
PIER J, LONG BEACH—11:55-2:10. I had high hopes for the pier given previous visits but I found the tiny pier somewhat crowded with people. It was sunny and hot and the water was very dirty with debris from the recent storms. Once again the fishing was slow. I wondered if all the freshwater entering the system had forced some fish into deeper water? I only managed one lone white croaker casting out from the end while fishing down by the rocks produced 2 rockpool blenny, an interesting little fish. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 3.67 fish per hour and 7.00 points per hour.
BELMONT VETERAN’S PIER—3:15-5:45. Given it was still early I decided to head over to one more pier, the Belmont Pier. Most of my time was spent out at the end trying to lure a fish. Different baits (blood worms, ghost shrimp, anchovies, market shrimp, mussels, and squid), different sections, and different methods didn’t yield any fish excepting one jacksmelt. I finally decided to try the inshore section hoping a ghost shrimp might yield up a croaker or a corbina. Instead I found one family pulling in the sardines. I decided to join them so rigged up a Sabiki and started casting with somewhat limited success. Finally I asked the more successful angler what size hooks he was using on his Sabiki and they were the same small hooks. But he said what color are you using and I said white feathers. He walked over, said try this, and handed me a bait rig he had made with green buttons by the gold hooks with no feathers. I started to catch more fish. His name was Fernando and he said he had learned some Sabikis don’t work as well as others and developed his own bait rigs. We had a nice conversation and when it was time for me to leave I handed him a $20 bill which at first he refused but I said take your grandson (who was putting fish into a pail) out for a hamburger. He gave me one more rig and I felt I had made a new friend at the pier. The total fish were 28 sardines, 1 jacksmelt and 1 shinerperch and I felt Fernando’s generosity had made the visit a success. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 4.20 fish per hour and 6.23 points per hour. I next headed to the motel to watch the Warriors-Laker game.
Day 7, April 10. I had one final morning to fish before heading home to Fresno and planned to meet Hashem for lunch to discuss the situation at Catalina. How to avoid the LA traffic? I got up early and headed to the Redondo Beach Pier.
REDONDO BEACH PIER—7:15-9:45. You never know what to expect at the pier but it’s long earned its reputation as the mackerel pier and I found a good mackerel bite. It wasn’t the “mac attack” with a fish every cast but cast after cast would yield some fish and eventually filled my bait cooler with bait to take home. The visit produced 33 Pacific mackerel, 5 Pacific sardine and 4 jack mackerel and made a nice ending for what had been a very slow fishing trip. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 6.46 fish per hour and 10.5 points per hour.
I next me up with Hashem. We finished our late breakfast at 12:15; I had good traffic, and was back in Fresno by 3:45. Back home I put the gear away, put the dirty clothes in the hamper, salted down and placed the mackerel and sardines I had kept for bait into Ziploc bags prior to the freezer, took a shower with my rods, and finally settled down for the evening.
It was a slow fishing trip but had yielded up 100 fish and quite a few species—shinerperch, walleye surfperch, black croaker, kelp bass, queenfish, topsmelt, California corbina, jacksmelt, white croaker, sand bass, rockpool blenny, Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel and jack mackerel.
I might add my wife was worried about the trip given I had several different health issues over the past few months. Recently my sciatica had flared up and some days I could barely walk. My shoulder too was acting up (I have two torn tendons behind my rotator cuff and one half-torn tendon in front of the rotator cuff). Some days I felt like I couldn't even lift up my right barm. She wondered if I should go. But, I feel good. My sciatica did not act up and my shoulder handled the casting I was making at Redondo without a hitch. For me, sometimes fishing is the best medicine.
Day 1, April 4. I needed to be in San Diego for a meeting on the Ocean Beach Pier and after talking to Webmaster Rich Reano, I decided to head down prior to the meeting to do some fishing and make a YouTube video. However, due to a mix up, I thought I wouldn’t be able to leave until after noon and thus made a reservation for San Clemente instead of heading all the way to San Diego. However, I was able to leave earlier and I made good time down (for the most part). My first stop was at Hogan’s Bait and Tackle in Dana Point to pick up some fresh bait and given the sunshine I decided to make a short stop at the Dana Harbor Pier prior to the short drive to San Clemente.
DANA HARBOR PIER — 2:50-3:50 p.m. This pier generally provides a few fish of mixed variety but not so this day, the fishing was very slow. All I caught were 4 shinerperch, fish fine for bait but not something I wanted. I didn’t see any other fish caught by anglers. Later, after entering the catch into my record book the new stats for me at the pier are 3.69 fish per hour and 5.93 points per hour (an adjusted number that takes into account the quality of fish).
The plan was to check into my hotel and head to the San Clemente Pier but the wind and rain started up and I decided to maybe hit the pier on my way back from San Diego.
Day 2, April 5. After staying in San Clemente Thursday night, and expecting rain on Friday, I assumed I would not be able to fish Oceanside Friday morning. I was wrong. When I arrived in Oceanside it was clear and so I went to the Oceanside Pier.
OCEANSIDE PIER — 8:15-10 a.m. Upon arrival I found that it was low tide (with amazingly little sand left on the beach from the winter storms) and that I was one of only four anglers on the very long pier (at 1,942 feet long it is the second longest wooden pier on the West Coast). I headed out to the end. Unfortunately the rain (sometimes heavy) and wind (sometimes very strong) would arrive and found me huddled next to the snack shop at the end trying to stay somewhat dry and warm (sometime it worked, sometime it didn’t). Unfortunately, the fishing was again slow; all that I managed to catch was three walleye surfperch and one black croaker. None of my various baits—lugworms, mussels, shrimp, or anchovies worked. The most interesting sight of the visit was seeing about 25 life guards in training jumping off the end of the pier before climbing back up onto the pier using the ladder (which has been used several times by anglers releasing giant (black) sea bass and great white sharks). Finally, during a lull in the rain, I decided to head in. By this time there were about a dozen anglers on the pier but I only saw two other fish, two spotfin croakers taken by the inshore croaker fishermen using fresh mussels. After entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 8.00 fish per hour and 13.7 points per hour.
OCEANSIDE HARBOR PIER— 11-Noon. However, arriving at my car I was once again greeted by sunshine. Why not head over to the small pier in the harbor and see if anything was biting there? The pier only had two other anglers and I quickly learned why—the fishing was again very slow. All I caught was one kelp bass and no one else had anything. Later, after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 3.97 fish per hour and 6.69 points per hour. So, not a good start to a fishing trip and with such slow fishing I recalled an April fishing trip along the coast many years ago that ranked as my worst ever pier hoppin’ trip.
Next up was the drive to San Diego and meeting up with Rich Reano. We planned a YouTube video for the next morning at the Ferry Landing Pier in Coronado (hoping the weather and fish would cooperate). We also took a look at the PFIC website discussing some possible changes, some strange things I was seeing, and finally discussed making a Livecast (versus Podcast). I’m not sure it would work but am willing to give it a try.
Day 3, April 6. Planning to do a YouTube film I headed over to Coronado via the Coronado Bridge. I got up onto the bridge at 8:30. The only problem was that midway across the bridge the traffic stopped and there we remained for the next 90 minutes. I initially thought there had been an accident but apparently it was someone on the bridge threatening to jump from the bridge. The only positive is that it allowed me to exit my car and take some pictures looking down from the bridge. Finally, after the long wait I look back and I see that the Highway Patrol had told cars to do a U-turn and drive off the bridge from the entrance area. Eventually I was able to do the same but then had to drive down to Imperial Beach and make a roughly 45 minute+ drive to the pier in Coronado. By the time we finally began to film we had less than a half hour before we had to leave and get ready for the OB Pier meeting. What was great was meeting some PFIC’ers. As usual I was asking anglers if they had ever visited PFIC and some guys at the end said sure and recognized me from the site. They said they liked the site and the YouTube videos and soon after one of them netted a 26-inch halibut for a young angler. An interesting morning but it wasn’t great being stuck atop a bridge.
The OB Pier meeting was at 2 p.m. and turned out to be an excellent meeting. About 400 people showed up, I had a separate table to discuss fishing the pier, and Rich filmed part of the action. At the end I wound up being interviewed by a girl from the local ABC station. A good, long 15-muinute of so interview about fishing, Pier Rats, and the OB Pier which when it appeared late that night on the 11 p.m. news had been reduced to maybe 30 seconds. Maybe they’ll use the rest later?
Day 4, April 7. I was asked to help out at the Day At The Docks, which is an annual BIG event at the Sportfishing landings in SD (and kind of a mini-Fred Hall show). I would up being there basically the entire day from about 8:30 until 5. Got a chance to see several old friends, see some of the big boats (including a couple I had fished on when younger), and in general just enjoyed talking to people; I never mind talking to people about piers.
Day 5, April 8. It was time to leave San Diego and I left early hoping to avoid traffic (which amazingly I did) and to hit a few piers on my way to Long Beach where I was spending the night. I hit the piers but once again the action at the piers was slow.
HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER - 8-9:45. The weather was nice but not the fishing. I only caught 3 walleye surfperch, 1 large queenfish, and 1 topsmelt. I did not see another fish on the entire pier. Unfortunately I noticed the parking rates had gone up to $3 an hour. Later, after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are now 7.45 fish per hour and 12.6 points per hour.
SEAL BEACH PIER — 10:45-1:00. I had high hopes given recent reports from Fishman Fishman but the action was dead. The pier was crowded with people using the pier to view the eclipse but only a few [people were fishing. All I caught was 1 mid-sized corbina and 2 large jacksmelt. Only other fish I saw were some jacksmelt caught by one angler and 2 thornback rays caught by another angler. Once again I was struck about how poorly the pier had been renovated a few years back. Not enough benches (not even one at the huge ending at the end), no bait cutting board, only one (I think) fish cleaning station on the entire pier. It almost seems more like a viewing pier than a fishing pier. The result is blood smudges throughout the pier where people had had to cut bait and fish on the surface of the pier. Truly stupid job by the city! Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 7.09 fish per hour and 11.6 points per hour.
LONG BEACH SHORELINE PIER #3 — 3:10-5:10 — I thought about stopping at Belmont Pier but hadn't eaten so decided on a late lunch and headed to the Shoreline restaurants. Had a pound of crawdads (a crawdad boil) at Louisiana Charlie’s. Since the Shoreline piers are just a few minutes away I headed there next. The two hours fishing did produce a few fish,7 white croaker, but it still was slow. I did have a great time meeting and fishing with two anglers (Sal Mercado and Blake Mitchell) that were familiar with PFIC including the YouTube videos. I asked if they had ever visited PFIC and Sal says “sure, wow you're Ken Jones.” Turned out both had watched many of the YouTube videos and they said they had learned a lot from the site. Both were good anglers, really seemed to know the local piers, and we may have found a reporter for those piers. Interesting was the bait Sal was using, pieces of shrimp soaked in secret ingredients that produced green pieces of very effective bait. It is always great meeting new anglers, especially those familiar with PFIC. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 2.38 fish per hour and 4.71 points per hour. I finally headed to my motel and the championship BB game.
Day 6, April 9. My plan was to fish the Pier J Pier early morning and then head to the Cabrillo Beach Pier. Unfortunately a wrong turn had me heading onto the bridge toward San Pedro so I decided to reverse the order of the visits.
CABRILLO BEACH PIER —7:35-10:05. A beautiful, warm and almost too sunny morning that found me sharing the pier with only one other angler. I started mid-pier where there is shade but after casting out from the pier, fishing the pilings, and fishing by the jetty side of the pier, all with nary a nibble (even though trying several baits), I headed out to the end. It didn’t help; the fish just weren’t biting. Crazed by the eclipse of the sun? Turned off by the recent drop in temperature and rain? Who knows but they weren’t biting. I only managed 1 sand bass. Two things were interesting. One was a whale that was hanging out from the pier for over an hour. The second was meeting Kevin Fimple, an interesting young angler, who had many stories of local fishing (and fishing back in his home state of Texas). We may have a new reporter? Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 4.43 fish per hour and 8.47 points per hour.
PIER J, LONG BEACH—11:55-2:10. I had high hopes for the pier given previous visits but I found the tiny pier somewhat crowded with people. It was sunny and hot and the water was very dirty with debris from the recent storms. Once again the fishing was slow. I wondered if all the freshwater entering the system had forced some fish into deeper water? I only managed one lone white croaker casting out from the end while fishing down by the rocks produced 2 rockpool blenny, an interesting little fish. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 3.67 fish per hour and 7.00 points per hour.
BELMONT VETERAN’S PIER—3:15-5:45. Given it was still early I decided to head over to one more pier, the Belmont Pier. Most of my time was spent out at the end trying to lure a fish. Different baits (blood worms, ghost shrimp, anchovies, market shrimp, mussels, and squid), different sections, and different methods didn’t yield any fish excepting one jacksmelt. I finally decided to try the inshore section hoping a ghost shrimp might yield up a croaker or a corbina. Instead I found one family pulling in the sardines. I decided to join them so rigged up a Sabiki and started casting with somewhat limited success. Finally I asked the more successful angler what size hooks he was using on his Sabiki and they were the same small hooks. But he said what color are you using and I said white feathers. He walked over, said try this, and handed me a bait rig he had made with green buttons by the gold hooks with no feathers. I started to catch more fish. His name was Fernando and he said he had learned some Sabikis don’t work as well as others and developed his own bait rigs. We had a nice conversation and when it was time for me to leave I handed him a $20 bill which at first he refused but I said take your grandson (who was putting fish into a pail) out for a hamburger. He gave me one more rig and I felt I had made a new friend at the pier. The total fish were 28 sardines, 1 jacksmelt and 1 shinerperch and I felt Fernando’s generosity had made the visit a success. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 4.20 fish per hour and 6.23 points per hour. I next headed to the motel to watch the Warriors-Laker game.
Day 7, April 10. I had one final morning to fish before heading home to Fresno and planned to meet Hashem for lunch to discuss the situation at Catalina. How to avoid the LA traffic? I got up early and headed to the Redondo Beach Pier.
REDONDO BEACH PIER—7:15-9:45. You never know what to expect at the pier but it’s long earned its reputation as the mackerel pier and I found a good mackerel bite. It wasn’t the “mac attack” with a fish every cast but cast after cast would yield some fish and eventually filled my bait cooler with bait to take home. The visit produced 33 Pacific mackerel, 5 Pacific sardine and 4 jack mackerel and made a nice ending for what had been a very slow fishing trip. Later after entering the day’s catch into my record book the updated stats for the pier are 6.46 fish per hour and 10.5 points per hour.
I next me up with Hashem. We finished our late breakfast at 12:15; I had good traffic, and was back in Fresno by 3:45. Back home I put the gear away, put the dirty clothes in the hamper, salted down and placed the mackerel and sardines I had kept for bait into Ziploc bags prior to the freezer, took a shower with my rods, and finally settled down for the evening.
It was a slow fishing trip but had yielded up 100 fish and quite a few species—shinerperch, walleye surfperch, black croaker, kelp bass, queenfish, topsmelt, California corbina, jacksmelt, white croaker, sand bass, rockpool blenny, Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel and jack mackerel.
I might add my wife was worried about the trip given I had several different health issues over the past few months. Recently my sciatica had flared up and some days I could barely walk. My shoulder too was acting up (I have two torn tendons behind my rotator cuff and one half-torn tendon in front of the rotator cuff). Some days I felt like I couldn't even lift up my right barm. She wondered if I should go. But, I feel good. My sciatica did not act up and my shoulder handled the casting I was making at Redondo without a hitch. For me, sometimes fishing is the best medicine.
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