Date: August 4, 2013
To: Pier Fishing in California
From: Ken Jones
Subject: A trip to CenCal
Last week saw my contract with the SBA end which means I now have more time to do some fishing. Of course it also means less money. Although originally hopeful that I could journey down to San Diego for the kid’s tournament, that proved impossible. Still, I needed some time over the water so headed over to the coast last weekend. I wanted to visit a few more piers and check out Cayucos which is partly closed.
Pier 1—San Simeon—Two and a half hours produced a number of different species although most were small to medium size and as at the other piers I’ve visited lately, you had to get through the lizardfish to catch the “better” fish. Species caught—Lizardfish, Speckled Sanddab, Walleye Surfperch, Barred Surfperch, Calico Surfperch, Spotfin Surfperch, Bocaccio and Cabezon. Initially I thought the cabezon looked more like a Red Irishlord but it seems too far south for those critters. It was a beautiful day and my only complain was the kayakers that were streaming through the pilings; some day one is going to get hooked.
Pier 2—Cayucos—As said it is fenced off about half way out which did allow some angling but prevents access to the somewhat deeper water at the end. Unfortunately between the lizardfish and the funny looking seaweed it was a little tough fishing but one hour of fishing did produce quite a few fish. Species caught—Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab and Walleye Surfperch.
Pier 3—Morro Bay, North T-Pier—The pier has been opened up with the removal of some boats that were crowding the space during my last visit. Again the lizardfish were numerous but so were the jacksmelt. Although I don’t like to use a Sabiki I did use one here. If you allowed the Sabiki to reach the bottom you were almost assured 1-5 lizardfish. If you cast out and kept the Sabiki in the top layer of water you could almost get a jacksmelt on every cast. If fact you really didn’t need much of a cast. Just shoot it out a few yards, jiggle it just under the surface and you could see the jacksmelt coming to the Sabiki; sometimes you would get them, sometimes not. No bait was used on the Sabiki. Interesting was the catch of two more Onespot Fringehead (see previous posts on the fringehead). Species caught—Lizardfish, Jacksmelt, Onespot Fringehead and Bocaccio.
Pier 4—Morro Bay, South T-Pier—The fishing was a little tougher than usual (at least the rockfish weren’t biting in the usual holes) but it turned out to be a pretty decent visit. Included in the catch was yet one more Onespot Fringehead and more lizardfish. Species caught—Lizardfish, Jacksmelt, Black & Yellow Rockfish, Brown Rockfish, Gopher Rockfish, Kelp Rockfish, Onespot Fringehead and several different juvenile species of rockfish (Bocaccio and what I think were juvenile Chilipepper and Vermilion rockfish).
On almost all of these fish the rigging was my standard high/low rigging with size 6 hooks, a torpedo sinker, and pile worms as bait. When fishing for the rockfish the rig is changed to a single hook.
The great thing about the day besides the weather and constant fish was the variety, 18 different species, which tied my personal mark for most species in a single day (from multiple piers). That mark had been set just a few weeks ago at Monterey.
I did stay the night in Morro Bay and had agreed to meet up with a co-worker that wanted to take his kids fishing. We met up the next day at the Avila Pier.
Pier 5—Beautiful weather once again and again a lot of fish. In fact the trip would produce 13 different species, which is not too far from my mark for most fish from a single pier in a day (the top is 16 species at the Cabrillo Mole this past April while two trips to the Mole saw 15 species). I fished the inshore section for about an hour prior to my friend’s arrival and managed a few barred surfperch but most of the day was spent out at the end. Species caught—Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab, Brown Rockfish, Cabezon, Kelp Greenling, Onespot Fringehead, Barred Surfperch, Jacksmelt and several more juvenile rockfish species (Bocaccio, Blue Rockfish, and what I think were Vermilion and Chilipepper Rockfish). As for the kids, I rigged them up with my normal set-ups and they caught roughly 100 fish (mostly lizardfish).
All in all a nice visit to the coast. Now, about that new job...
To: Pier Fishing in California
From: Ken Jones
Subject: A trip to CenCal
Last week saw my contract with the SBA end which means I now have more time to do some fishing. Of course it also means less money. Although originally hopeful that I could journey down to San Diego for the kid’s tournament, that proved impossible. Still, I needed some time over the water so headed over to the coast last weekend. I wanted to visit a few more piers and check out Cayucos which is partly closed.
Pier 1—San Simeon—Two and a half hours produced a number of different species although most were small to medium size and as at the other piers I’ve visited lately, you had to get through the lizardfish to catch the “better” fish. Species caught—Lizardfish, Speckled Sanddab, Walleye Surfperch, Barred Surfperch, Calico Surfperch, Spotfin Surfperch, Bocaccio and Cabezon. Initially I thought the cabezon looked more like a Red Irishlord but it seems too far south for those critters. It was a beautiful day and my only complain was the kayakers that were streaming through the pilings; some day one is going to get hooked.
Pier 2—Cayucos—As said it is fenced off about half way out which did allow some angling but prevents access to the somewhat deeper water at the end. Unfortunately between the lizardfish and the funny looking seaweed it was a little tough fishing but one hour of fishing did produce quite a few fish. Species caught—Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab and Walleye Surfperch.
Pier 3—Morro Bay, North T-Pier—The pier has been opened up with the removal of some boats that were crowding the space during my last visit. Again the lizardfish were numerous but so were the jacksmelt. Although I don’t like to use a Sabiki I did use one here. If you allowed the Sabiki to reach the bottom you were almost assured 1-5 lizardfish. If you cast out and kept the Sabiki in the top layer of water you could almost get a jacksmelt on every cast. If fact you really didn’t need much of a cast. Just shoot it out a few yards, jiggle it just under the surface and you could see the jacksmelt coming to the Sabiki; sometimes you would get them, sometimes not. No bait was used on the Sabiki. Interesting was the catch of two more Onespot Fringehead (see previous posts on the fringehead). Species caught—Lizardfish, Jacksmelt, Onespot Fringehead and Bocaccio.
Pier 4—Morro Bay, South T-Pier—The fishing was a little tougher than usual (at least the rockfish weren’t biting in the usual holes) but it turned out to be a pretty decent visit. Included in the catch was yet one more Onespot Fringehead and more lizardfish. Species caught—Lizardfish, Jacksmelt, Black & Yellow Rockfish, Brown Rockfish, Gopher Rockfish, Kelp Rockfish, Onespot Fringehead and several different juvenile species of rockfish (Bocaccio and what I think were juvenile Chilipepper and Vermilion rockfish).
On almost all of these fish the rigging was my standard high/low rigging with size 6 hooks, a torpedo sinker, and pile worms as bait. When fishing for the rockfish the rig is changed to a single hook.
The great thing about the day besides the weather and constant fish was the variety, 18 different species, which tied my personal mark for most species in a single day (from multiple piers). That mark had been set just a few weeks ago at Monterey.
I did stay the night in Morro Bay and had agreed to meet up with a co-worker that wanted to take his kids fishing. We met up the next day at the Avila Pier.
Pier 5—Beautiful weather once again and again a lot of fish. In fact the trip would produce 13 different species, which is not too far from my mark for most fish from a single pier in a day (the top is 16 species at the Cabrillo Mole this past April while two trips to the Mole saw 15 species). I fished the inshore section for about an hour prior to my friend’s arrival and managed a few barred surfperch but most of the day was spent out at the end. Species caught—Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab, Brown Rockfish, Cabezon, Kelp Greenling, Onespot Fringehead, Barred Surfperch, Jacksmelt and several more juvenile rockfish species (Bocaccio, Blue Rockfish, and what I think were Vermilion and Chilipepper Rockfish). As for the kids, I rigged them up with my normal set-ups and they caught roughly 100 fish (mostly lizardfish).
All in all a nice visit to the coast. Now, about that new job...