Date: July 23, 2013
To: Pier Fishing in California
From: Ken Jones
Subject: A trip to Monterey
107 degrees in Fresno and 60 degrees in Monterey; enough said. Actually no, there is quite a bit more to add. Wanting to get away from the Valley heat, and intrigued by mention in a recent post that some sharpnose perch were showing up at the wharf, I decided to make a quick weekend trip over to Monterey. The trip would prove very, very enjoyable, both for the cool marine layer of weather that required a light jacket and for the variety of fish. Nothing learned but a few observations confirmed.
I arrived at the Monterey Wharf #2 shortly after 9 AM and soon after an angler came over and said, “Are you Ken Jones?” It was Madsteelhead and he was at the pier seeking out some pileperch. He gave me a quick rundown on what was happening and asked if I could identify a fish in another angler’s ice chest. It was a small sablefish, the first one I had seen in years, and it gave even more hope that it might be an interesting visit. I was soon rigged up with my normal high/low rigging, a one ounce torpedo sinker, and pile worms strung over size 6 hooks; I was ready for some perch.
The only problem was the small fish, specifically juvenile blue rockfish and lizardfish. Those fish just didn’t seem to understand that the worms were reserved for the larger perch. Over the years pile worms have become my favorite bait (along with ghost shrimp) but the trouble with worms and small hooks is that smaller fish can also grab them, i.e. the blacksmith and senorita that can make fishing hard at Catalina when you’re trying for larger species like opaleye, the shinerperch at Gaviota when you’re seeking out the larger rubberlips and buttermouth, and on and on. Worms are great bait but can be too easily sucked in by the smaller fish when you are seeking out something a little larger. When the small fish are around it’s good to have a backup bait. Unfortunately I had brought a couple of dozen worms with me as well as some anchovies and squid but had not brought the mussels that were in a bag in my freezer—dumb!
Nevertheless, I continued to fish for my sharpnose perch and about 20 minutes after starting I caught a sharpnose, the only one I would catch during the trip. It justified the trip in my mind but there were several other interesting things that I saw.
The first were the number of lizardfish. In my monthly reports I have been reporting lizardfish from more and more piers, all the way south to San Diego. A few weeks ago during a trip to Santa Barbara they were the main fish caught by the kids in the tournament on Stearns Wharf. On the way back that weekend I had stopped at Port San Luis where they absolutely seemed to cover the bottom of the bay (as in 4-6 every time if you threw out a Sabiki). Here there was a repeat performance. People mid-pier were casting Sabikis and pulling in 4-6 fish at a time and keeping them. Hope they tasted good.
The second concerned a recent post I made on the number of baby cabezon and onespot fringehead showing up at piers. I had recently caught small cabezon at Stearns Wharf, Goleta, Gaviota, Avila, and Port San Luis and once again they were numerous here. As for the onespot fringehead it was similar, I had caught them at Stearns Wharf, Goleta, Gaviota, and Port San Luis. Soon after starting I caught one and took it over to show Madsteelhead who said he had never seen one before. What gives with this year’s explosion of lizardfish, cabezon and onespot fringehead?
As for the pileperch, there was a nice run going on and the locals who knew what they were doing (like Madsteelhead) were loading up on fish that weighed 1+ pounds. It reminded me of when I used to fish the Red Rock Pier in Richmond back in the ‘70s. The pier would be thick mid-winter with pileperch in the 1-2 pound range and you could fairly easily catch a limit using grass shrimp for bait. The Red Rock Pier is now history and it seems harder to find the larger concentrations of pileperch (although some areas still see good numbers). BTW, Madsteelhead also caught a nice blackperch.
There was also the issue of the sablefish. The only sablefish I have caught from a pier was at the Newport Pier and it was a long, long time ago. One day I caught 47 and one day I caught six; all were caught during very early hours when it was still dark and all were caught on squid (as discussed in my book). The thinking is that these deep-water fish will come to the surface at night to feed (and young sablefish will sometimes enter shallower water). I wanted a chance at the sablefish so was back at the Wharf Sunday morning at 4 AM using squid for bait. The water was really low, the sablefish did not cooperate, and I did not catch a single one, but at least I tried.
I did have a very interesting discussion with a retired commercial fishermen the next morning, one who lives on his boat in the marina. He said a state record pileperch was caught from the wharf a few days ago, a fish which after being weighed on a couple of different certified scales weighed in at an even 2 pounds. I hadn’t checked the records lately but was a little surprised that the fish would be the record since I have seen much larger fish over the years. But, most anglers never bother to have their large fish checked or submitted as a record. He also said the lizardfish only showed up about a week ago and that there was a good bocaccio hatch showing in the water.
As for the cabezon and onespot fringehead, he had no idea, in fact he didn’t know what a onespot fringehead looked like until I showed him a picture. He also mentioned that three sturgeon had been taken from the wharf this year along with several halibut. We had a nice long talk concerning California fishing and changes over the years and it proved a nice diversion since the fishing was a little slow (at least as far as large fish).
What would prove most interesting was the number of different species that I was able to catch Saturday between two different piers—Wharf #2 and the Coast Guard Pier. Eighteen different species showed up at the two piers that day and when I checked my records when I got home it was the highest total of one day, multi-pier species. Wharf #2 (morning and late afternoon/early evening) saw California Lizardfish, Blue Rockfish, Speckled Sanddab, Pacific Sanddab, Cabezon, Senorita, Pileperch, Sharpnose Seaperch, Onespot Fringehead, Kelp Greenling, Bocaccio and Shinerperch. The Coast Guard Pier (afternoon) saw Gopher Rockfish, Black & Yellow Rockfish, Painted Greenling, Striped Seaperch, Striped Kelpfish, and what I think was a Corraline Sculpin. The 18 different species in one day from the piers was a record for me. Of course the two quite different environments would see different species but still it was a good number of different species.
I headed back Sunday at noon after a quick bowl of chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf. Three hours later I was back at Fresno and unloading the car in the middle of a 107 degree day. I think I need to find a job on the coast.
To: Pier Fishing in California
From: Ken Jones
Subject: A trip to Monterey
107 degrees in Fresno and 60 degrees in Monterey; enough said. Actually no, there is quite a bit more to add. Wanting to get away from the Valley heat, and intrigued by mention in a recent post that some sharpnose perch were showing up at the wharf, I decided to make a quick weekend trip over to Monterey. The trip would prove very, very enjoyable, both for the cool marine layer of weather that required a light jacket and for the variety of fish. Nothing learned but a few observations confirmed.
I arrived at the Monterey Wharf #2 shortly after 9 AM and soon after an angler came over and said, “Are you Ken Jones?” It was Madsteelhead and he was at the pier seeking out some pileperch. He gave me a quick rundown on what was happening and asked if I could identify a fish in another angler’s ice chest. It was a small sablefish, the first one I had seen in years, and it gave even more hope that it might be an interesting visit. I was soon rigged up with my normal high/low rigging, a one ounce torpedo sinker, and pile worms strung over size 6 hooks; I was ready for some perch.
The only problem was the small fish, specifically juvenile blue rockfish and lizardfish. Those fish just didn’t seem to understand that the worms were reserved for the larger perch. Over the years pile worms have become my favorite bait (along with ghost shrimp) but the trouble with worms and small hooks is that smaller fish can also grab them, i.e. the blacksmith and senorita that can make fishing hard at Catalina when you’re trying for larger species like opaleye, the shinerperch at Gaviota when you’re seeking out the larger rubberlips and buttermouth, and on and on. Worms are great bait but can be too easily sucked in by the smaller fish when you are seeking out something a little larger. When the small fish are around it’s good to have a backup bait. Unfortunately I had brought a couple of dozen worms with me as well as some anchovies and squid but had not brought the mussels that were in a bag in my freezer—dumb!
Nevertheless, I continued to fish for my sharpnose perch and about 20 minutes after starting I caught a sharpnose, the only one I would catch during the trip. It justified the trip in my mind but there were several other interesting things that I saw.
The first were the number of lizardfish. In my monthly reports I have been reporting lizardfish from more and more piers, all the way south to San Diego. A few weeks ago during a trip to Santa Barbara they were the main fish caught by the kids in the tournament on Stearns Wharf. On the way back that weekend I had stopped at Port San Luis where they absolutely seemed to cover the bottom of the bay (as in 4-6 every time if you threw out a Sabiki). Here there was a repeat performance. People mid-pier were casting Sabikis and pulling in 4-6 fish at a time and keeping them. Hope they tasted good.
The second concerned a recent post I made on the number of baby cabezon and onespot fringehead showing up at piers. I had recently caught small cabezon at Stearns Wharf, Goleta, Gaviota, Avila, and Port San Luis and once again they were numerous here. As for the onespot fringehead it was similar, I had caught them at Stearns Wharf, Goleta, Gaviota, and Port San Luis. Soon after starting I caught one and took it over to show Madsteelhead who said he had never seen one before. What gives with this year’s explosion of lizardfish, cabezon and onespot fringehead?
As for the pileperch, there was a nice run going on and the locals who knew what they were doing (like Madsteelhead) were loading up on fish that weighed 1+ pounds. It reminded me of when I used to fish the Red Rock Pier in Richmond back in the ‘70s. The pier would be thick mid-winter with pileperch in the 1-2 pound range and you could fairly easily catch a limit using grass shrimp for bait. The Red Rock Pier is now history and it seems harder to find the larger concentrations of pileperch (although some areas still see good numbers). BTW, Madsteelhead also caught a nice blackperch.
There was also the issue of the sablefish. The only sablefish I have caught from a pier was at the Newport Pier and it was a long, long time ago. One day I caught 47 and one day I caught six; all were caught during very early hours when it was still dark and all were caught on squid (as discussed in my book). The thinking is that these deep-water fish will come to the surface at night to feed (and young sablefish will sometimes enter shallower water). I wanted a chance at the sablefish so was back at the Wharf Sunday morning at 4 AM using squid for bait. The water was really low, the sablefish did not cooperate, and I did not catch a single one, but at least I tried.
I did have a very interesting discussion with a retired commercial fishermen the next morning, one who lives on his boat in the marina. He said a state record pileperch was caught from the wharf a few days ago, a fish which after being weighed on a couple of different certified scales weighed in at an even 2 pounds. I hadn’t checked the records lately but was a little surprised that the fish would be the record since I have seen much larger fish over the years. But, most anglers never bother to have their large fish checked or submitted as a record. He also said the lizardfish only showed up about a week ago and that there was a good bocaccio hatch showing in the water.
As for the cabezon and onespot fringehead, he had no idea, in fact he didn’t know what a onespot fringehead looked like until I showed him a picture. He also mentioned that three sturgeon had been taken from the wharf this year along with several halibut. We had a nice long talk concerning California fishing and changes over the years and it proved a nice diversion since the fishing was a little slow (at least as far as large fish).
What would prove most interesting was the number of different species that I was able to catch Saturday between two different piers—Wharf #2 and the Coast Guard Pier. Eighteen different species showed up at the two piers that day and when I checked my records when I got home it was the highest total of one day, multi-pier species. Wharf #2 (morning and late afternoon/early evening) saw California Lizardfish, Blue Rockfish, Speckled Sanddab, Pacific Sanddab, Cabezon, Senorita, Pileperch, Sharpnose Seaperch, Onespot Fringehead, Kelp Greenling, Bocaccio and Shinerperch. The Coast Guard Pier (afternoon) saw Gopher Rockfish, Black & Yellow Rockfish, Painted Greenling, Striped Seaperch, Striped Kelpfish, and what I think was a Corraline Sculpin. The 18 different species in one day from the piers was a record for me. Of course the two quite different environments would see different species but still it was a good number of different species.
I headed back Sunday at noon after a quick bowl of chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf. Three hours later I was back at Fresno and unloading the car in the middle of a 107 degree day. I think I need to find a job on the coast.