Date: August 16, 2008
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Quick Trip To The North Country
This past week I took a long needed trip up to the Redwood Empire and the north coast piers. Not much to report although it provided some needed “soul food”
Monday 8/11 — After dropping my better half off at Philo (near Boonville) I headed over the hill to Ukiah and the 155-mile drive from there to Eureka. I planned to see a couple of old friends, visit the piers to see what changes have taken place in the last couple of years, and of course do some fishing. Only sad note heading north was the smoky sky that started at the north end of Mendocino County, just about the time I topped Rattlesnake Summit; evidently the fires are still going on up there.
Lodi had been in the 90s all week. Eureka upon arrival was in the mid-60s, overcast and cool—the way I like it. I made a short stop at Bucksport for some back-up sinkers, checked into the motel, and headed over to the Del Norte St. Pier.
Del Norte St. Pier—This pier has frankly been disappointing over the years and my first, short, stop was much the same. The tide was ripping at the front of the pier and with it came gobs and gobs of grass. I tried to hold bottom at the end but finally gave up and moved closer inshore to try for perch (or whatever). Unfortunately it was whatever as nothing but shinerperch made an appearance. I finally decided to move to another pier until there was a change in tide.
Del Norte St. Pier—6-7 PM
11 Shinerperch
All fish released.
Commercial St. Dock—This has always been one of the piers in the region. The water is fairly deep and usually offers some type of fish. Upon arrival I found several people fishing for anchovies with bait rigs; two anglers were using live anchovies and trying for halibut. I decided to try the same but the anchovies had decided to move on. One hour’s work with a Sabiki (which I hate to use) produced only a few smallish fish.
Commercial St. Dock—7:20-8:20 PM
2 Black Rockfish
1 Kelp Greenling
1 Northern Anchovy
Rockfish/greenling released.
Now batting 0 for 2, I decided to get a quick bite at JIB before returning to Del Norte and trying some nighttime fishing for shark.
Del Norte St. Pier—Upon arrival back, I found the tide had slackened but it was still fairly strong and still full of salad. Nevertheless I joined about a half dozen friendly anglers out near the end and began the shark vigil. Unfortunately I only managed one shark, a three-foot-long dogfish (on cut mackerel), one of four sharks taken by the assembled fishermen.
Of interest to me was the catch of one angler who was using a throw net to get live bait. Included in his catch were three small eels. Unfortunately I did not get a good look at them but it stirred my interest (always looking for a new species) and so around eleven I took my light pole into the shallows where the netter had been throwing his net and cast out a high/low with size 6 hooks and pieces of pile worm. I didn’t catch any eels but was witness to an amazing site. The water in that area was now shallow, no more than 3-4 feet in depth, well lit from the lights, and fairly free of grass, and whenever you would bring in a line it would be followed by some type of fish. Turned out it was baby lingcod about 7-9 inches in length. I really wanted to catch one of those eels but after several multiple hookups with the illegal lingcod decided to stop before one was hurt.
Del Norte St. Pier—9-11:45 PM
11 Small Lingcod
3 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Spiny Dogfish
All fish released.
Tuesday 8/12—Today I was headed north but decided to make one more short stop at Del Norte hoping for one of those eels. Alas it was just bullheads and another lingcod. Time to stop.
Del Norte St. Pier —7:15-7:45 AM
5 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Lingcod
All fish released.
Trinidad Wharf—This is one of my favorite piers even though results have been somewhat desultory over the years. It’s such a beautiful environment that you tend to excuse the fishing. The day would see much of the same, with a good number of fish but all being fairly small, none going over ¾ pound in weight. However, the wharf was in great shape with some new railings and fencing (very safe and kid friendly). Even the tourists were friendly although filled with the usual questions—What do you catch here? What bait are you using? I spent almost the entire time fishing by the large rocks on the right side of the wharf and the main bait was pileworms.
Trinidad Wharf—8:50-12:05 PM
16 Kelp Greenling
9 Black Rockfish
2 Rock Greenling
All fish released.
After a journey through the majestic redwood country of Del Norte County I arrived at Crescent City, a somewhat depressing town but one that contains a nice harbor and two piers. As soon as I found a motel and checked in, it was off to do some fishing.
Citizen’s Dock—This visit would be the most interesting of the trip. As described in PFIC, 2nd. Ed., there is a rock on the shoreline at the foot of the dock that has a perfectly round hole, a true, literal “fishing hole” that has yielded fish whenever I have dropped a hook down into it. Today would be no different. I set up with a one-ounce torpedo sinker and about six inches above it a size 6 hook baited with a piece pile worm. As described in the book you have to be ready for a quick response if bit, otherwise you will lose your rig down in the rock. I dropped down the first bait and within about five seconds had a hit and pulled out a smallish kelp greenling. It was released, the hook was re-baited, and the rig was dropped back into the hole. Again an almost immediate hit only this time the fish was a bigger grass rockfish. Repeat release, re-bait and re-drop. The next fish was a strange little sculpin that required a check of the Peterson Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes. Turned out that it was (I think) a coralline sculpin. Repeat sequence but next fish was a mid-size copper rockfish. Seven drops into the “fishing hole” produced seven fish before the bite stopped after producing 4 kelp greenling, 1 grass rockfish, 1 copper rockfish and the lone sculpin. In watching the hole I could see the water level go up with each tidal surge so I imagine there is an entryway down into an underwater grotto of sorts that contains the fish. As long as the water level is high enough the fish are there and they’re just waiting for some food. After the bite in the hole stopped I switched to the adjacent inshore area just out from the rocks and continued to catch small greenling, another coralline sculpin, and too many shinerperch.
About that time I spotted an angler coming back from the main section of the dock who had been using a bait rig to catch anchovies. Said they were out there but there were also other small fish. So, I decided to try something different. Once out at mid-pier I spotted the swarms of what I assumed were anchovies. Huge schools of fish were moving back and forth by the dock but they were almost transparent other than for their heads. I thought they looked strange and what was even stranger was my inability to hook an anchovy on the Sabiki I began to use. It had always worked before but these fish would just swim around it. I still don’t know for sure if what I was I was watching were anchovies or something else. What I did find out was not to let the Sabiki drift deep because the water was also loaded with juvenile black rockfish and they were being attacked from underneath by juvenile lingcod (much like the adult black rockfish being fodder for adult lings). If you let the Sabiki get deep in the water you would wind up with 5-6 baby black rockfish or a combination of rockfish and lingcod. A few 6-8 inch bocaccio also grabbed hold of a hook, as did a small orange rockfish.
Once again, as at Del Norte, I had to stop fishing (at least using the Sabiki) to prevent small rockfish and lingcod from being hooked. By the way, while this was going on, I had the heavier pole set out on the bottom for bigger fish but received nary a bite. Decided to head back inshore but now two new anglers had grabbed my inshore spot so I decided to change piers.
Citizen’s Dock—3:15-6:45 PM
Too many Black Rockfish (juvenile)
17 Kelp Greenling
10 Lingcod
7 Shinerperch
4 Bocaccio
2 Coralline Sculpin
1 Grass Rockfish
1 Copper Rockfish
1 Orange Rockfish
All fish released.
“B” St. Pier —I decided to head over to the ”B” St. Pier that sits at the other end of Crescent Harbor; another pier that has always disappointed. Here the bottom is sand and mud and typically the choice is schooling fish on the top (jacksmelt, walleye surfperch, silver surfperch, Pacific herring, etc.) or a bottom fish—sole and flounder during the day, a possible skate or shark at night. The big rig was cast out for a bottom fish while the light rig was set up with a high low and pile worms for perch by the pilings. The perch were missing but some small kelp greenling were to be found by the pilings but also unfortunately so were those juvenile black rockfish. As for the big rig? All it was attracting was crabs and they were doing quite a job on the baits—anchovies, cut mackerel and finally squid. I did put a live shinerperch out for halibut but even that would up chopped up by the crabs. I finally decided to call it quits. It seemed that small hooks yielded unwanted small fish (the black rockfish), large hooks yielded crabs.
“B” St. Pier 7:35-9:05 PM
12 Black Rockfish (juvenile)
5 Kelp Greenling
1 Shinerperch
1 Staghorn Sculpin
+ 1 Very large Rock Crab
All fish released.
Wednesday 8/13 —Today would be a return trip south and hopefully some fishing time with Ed Roberts of the DF&G and dinner with an old friend that I had worked with thirty years ago (who later cancelled on me). However, before heading to Eureka there was time for one more short visit to Citizen’s Dock. This time I was greeted by a cacophony of sea dogs barkin’ up a storm on the nearby Whaler Island and a distinct ”fishy” smell to the area that hadn’t been noticeable the previous night. My first though was about the “fishing hole” but this time the tide was low and there were no strikes in the “hole” so I’m thinking it’s only a mid or high water hole. However, the inshore waters continued to yield fish and now the cabezon made an appearance. Since I was running out of pile worms I began to use frozen mussel and that’s what the cabezon seemed to prefer. Other than a few more shinerperch the only other fish was a blackeye goby, first one I have caught north of San Francisco Bay.
Citizen’s Dock 7:40-8:40 AM
3 Cabezon
3 Kelp Greenling
3 Shinerperch
1 Blackeye Goby
All fish released.
Trinidad Wharf—The weather was a little nicer and the place was even more populated with tourists but they were all nice and courteous. I did meet up with Ed Roberts but a last minute assignment meant he couldn’t fish so I was soon on my own again. Most interesting was a large Pacific halibut brought in by a pretty angler who had been out on a boat “just fishin’ for the halibut.” She said they were about 30 miles out and I’m guessing the fish weighed 25-30 pounds. As for myself, I was fishing the left side of the wharf and for some reason was catching rock greenling in contrast to the kelp greenling that I had been catching on the right side of the wharf. There continued to be some juvenile black rockfish but I also caught two keeper-size black rockfish and a nice cabezon to take home for dinner.
Trinidad Wharf 11:05-2:35 PM
9 Rock Greenling
8 Black Rockfish — two large fish
5 Kelp Greenling
2 Cabezon
+ 1 Large Red Crab
Most fish released.
Adorni Pier—I still needed to fish this pier so headed south to the Adorni Recreation Center on the Eureka waterfront. The tiny pier was semi-covered with dried sea grass and heavy monofilament line, which I proceeded to clean up, so someone had been fishing the pier. The water was placid and crews were doin’ their rowin’ on the bay but as far as fishing it was the usual crabs, grass and bullheads. The big rig was cast out to the deeper water for (initially) sharks/bat rays. I started with mackerel but switched to squid after the crabs began doing their thing. However, if it wasn’t a crab it was a bullhead—and is there a hook big enough that the ubiquitous bullhead cannot conquer? Spotting what looked like anchovies in the inshore waters, I finally tied on a Sabiki and began pulling in some live bait that was then transferred to the big rig but the crabs made quick work of the anchovies. By the way, Eureka has its own version of Mayberry’s Otis (and friend). Here a duo of clochards settled down on the adjacent dock in front of the Aquatic Center. “Going after shark? You’re in a good spot for leopard sharks! I saw one caught right where you’re standing about six months ago. You need a big hook and a big gob of bait but you’ll get them.” They were shouting encouragement to me, and just plain shouting at nearby kayakers. They were harmless and enjoying the breeze but I couldn’t provide them with a new shark sighting.
Adorni Pier 4:45-6:15 PM
14 Staghorn Sculpin
13 Northern Anchovy
Sculpin released
Commercial St. Dock—I moved down to this dock to see what was going on and this time the anchovies were thick. I again cast out the heavier rig for some bottom fish and tried the Sabiki for some live bait. The fish were there, 3-5 at a time and an hour’s work provided me with enough anchovies to last a few fishing trips (and save a few bucks). Unfortunately, nothing would hit the heavier rig.
Commercial St. Dock 6:45-7:45 PM
124 Northern Anchovy
Del Norte St. Pier—I decided to try once again for some sharks but this time the end was crowded with anglers upon my arrival. So, I finally decided to use the light pole and drop in a high/low just down from the end. I caught another nice keeper-size rockfish, a grass rockfish, but again there were too many small fish and I decided to call it a night.
Del Norte St. Pier 9:15-10:30 PM
3 Lingcod
3 Shinerperch
1 Grass Rockfish
Lingcod/shinerperch released
Thursday 8/14—I needed to head back but wanted to try out “The Boardwalk,” the structure that runs several blocks along the downtown waterfront area. It is not a designated fishing pier but certainly has all the attributes of a pier and people fish from it. (I just hope that all that do fish from it keep it in the beautiful condition that it is today, six years after first being opened). I found a low tide, little current, some grass, and rocks under the overhanging sections of the Boardwalk. Not too far from the Adorni Center, I also once again found the bullheads and anchovies. I did manage one small bat ray that put up a spirited fight.
Eureka Boardwalk 6:35-8:35 AM
35 Northern Anchovy
5 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Bat Ray
All fish released
The visit ended my less than stellar trip to the northern piers (and I never did catch one of those eels)
Some thoughts driving back: (1) The roads south of Eureka have the feel of northern Europe, especially northern Germany and, in spots, the Eastern part of northern Germany after the fall of communism. (2) Eureka, especially around the Bay and Woodley Island area feels like Scandinavia.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Quick Trip To The North Country
This past week I took a long needed trip up to the Redwood Empire and the north coast piers. Not much to report although it provided some needed “soul food”
Monday 8/11 — After dropping my better half off at Philo (near Boonville) I headed over the hill to Ukiah and the 155-mile drive from there to Eureka. I planned to see a couple of old friends, visit the piers to see what changes have taken place in the last couple of years, and of course do some fishing. Only sad note heading north was the smoky sky that started at the north end of Mendocino County, just about the time I topped Rattlesnake Summit; evidently the fires are still going on up there.
Lodi had been in the 90s all week. Eureka upon arrival was in the mid-60s, overcast and cool—the way I like it. I made a short stop at Bucksport for some back-up sinkers, checked into the motel, and headed over to the Del Norte St. Pier.
Del Norte St. Pier—This pier has frankly been disappointing over the years and my first, short, stop was much the same. The tide was ripping at the front of the pier and with it came gobs and gobs of grass. I tried to hold bottom at the end but finally gave up and moved closer inshore to try for perch (or whatever). Unfortunately it was whatever as nothing but shinerperch made an appearance. I finally decided to move to another pier until there was a change in tide.
Del Norte St. Pier—6-7 PM
11 Shinerperch
All fish released.
Commercial St. Dock—This has always been one of the piers in the region. The water is fairly deep and usually offers some type of fish. Upon arrival I found several people fishing for anchovies with bait rigs; two anglers were using live anchovies and trying for halibut. I decided to try the same but the anchovies had decided to move on. One hour’s work with a Sabiki (which I hate to use) produced only a few smallish fish.
Commercial St. Dock—7:20-8:20 PM
2 Black Rockfish
1 Kelp Greenling
1 Northern Anchovy
Rockfish/greenling released.
Now batting 0 for 2, I decided to get a quick bite at JIB before returning to Del Norte and trying some nighttime fishing for shark.
Del Norte St. Pier—Upon arrival back, I found the tide had slackened but it was still fairly strong and still full of salad. Nevertheless I joined about a half dozen friendly anglers out near the end and began the shark vigil. Unfortunately I only managed one shark, a three-foot-long dogfish (on cut mackerel), one of four sharks taken by the assembled fishermen.
Of interest to me was the catch of one angler who was using a throw net to get live bait. Included in his catch were three small eels. Unfortunately I did not get a good look at them but it stirred my interest (always looking for a new species) and so around eleven I took my light pole into the shallows where the netter had been throwing his net and cast out a high/low with size 6 hooks and pieces of pile worm. I didn’t catch any eels but was witness to an amazing site. The water in that area was now shallow, no more than 3-4 feet in depth, well lit from the lights, and fairly free of grass, and whenever you would bring in a line it would be followed by some type of fish. Turned out it was baby lingcod about 7-9 inches in length. I really wanted to catch one of those eels but after several multiple hookups with the illegal lingcod decided to stop before one was hurt.
Del Norte St. Pier—9-11:45 PM
11 Small Lingcod
3 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Spiny Dogfish
All fish released.
Tuesday 8/12—Today I was headed north but decided to make one more short stop at Del Norte hoping for one of those eels. Alas it was just bullheads and another lingcod. Time to stop.
Del Norte St. Pier —7:15-7:45 AM
5 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Lingcod
All fish released.
Trinidad Wharf—This is one of my favorite piers even though results have been somewhat desultory over the years. It’s such a beautiful environment that you tend to excuse the fishing. The day would see much of the same, with a good number of fish but all being fairly small, none going over ¾ pound in weight. However, the wharf was in great shape with some new railings and fencing (very safe and kid friendly). Even the tourists were friendly although filled with the usual questions—What do you catch here? What bait are you using? I spent almost the entire time fishing by the large rocks on the right side of the wharf and the main bait was pileworms.
Trinidad Wharf—8:50-12:05 PM
16 Kelp Greenling
9 Black Rockfish
2 Rock Greenling
All fish released.
After a journey through the majestic redwood country of Del Norte County I arrived at Crescent City, a somewhat depressing town but one that contains a nice harbor and two piers. As soon as I found a motel and checked in, it was off to do some fishing.
Citizen’s Dock—This visit would be the most interesting of the trip. As described in PFIC, 2nd. Ed., there is a rock on the shoreline at the foot of the dock that has a perfectly round hole, a true, literal “fishing hole” that has yielded fish whenever I have dropped a hook down into it. Today would be no different. I set up with a one-ounce torpedo sinker and about six inches above it a size 6 hook baited with a piece pile worm. As described in the book you have to be ready for a quick response if bit, otherwise you will lose your rig down in the rock. I dropped down the first bait and within about five seconds had a hit and pulled out a smallish kelp greenling. It was released, the hook was re-baited, and the rig was dropped back into the hole. Again an almost immediate hit only this time the fish was a bigger grass rockfish. Repeat release, re-bait and re-drop. The next fish was a strange little sculpin that required a check of the Peterson Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes. Turned out that it was (I think) a coralline sculpin. Repeat sequence but next fish was a mid-size copper rockfish. Seven drops into the “fishing hole” produced seven fish before the bite stopped after producing 4 kelp greenling, 1 grass rockfish, 1 copper rockfish and the lone sculpin. In watching the hole I could see the water level go up with each tidal surge so I imagine there is an entryway down into an underwater grotto of sorts that contains the fish. As long as the water level is high enough the fish are there and they’re just waiting for some food. After the bite in the hole stopped I switched to the adjacent inshore area just out from the rocks and continued to catch small greenling, another coralline sculpin, and too many shinerperch.
About that time I spotted an angler coming back from the main section of the dock who had been using a bait rig to catch anchovies. Said they were out there but there were also other small fish. So, I decided to try something different. Once out at mid-pier I spotted the swarms of what I assumed were anchovies. Huge schools of fish were moving back and forth by the dock but they were almost transparent other than for their heads. I thought they looked strange and what was even stranger was my inability to hook an anchovy on the Sabiki I began to use. It had always worked before but these fish would just swim around it. I still don’t know for sure if what I was I was watching were anchovies or something else. What I did find out was not to let the Sabiki drift deep because the water was also loaded with juvenile black rockfish and they were being attacked from underneath by juvenile lingcod (much like the adult black rockfish being fodder for adult lings). If you let the Sabiki get deep in the water you would wind up with 5-6 baby black rockfish or a combination of rockfish and lingcod. A few 6-8 inch bocaccio also grabbed hold of a hook, as did a small orange rockfish.
Once again, as at Del Norte, I had to stop fishing (at least using the Sabiki) to prevent small rockfish and lingcod from being hooked. By the way, while this was going on, I had the heavier pole set out on the bottom for bigger fish but received nary a bite. Decided to head back inshore but now two new anglers had grabbed my inshore spot so I decided to change piers.
Citizen’s Dock—3:15-6:45 PM
Too many Black Rockfish (juvenile)
17 Kelp Greenling
10 Lingcod
7 Shinerperch
4 Bocaccio
2 Coralline Sculpin
1 Grass Rockfish
1 Copper Rockfish
1 Orange Rockfish
All fish released.
“B” St. Pier —I decided to head over to the ”B” St. Pier that sits at the other end of Crescent Harbor; another pier that has always disappointed. Here the bottom is sand and mud and typically the choice is schooling fish on the top (jacksmelt, walleye surfperch, silver surfperch, Pacific herring, etc.) or a bottom fish—sole and flounder during the day, a possible skate or shark at night. The big rig was cast out for a bottom fish while the light rig was set up with a high low and pile worms for perch by the pilings. The perch were missing but some small kelp greenling were to be found by the pilings but also unfortunately so were those juvenile black rockfish. As for the big rig? All it was attracting was crabs and they were doing quite a job on the baits—anchovies, cut mackerel and finally squid. I did put a live shinerperch out for halibut but even that would up chopped up by the crabs. I finally decided to call it quits. It seemed that small hooks yielded unwanted small fish (the black rockfish), large hooks yielded crabs.
“B” St. Pier 7:35-9:05 PM
12 Black Rockfish (juvenile)
5 Kelp Greenling
1 Shinerperch
1 Staghorn Sculpin
+ 1 Very large Rock Crab
All fish released.
Wednesday 8/13 —Today would be a return trip south and hopefully some fishing time with Ed Roberts of the DF&G and dinner with an old friend that I had worked with thirty years ago (who later cancelled on me). However, before heading to Eureka there was time for one more short visit to Citizen’s Dock. This time I was greeted by a cacophony of sea dogs barkin’ up a storm on the nearby Whaler Island and a distinct ”fishy” smell to the area that hadn’t been noticeable the previous night. My first though was about the “fishing hole” but this time the tide was low and there were no strikes in the “hole” so I’m thinking it’s only a mid or high water hole. However, the inshore waters continued to yield fish and now the cabezon made an appearance. Since I was running out of pile worms I began to use frozen mussel and that’s what the cabezon seemed to prefer. Other than a few more shinerperch the only other fish was a blackeye goby, first one I have caught north of San Francisco Bay.
Citizen’s Dock 7:40-8:40 AM
3 Cabezon
3 Kelp Greenling
3 Shinerperch
1 Blackeye Goby
All fish released.
Trinidad Wharf—The weather was a little nicer and the place was even more populated with tourists but they were all nice and courteous. I did meet up with Ed Roberts but a last minute assignment meant he couldn’t fish so I was soon on my own again. Most interesting was a large Pacific halibut brought in by a pretty angler who had been out on a boat “just fishin’ for the halibut.” She said they were about 30 miles out and I’m guessing the fish weighed 25-30 pounds. As for myself, I was fishing the left side of the wharf and for some reason was catching rock greenling in contrast to the kelp greenling that I had been catching on the right side of the wharf. There continued to be some juvenile black rockfish but I also caught two keeper-size black rockfish and a nice cabezon to take home for dinner.
Trinidad Wharf 11:05-2:35 PM
9 Rock Greenling
8 Black Rockfish — two large fish
5 Kelp Greenling
2 Cabezon
+ 1 Large Red Crab
Most fish released.
Adorni Pier—I still needed to fish this pier so headed south to the Adorni Recreation Center on the Eureka waterfront. The tiny pier was semi-covered with dried sea grass and heavy monofilament line, which I proceeded to clean up, so someone had been fishing the pier. The water was placid and crews were doin’ their rowin’ on the bay but as far as fishing it was the usual crabs, grass and bullheads. The big rig was cast out to the deeper water for (initially) sharks/bat rays. I started with mackerel but switched to squid after the crabs began doing their thing. However, if it wasn’t a crab it was a bullhead—and is there a hook big enough that the ubiquitous bullhead cannot conquer? Spotting what looked like anchovies in the inshore waters, I finally tied on a Sabiki and began pulling in some live bait that was then transferred to the big rig but the crabs made quick work of the anchovies. By the way, Eureka has its own version of Mayberry’s Otis (and friend). Here a duo of clochards settled down on the adjacent dock in front of the Aquatic Center. “Going after shark? You’re in a good spot for leopard sharks! I saw one caught right where you’re standing about six months ago. You need a big hook and a big gob of bait but you’ll get them.” They were shouting encouragement to me, and just plain shouting at nearby kayakers. They were harmless and enjoying the breeze but I couldn’t provide them with a new shark sighting.
Adorni Pier 4:45-6:15 PM
14 Staghorn Sculpin
13 Northern Anchovy
Sculpin released
Commercial St. Dock—I moved down to this dock to see what was going on and this time the anchovies were thick. I again cast out the heavier rig for some bottom fish and tried the Sabiki for some live bait. The fish were there, 3-5 at a time and an hour’s work provided me with enough anchovies to last a few fishing trips (and save a few bucks). Unfortunately, nothing would hit the heavier rig.
Commercial St. Dock 6:45-7:45 PM
124 Northern Anchovy
Del Norte St. Pier—I decided to try once again for some sharks but this time the end was crowded with anglers upon my arrival. So, I finally decided to use the light pole and drop in a high/low just down from the end. I caught another nice keeper-size rockfish, a grass rockfish, but again there were too many small fish and I decided to call it a night.
Del Norte St. Pier 9:15-10:30 PM
3 Lingcod
3 Shinerperch
1 Grass Rockfish
Lingcod/shinerperch released
Thursday 8/14—I needed to head back but wanted to try out “The Boardwalk,” the structure that runs several blocks along the downtown waterfront area. It is not a designated fishing pier but certainly has all the attributes of a pier and people fish from it. (I just hope that all that do fish from it keep it in the beautiful condition that it is today, six years after first being opened). I found a low tide, little current, some grass, and rocks under the overhanging sections of the Boardwalk. Not too far from the Adorni Center, I also once again found the bullheads and anchovies. I did manage one small bat ray that put up a spirited fight.
Eureka Boardwalk 6:35-8:35 AM
35 Northern Anchovy
5 Staghorn Sculpin
1 Bat Ray
All fish released
The visit ended my less than stellar trip to the northern piers (and I never did catch one of those eels)
Some thoughts driving back: (1) The roads south of Eureka have the feel of northern Europe, especially northern Germany and, in spots, the Eastern part of northern Germany after the fall of communism. (2) Eureka, especially around the Bay and Woodley Island area feels like Scandinavia.