Balboa Pier 6/10

[EgoNonBaptizo]

Went to Balboa Pier from 1-4 pm to make bait for a trip to Avalon. I fished a 21 g coltsniper and caught 21 mackerel, while much of the pier went fishless until the last hour.

 

[Red Fish]

What were the people that went fishless using, sabikis?

The Shimano 21g coltsniper is a small iron jig.
I wonder if a small Kroc, Kastmaster, or Flying C lure might work just as well.

Sardine color? Straight silver?

 

[EgoNonBaptizo]

They were using sabikis. I have tried using kastmasters with little luck. However, I have used small p-line jigs and megabaits with good results. I used sardine colored jigs.

 

[Mahigeer]

Thanks for the report.

Some times back on that pier, I notice a kid fishing with his dad. He was using a sort of mega bait. He was out catching the Sabiki (me included) guys.
I got info. from dad and ordered the same lures from China. Cheap too.

Have not used them much since the mackerel have not been around much, when I was fishing.

 

[Ken Jones]

Mackerel can be puzzling. Some days you will have a “Mac attack” when they will hit virtually anything thrown into the water - various baits, Sabiki’s, and spoons of various type, color and size. Every hook on a Sabiki will have a fish and sooner or later some idiot will tie two Sabiki’s together and pull up a dozen fish. Other days they can be picky hitting nothing but a strip of squid on a Carolina rigging. Most of the time sees the best mackerel bite early morning and early evening while some days sees a bite that lasts throughout the day - and night. A fun fish to catch on light tackle, often the number one fish caught on piers as far as numbers, but also, as seen, a sometimes unpredictable species.