Balboa Pier 9/15

EgoNonBaptizo

Well-Known Member
#1
Got to the pier at 5 am. Already, the end was full, so I fished off the north side next to the Rubys. I fished a sabiki rig for the first hour for one small jack mackerel. I then switched to a 21 g Coltsniper and began catching a couple mackerel. Around 6:37, I met Evanluck, though there was not enough room for both of us to fish. I switched back to the sabiki after seeing a couple large sardines come up. I caught sardines pretty consistently for about an hour, then the schools seemed to disperse. Afterwards, for another hour and a half, it was extremely slow. Around 9, mackerel and bonito began boiling sporadically around the pier, with one particularly large mass of feeding fish persisting just out of casting range. I caught several dozen mackerel in about a hour-hour and a half timeframe. The mackerel seemed to crowd the bonito away, as I only hooked and lost one out of all the mackerel that I caught. The boils suddenly dispersed, and until I left at 11:45, there were a couple small flurries of activity. I managed three bonito during this time on the 15 g Jigpara, with a couple more losses.
 

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#2
Really great meeting you and seeing how you were fishing! Your confidence in those smaller jigs is impressive! Glad you got some bonito before you left!!

When I left, you started moving around trying different spots. Did you catch most of your fish off that original corner spot or did you catch them in other spots?
 
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#4
I know it can be frustrating when they hang just outside of casting distance but it sounds like a fantastic day on the water!
 
#5
Nice!, it was SLOW for Bonito on Mon, lots of mack (small, med and HUGE) and large sardines and jacksmelts, plenty of small smelts around pier but no Bonito activity in the bait, or on splasher, spoon or jigs. I got 1 double on blind splasher strike after 4p + a couple misses and that was it for the whole pier 10:45-4:45, fished all 4 sides of end

Rode bike with one rod to Huntington Tue to check it out, it was similar conditions on bait and small macs, only a couple mac/general anglers ad a lot of shark folks. Tried a spoon all 4 sides, no Bonito activity, just tiny macs. The cormorants were working the pier hard