Got the following from Snookie but it's not clear if Balboa and Newport will be open this weekend.
Balboa Pier — Our reporter Snookie said, “Things are trying to get back to normal finally. Have been fishing Tuesdays and Thursdays, but not Sundays. Sundays are still too crowded. The bait situation is great. I haven't caught a keeper halibut yet, but my buddy has a 25-incher. There have been some nice halibut caught this last week. Yesterday a friend got a 24 incher. Another friend caught a 35-incher towards the end. A 28-incher was also caught in the surf area. The big white seabass are around. One was caught and lost because of catching it in the tail area. It struggled and succeeded in releasing itself. There have been a lot of good strikes. We have seen some big seabass swim by, thirty pounds and up. The mackerel are bigger lately, there was a small bonito caught this week. The surf perch are big and beautiful. There were some sargo caught last week too. You can tell the fish are finally there again. We wear our masks all day. Trying to be safe!” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot.
Balboa Pier — Our reporter Snookie said, “Things are trying to get back to normal finally. Have been fishing Tuesdays and Thursdays, but not Sundays. Sundays are still too crowded. The bait situation is great. I haven't caught a keeper halibut yet, but my buddy has a 25-incher. There have been some nice halibut caught this last week. Yesterday a friend got a 24 incher. Another friend caught a 35-incher towards the end. A 28-incher was also caught in the surf area. The big white seabass are around. One was caught and lost because of catching it in the tail area. It struggled and succeeded in releasing itself. There have been a lot of good strikes. We have seen some big seabass swim by, thirty pounds and up. The mackerel are bigger lately, there was a small bonito caught this week. The surf perch are big and beautiful. There were some sargo caught last week too. You can tell the fish are finally there again. We wear our masks all day. Trying to be safe!” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot.