Date: March 11, 2002,
To: Pier Fishing In California Message Board
From: Mola Joe
Subject: Bonita weren't always pint size.
Here’s an old shot of me (skinny one on right) and my buddy Jon from 1972. These bonito were caught right at the mouth of Redondo Harbor, but we hooked many big ones on Hermosa Pier that year also. Small fish in the picture went 9 pounds, and the biggest just over 15. Bonito this size fight harder than albacore or bluefin of equal size. Guys were getting dusted from the rocks at Redondo when these big bones would go through. It was the only year, if I remember right, that I caught bonito over 10 pounds from Hermosa Pier. We would throw Christy 2 blue and white jigs on 20-pound jig sticks and get blown away by these big fish. Really hard to keep them out of the pilings when you hook them off the pier. I remember blowing up a Squidder Jr. with a plastic spool after setting the hook into a big bonehead. Maybe someday they will return in this size and the numbers we used to see. Watching a school of 10 pounders chase down a splasher and feather rig while watching it all from the height of a pier is nothing short of heart attack time!!!
To: Pier Fishing In California Message Board
From: Mola Joe
Subject: Bonita weren't always pint size.
Here’s an old shot of me (skinny one on right) and my buddy Jon from 1972. These bonito were caught right at the mouth of Redondo Harbor, but we hooked many big ones on Hermosa Pier that year also. Small fish in the picture went 9 pounds, and the biggest just over 15. Bonito this size fight harder than albacore or bluefin of equal size. Guys were getting dusted from the rocks at Redondo when these big bones would go through. It was the only year, if I remember right, that I caught bonito over 10 pounds from Hermosa Pier. We would throw Christy 2 blue and white jigs on 20-pound jig sticks and get blown away by these big fish. Really hard to keep them out of the pilings when you hook them off the pier. I remember blowing up a Squidder Jr. with a plastic spool after setting the hook into a big bonehead. Maybe someday they will return in this size and the numbers we used to see. Watching a school of 10 pounders chase down a splasher and feather rig while watching it all from the height of a pier is nothing short of heart attack time!!!
