Date: December 13, 2002
To: PFIC Message Board
From: PierHead
Subject: Ventura Pier
I joined Ken, Sinker, his nephew Skinner and several Ventura Pier regulars for pizza and fishing. The pizza was great but the fishing was a mixed bag ... everybody caught something and we all had a good time including a newbie, Braulio, who caught a decent fighting bat ray running maybe 5-6 pounds. It was his first pier fish and his first time fishing with the Pier Rats. I had got there early and struck up a conversation with him ... he said he had his poles in the car but was unsure about fishing the pier. After some prodding on my part he retrieved his poles and joined me while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. We spent the early evening fishing the middle section before moving to the end. Just before Ken had got there I caught a small 8" white croaker after several hours of nothing. Put the croaker on and tied into something big just after Ken arrived. With Ken and Braulio's help we finally landed a 56", 29.5 pound shovelnose ... my biggest to date! Definitely makes up for all the large fish I lost to the kelp at the Seawall fishing with Sinker. I was using 15# P-line that Adam (Baitfish) gave me as a b-day present ... thanks Adam! Surprisingly he took a #6 circle hook ... so much for the myth that you need big hooks for big fish. And even though it was a Mutu Light wire hook it held up without any problems. The rest of the night was rather uneventful with several small perch, herring, thornbacks and a baby leopard that Skinner caught. Ken also caught a baby shovelnose, which he thinks may have been an recent offspring from the larger one caught earlier. Waited for the baitfish to swarm the center well but they did not choose to make an appearance tonight. Still, fish or no fish, being with fellow Pier Rats always guarantees a good time and tonight was no exception. Ken had an interesting day in L.A. meeting with several DFG staff. I'm sure we will hear more about that from him. Now I've got to get some sleep since Ken says he will be at Goleta Pier tomorrow at the crack of dawn ... Pierhead
To: PFIC Message Board
From: PierHead
Subject: Ventura Pier
I joined Ken, Sinker, his nephew Skinner and several Ventura Pier regulars for pizza and fishing. The pizza was great but the fishing was a mixed bag ... everybody caught something and we all had a good time including a newbie, Braulio, who caught a decent fighting bat ray running maybe 5-6 pounds. It was his first pier fish and his first time fishing with the Pier Rats. I had got there early and struck up a conversation with him ... he said he had his poles in the car but was unsure about fishing the pier. After some prodding on my part he retrieved his poles and joined me while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. We spent the early evening fishing the middle section before moving to the end. Just before Ken had got there I caught a small 8" white croaker after several hours of nothing. Put the croaker on and tied into something big just after Ken arrived. With Ken and Braulio's help we finally landed a 56", 29.5 pound shovelnose ... my biggest to date! Definitely makes up for all the large fish I lost to the kelp at the Seawall fishing with Sinker. I was using 15# P-line that Adam (Baitfish) gave me as a b-day present ... thanks Adam! Surprisingly he took a #6 circle hook ... so much for the myth that you need big hooks for big fish. And even though it was a Mutu Light wire hook it held up without any problems. The rest of the night was rather uneventful with several small perch, herring, thornbacks and a baby leopard that Skinner caught. Ken also caught a baby shovelnose, which he thinks may have been an recent offspring from the larger one caught earlier. Waited for the baitfish to swarm the center well but they did not choose to make an appearance tonight. Still, fish or no fish, being with fellow Pier Rats always guarantees a good time and tonight was no exception. Ken had an interesting day in L.A. meeting with several DFG staff. I'm sure we will hear more about that from him. Now I've got to get some sleep since Ken says he will be at Goleta Pier tomorrow at the crack of dawn ... Pierhead