Date: March 7, 2006
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Great show but slow fishing
Had a great time at the Fred Hall Show last weekend in Long Beach! Unfortunately can't say the same for the fishing. Most shows I try out the small finger piers close to the show and USUALLY they produce some fish. This year nada, skunked!
March 3/Friday — Fished the finger pier for a half hour with Gray Beard in the rain. As the wind got worse and worse, and we got more and more soaked, we kept hoping for a fish but we didn't even get a nibble. Finally we called it quits after a half hour or so and went to get some breakfast. Came back after breakfast and tried another half hour but just got even more soaked/cold — and still didn’t get a bite. Finally gave up and headed to the motel for a hot shower before the show.
March 4/Saturday — Tried the finger piers again, this time with Mahigeer and Toe Jamb, two fine gentlemen. This day the weather was fine but the fish continued to be absent. Did get one slight nibble but no fish in three hours. My conclusion: the fish had moved further out into the harbor. Why? (1) The piers sit in saltwater just down from where the Los Angeles River empties into the harbor. With the rains and the runoff it’s possible the water was fairly fresh and the fish had simply moved deeper into the harbor to where the salinity levels were more normal. (2) We also were at the piers during very low tides, another reason why the fish might have been absent (but you sometimes have to fish when you can fish, not when conditions are optimal). When the fish are absent it’s very hard to catch them.
March 6/Monday — Tried the Santa Monica Pier on my way out of town and found a few fish under the pier. Fished out at the end but was casting back under the pier between the pilings. Left Long Beach at ten minutes to five and was fishing at the end of the pier at 6:10. Fished for four hours and caught:
23 Walleye Surfperch
14 Salema (nice sized ones)
3 Queenfish
2 Blackperch
2 Jacksmelt
1 Sculpin (California scorpionfish)
1 White Seaperch
1 Kelp Perch (no idea what it was doing there)
All of the fish were caught on my usual rigging on my light pole — two size 6 hooks and a one-ounce torpedo sinker. Most fish were caught on lugworms although four perch at the end of the day were caught on Gulp worms after I ran out of the real thing.
Left the pier at 10:30 and was back home in Lodi by 5 p.m.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Great show but slow fishing
Had a great time at the Fred Hall Show last weekend in Long Beach! Unfortunately can't say the same for the fishing. Most shows I try out the small finger piers close to the show and USUALLY they produce some fish. This year nada, skunked!
March 3/Friday — Fished the finger pier for a half hour with Gray Beard in the rain. As the wind got worse and worse, and we got more and more soaked, we kept hoping for a fish but we didn't even get a nibble. Finally we called it quits after a half hour or so and went to get some breakfast. Came back after breakfast and tried another half hour but just got even more soaked/cold — and still didn’t get a bite. Finally gave up and headed to the motel for a hot shower before the show.
March 4/Saturday — Tried the finger piers again, this time with Mahigeer and Toe Jamb, two fine gentlemen. This day the weather was fine but the fish continued to be absent. Did get one slight nibble but no fish in three hours. My conclusion: the fish had moved further out into the harbor. Why? (1) The piers sit in saltwater just down from where the Los Angeles River empties into the harbor. With the rains and the runoff it’s possible the water was fairly fresh and the fish had simply moved deeper into the harbor to where the salinity levels were more normal. (2) We also were at the piers during very low tides, another reason why the fish might have been absent (but you sometimes have to fish when you can fish, not when conditions are optimal). When the fish are absent it’s very hard to catch them.
March 6/Monday — Tried the Santa Monica Pier on my way out of town and found a few fish under the pier. Fished out at the end but was casting back under the pier between the pilings. Left Long Beach at ten minutes to five and was fishing at the end of the pier at 6:10. Fished for four hours and caught:
23 Walleye Surfperch
14 Salema (nice sized ones)
3 Queenfish
2 Blackperch
2 Jacksmelt
1 Sculpin (California scorpionfish)
1 White Seaperch
1 Kelp Perch (no idea what it was doing there)
All of the fish were caught on my usual rigging on my light pole — two size 6 hooks and a one-ounce torpedo sinker. Most fish were caught on lugworms although four perch at the end of the day were caught on Gulp worms after I ran out of the real thing.
Left the pier at 10:30 and was back home in Lodi by 5 p.m.