Date: June 28, 2009
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Gaviota to Hermosa Beach, Short trip, shorter fish —
Traveled down Thursday for a short trip to Los Angeles to help out Hashem with his class at the Hermosa Beach Pier. Of course if I’m going to drive that far I would also like to just maybe do a little fishing on the side. Turned out I was able to do some fishing, but the short trip pretty much just yielded short fish.
Thursday, June 25. Since I wanted to stop in and visit pierhead at Goleta, I needed to initially head over to the coast. I headed down HY41 from Fresno to Paso Robles (the James Dean Highway); driving time two hours. From Paso Robles it would be a little over two hours south to Goleta if traffic cooperated. But why not stop at a pier along the way? Initially I thought I might stop at Avila but I had left a little later than expected so decided to go to Gaviota instead.
Gaviota Pier, 10:05 AM-1:20 PM
Although I did see a nice bat ray caught that had to be around the 100-pound mark, not too many fish were being caught and of those that were being caught everything was small or smaller. At least there was a little variety. Of note was a pod of dolphin that visited the pier for a period of time and aggressively attacked the sardines, slapping them with their tails, and apparently munching up a bunch. They were beautiful to watch.
Results: the sardines hit on a Sabiki while the rest of the fish hit my normal high-low baited with pieces of sardine or strips of mussel.
32 Pacific Sardine
10 Speckled Sanddab
8 Shinerperch
6 Bocaccio
2 Walleye Surfperch
1 Jacksmelt
1 Jack Mackerel
1 California Lizardfish
+ 1 Rock Crab
Goleta Pier, 2:30-4 PM
Finally headed south to Goleta where Boyd was cheerfully manning the Angler Center. I, of course, did take my rod and fished next to the Angler Center while we talked. It wasn’t serious fishing but it provided a few fish.
Results: my high-low (size 6 hooks) baited with pieces of mussel produced most of the fish.
5 Shinerperch
3 Walleye Surfperch
1 Grass Rockfish
1 Bocaccio
1 Speckled Sanddab
Ventura Pier, 7:45-10:15 PM
After a pleasant dinner with Boyd I headed down to Ventura to spend the night and do just a little more fishing. Surprisingly the pier was fairly deserted and I didn’t see any sharks, a nightly staple at Ventura.
Results: my high-low (size 6 hooks) baited with pieces of fresh sardine produced the white croaker, the Sabiki yielded the jack mackerel.
21 White Croaker
7 Jack Mackerel
1 Queenfish
Friday, June 26. Plans included a stop at the Malibu Pier to take some fresh pictures of the pier and a stop to see Ginny at Wylies. From there it would be on to Los Angeles and a stop at the Santa Monica Pier. Unfortunately I had to make a stop and find some sun tan lotion, which put a crimp on getting to the pier early (and it might have cost me a better spot on the pier).
Malibu Pier 8:10-10:55 AM
Turned out that the construction on the bait shop was still going on and that the new Rubys at the end of the pier wouldn’t be opening until Monday (so the pier was full of new Ruby trainees undergoing training. I held off on most of the pictures. But I could fish—right? Well, sort of. There was a minus tide inshore so I decided to fish the end section but when I got to the end of the pier I found it totally filled with shark fishermen using huge reels and heavy rods. Guess they were in pursuit of threshers but the sharks weren’t cooperating. Unfortunately it was about four poles per person but they were a friendly group and offered me room. I said “gracious, but no thanks.” It was just a little too crowded. Initially I moved around the corner to a spot that looked good but was dead (with the exception of a mislaid little spotted kelpfish down by the piling). Next I moved to a mid-pier section where the action was still slow but at least I had the wind to my back. There I managed a few fish.
Results: the kelpfish hit on a strip of mussel, most of the other fish hit on sardine or squid.
5 Staghorn Sculpin
3 White Croaker
1 Spotted kelpfish
1 Speckled Sanddab
1 California Lizardfish
Next up was Wylies where Ginny and I talked far too long and solved most of the world’s problems (just leave it to us). Problem was we talked too long and when I finally got to the Santa Monica Pier the roadway to the pier was closed (the parking lot on the pier was closed). I might have been able to find a spot on the street but was already running late (planned to meet up with Hashem) so said good by to Santa Monica and headed over to the Burton Chase Park Pier for a short visit.
Burton Chase Park Pier, 3-4 PM
The park was beautiful as always, and there was a nice mix of anglers on the pier, but none were catching fish. I tried a variety of baits, and even some artificials, but nothing seemed to work. All I was able to get were the smelt that I used for live bait.
Results: the smelt were caught on a Sabiki.
5 Topsmelt
But there would be one more pier to visit and that was Venice where Hashem and I planned to spend a couple of hours fishing before dinner.
Venice Pier, 5-7:30 PM
Fishing was also dead at this pier but at least I got a few—and a little variety.
Results: most of the fish were caught out at the end of the pier on the high-low baited with sardines or lugworms (from Wylies); the butterfish hit on a strip of mussel (they like dem mussels). The barred surfperch and leopard sharks were caught in the surf on lugworms and mussel.
2 Pacific Mackerel
2 Mackerel Jack
2 White Croaker
2 Barred Surfperch
2 Leopard Sharks
2 Topsmelt
1 California Butterfish
Next up was dinner with Hashem and his charming bride of some 20+ years while the next morning would see a visit to the Hermosa Beach Pier and the class.
Saturday, June 27. Up early, we were at the pier by 7:15. I didn’t initially take my outfits out on the pier; I was there just to help out the class. However, the students were going fishless in Hermosa and getting restless so I finally said let’s get them some fish. Went down to my car and got a light rig which I rigged with a Sabiki and pieces of lugworms. I would hook a fish and then let the students take turns pulling in the fish and taking their picture. All of sudden the remaining students had fish (one group had to leave) and seemed a little more pleased. Each student caught at least one fish and even though they were small fish we got their pictures. 13 Topsmelt and 1 senorita decided to help out the class and to them we offer our thanks.
Unfortunately I had to be back in Fresno by 5 PM for my granddaughter’s dance show and so had to leave by 1 PM. Unfortunately the LA traffic was just a little slow and I didn’t make it back until 5:30. But, I still managed to make the show and kept the marriage intact.
Didn’t catch any large fish but had a great time seeing some friends, enjoyed the ocean air, and did manage a few fish including some variety. I will be back soon.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Ken Jones
Subject: Gaviota to Hermosa Beach, Short trip, shorter fish —
Traveled down Thursday for a short trip to Los Angeles to help out Hashem with his class at the Hermosa Beach Pier. Of course if I’m going to drive that far I would also like to just maybe do a little fishing on the side. Turned out I was able to do some fishing, but the short trip pretty much just yielded short fish.
Thursday, June 25. Since I wanted to stop in and visit pierhead at Goleta, I needed to initially head over to the coast. I headed down HY41 from Fresno to Paso Robles (the James Dean Highway); driving time two hours. From Paso Robles it would be a little over two hours south to Goleta if traffic cooperated. But why not stop at a pier along the way? Initially I thought I might stop at Avila but I had left a little later than expected so decided to go to Gaviota instead.
Gaviota Pier, 10:05 AM-1:20 PM
Although I did see a nice bat ray caught that had to be around the 100-pound mark, not too many fish were being caught and of those that were being caught everything was small or smaller. At least there was a little variety. Of note was a pod of dolphin that visited the pier for a period of time and aggressively attacked the sardines, slapping them with their tails, and apparently munching up a bunch. They were beautiful to watch.
Results: the sardines hit on a Sabiki while the rest of the fish hit my normal high-low baited with pieces of sardine or strips of mussel.
32 Pacific Sardine
10 Speckled Sanddab
8 Shinerperch
6 Bocaccio
2 Walleye Surfperch
1 Jacksmelt
1 Jack Mackerel
1 California Lizardfish
+ 1 Rock Crab
Goleta Pier, 2:30-4 PM
Finally headed south to Goleta where Boyd was cheerfully manning the Angler Center. I, of course, did take my rod and fished next to the Angler Center while we talked. It wasn’t serious fishing but it provided a few fish.
Results: my high-low (size 6 hooks) baited with pieces of mussel produced most of the fish.
5 Shinerperch
3 Walleye Surfperch
1 Grass Rockfish
1 Bocaccio
1 Speckled Sanddab
Ventura Pier, 7:45-10:15 PM
After a pleasant dinner with Boyd I headed down to Ventura to spend the night and do just a little more fishing. Surprisingly the pier was fairly deserted and I didn’t see any sharks, a nightly staple at Ventura.
Results: my high-low (size 6 hooks) baited with pieces of fresh sardine produced the white croaker, the Sabiki yielded the jack mackerel.
21 White Croaker
7 Jack Mackerel
1 Queenfish
Friday, June 26. Plans included a stop at the Malibu Pier to take some fresh pictures of the pier and a stop to see Ginny at Wylies. From there it would be on to Los Angeles and a stop at the Santa Monica Pier. Unfortunately I had to make a stop and find some sun tan lotion, which put a crimp on getting to the pier early (and it might have cost me a better spot on the pier).
Malibu Pier 8:10-10:55 AM
Turned out that the construction on the bait shop was still going on and that the new Rubys at the end of the pier wouldn’t be opening until Monday (so the pier was full of new Ruby trainees undergoing training. I held off on most of the pictures. But I could fish—right? Well, sort of. There was a minus tide inshore so I decided to fish the end section but when I got to the end of the pier I found it totally filled with shark fishermen using huge reels and heavy rods. Guess they were in pursuit of threshers but the sharks weren’t cooperating. Unfortunately it was about four poles per person but they were a friendly group and offered me room. I said “gracious, but no thanks.” It was just a little too crowded. Initially I moved around the corner to a spot that looked good but was dead (with the exception of a mislaid little spotted kelpfish down by the piling). Next I moved to a mid-pier section where the action was still slow but at least I had the wind to my back. There I managed a few fish.
Results: the kelpfish hit on a strip of mussel, most of the other fish hit on sardine or squid.
5 Staghorn Sculpin
3 White Croaker
1 Spotted kelpfish
1 Speckled Sanddab
1 California Lizardfish
Next up was Wylies where Ginny and I talked far too long and solved most of the world’s problems (just leave it to us). Problem was we talked too long and when I finally got to the Santa Monica Pier the roadway to the pier was closed (the parking lot on the pier was closed). I might have been able to find a spot on the street but was already running late (planned to meet up with Hashem) so said good by to Santa Monica and headed over to the Burton Chase Park Pier for a short visit.
Burton Chase Park Pier, 3-4 PM
The park was beautiful as always, and there was a nice mix of anglers on the pier, but none were catching fish. I tried a variety of baits, and even some artificials, but nothing seemed to work. All I was able to get were the smelt that I used for live bait.
Results: the smelt were caught on a Sabiki.
5 Topsmelt
But there would be one more pier to visit and that was Venice where Hashem and I planned to spend a couple of hours fishing before dinner.
Venice Pier, 5-7:30 PM
Fishing was also dead at this pier but at least I got a few—and a little variety.
Results: most of the fish were caught out at the end of the pier on the high-low baited with sardines or lugworms (from Wylies); the butterfish hit on a strip of mussel (they like dem mussels). The barred surfperch and leopard sharks were caught in the surf on lugworms and mussel.
2 Pacific Mackerel
2 Mackerel Jack
2 White Croaker
2 Barred Surfperch
2 Leopard Sharks
2 Topsmelt
1 California Butterfish
Next up was dinner with Hashem and his charming bride of some 20+ years while the next morning would see a visit to the Hermosa Beach Pier and the class.
Saturday, June 27. Up early, we were at the pier by 7:15. I didn’t initially take my outfits out on the pier; I was there just to help out the class. However, the students were going fishless in Hermosa and getting restless so I finally said let’s get them some fish. Went down to my car and got a light rig which I rigged with a Sabiki and pieces of lugworms. I would hook a fish and then let the students take turns pulling in the fish and taking their picture. All of sudden the remaining students had fish (one group had to leave) and seemed a little more pleased. Each student caught at least one fish and even though they were small fish we got their pictures. 13 Topsmelt and 1 senorita decided to help out the class and to them we offer our thanks.
Unfortunately I had to be back in Fresno by 5 PM for my granddaughter’s dance show and so had to leave by 1 PM. Unfortunately the LA traffic was just a little slow and I didn’t make it back until 5:30. But, I still managed to make the show and kept the marriage intact.
Didn’t catch any large fish but had a great time seeing some friends, enjoyed the ocean air, and did manage a few fish including some variety. I will be back soon.