Huntington Pier 9/8

EgoNonBaptizo

Well-Known Member
#1
Got to the pier at 6 am. I forget what tide it was. There was moderate wind, but otherwise conditions were relatively calm. I started off a little past the lifeguard tower fishing mussels on a fishfinder rig with a long leader. No bites for a little over an hour, so I moved just behind the Rubys on the North side. Like last week, there was a huge quantity of bait. I started off fishing a light sabiki (Hayabusa sz 3), and after a couple casts, caught three mackerel at once. I switched to a high-low rig and fished mackerel chunks for a couple more mackerel. I then switched to a mini-jig (21 gram coltsniper), and began catching consistently, usually catching a fish per cast, sometimes doubling up. Around 8:30, the mackerel seemed to disperse, with only a couple sporadic bites. After about an hour of slow action, fish began to boil on the bait on the south side. I was able to catch four bonito and popped two off, along with more mackerel before the wind picked up at around 11. I left by 11:30. IMG_4888.jpg
 

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#3
Awesome! Nice catch!! How do you retrieve that colt sniper from the pier. Seems like whenever I try to fish lures they are always skipping the surface.
 

EgoNonBaptizo

Well-Known Member
#4
Sorry for the late reply. I cast out and let it sink freely to the bottom. Then I reel up the slack and sweep the rod up to pull the jig off the bottom. Then I let it sink again and repeat until I’m at the pier.
 

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#5
Sorry for the late reply. I cast out and let it sink freely to the bottom. Then I reel up the slack and sweep the rod up to pull the jig off the bottom. Then I let it sink again and repeat until I’m at the pier.
Thanks for the reply! I was there this morning fishing a colt sniper inspired by your report. I figured out the first part about letting it sink to the bottom. The second part about the bottom retrieval I would have never thought to try. I'm excited to try that next time!

The good news is, I did catch my first fish ever on that type of lure. I caught two small mackerel during a really slow time of fishing on the pier so the colt sniper was performing adequately. I think the progression of the fish today (9/10) was similar to what you were reporting. The problem was that I had to leave just as the Bonito were arriving. I'm excited to try again on Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks for inspiring me to try something new. I've been having so much success on baited larger hook sabikis, it is hard for me to move away from it. But I want to catch a Bonito off the pier and from what I read my comfort zone rig is not the best for catching them.