Imperial Beach Pier Fishing Through The Years

[Ken Jones]

Imperial Beach Pier Reports​

The Imperial Beach Pier fish report for the weekend showed no large fish but a fairly consistent catch of barred perch, bonito and mackerel. A spokesman for the pier said the best bait trend seemed to be crabs. Spider crabs and the red rock species were the most productive.—Hunting and Fishing, Chula Vista Star-News, January 23, 1964

Our No. 1 Son is an ardent fisherman and that’s putting it mild. He almost lives at the Imperial Beach fishing pier and has, in the past few weeks become close friends to some of the old timers who also frequent the pier on these warm, sunny Southern California afternoons. But unless someone does something about it, all those oldtimers might be getting squeezed out of a place on the rail.
First came the boat launching gear on the south end of the “T” then the big live bait tank. Then there was the ticket office. And then went some prime rail space for the fishermen. Now they’ve come up with something else—a fuel tank so the fishing boats won’t have to make the “long trip” back to San Diego to fill up. They’ll be able to do it right off the pier if the city okays the plan. The council has already indicated it likes the idea and may go along with it if the tank meets all the fire regulations and if the city’s insurance rates aren’t affected.
We hope, for the sake of the oldtimers, the thing backfires. Surely a dripping fuel tank won’t draw the fish. About all we can see it accomplishes is closing off more prime fishing space along the rails. And if you’ve ever been down there on a summer weekend, you know what we mean when we say prime space.
One more thing. We think it would be nice if the city installed wire mesh on the outside of the pier rail. Some of the small fry get pretty frisky (the salt air does it) and they could slip over the side with nothing there to stop them.
Aside from those two items we think the pier is the greatest thing that’s happened to Imperial Beach in years. We’ve got some vacation time coming and we expect to spend some of it along the pier rail—pulling in the big ones. —Lee Chilson’s South Bay Scene, Chula Vista Star-News, July 4, 1965

Fishin’ Good At IB Pier​

Who says the Imperial Beach Fishing Pier doesn’t produce big fish? Mark Adams and Borton Finley each caught a one pound, 12-ounce sand bass off the pier earlier this week, while R. Kucher nailed a 4-pound 2-ounce cabezon, Don Deloux decked a 4-pound 1-ounce bonito and Albert Blood reeled in a 1-pound, 11-ounce halibut. — Chula Vista Star-News, June 2, 1966

It’s A Whopper​

A record size 22-pound, 8-ounce halibut was landed off the Imperial Beach Municipal Fishing Pier by 8-year-old Jack Whelchel, son of mr. and Mrs. Jack L. Whelchel, 38 West Manor Dr., Chula Vista. He used a 10-pound line and anchovy bait to make the big catch. Good catches were also reported this week from fishing boats operating from the pier. —Chula Vista Star-News, June 26, 1966

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Hook, Line and Sinker
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Barbed perch weighing up to three pounds have been providing a lot of action for anglers on the Imperial Beach pier, Ralph (Big John) Johnson, bait shop operator there, reported yesterday afternoon. A quantity of sculpin weighing up to three pounds also have been taken along with a few capezon. Big John said fishing conditions were excellent with clear water and excellent weather. The sport fishing boat, R-Z, operating off the pier, found a school of white sea bass off the Coronado Islands yesterday and the fish were still running at press time. Over the weekend more than 500 rock cod and other bottom fish were taken by Imperial Beach spot fishing boats.— Chula Vista Star-News, February 9, 1967
[Mistaken spelling in the article = it should be barred not barbed perch, cabezon not capezon, and white seabass not white sea bass. But who notices?]

Strange Catches On Fishing Pier​

Two fish which were far from their home waters were caught off the Imperial Beach Pier this week according to Ralph “Big John” Johnson, operator of the bait shop there.
Ordie Weller, 1158 9th St., Imperial Beach, caught a 5-½ pound lingcod in the shallow waters beneath the pier. Shortly thereafter Angelo Asuncion, 264 Mesa St., San Ysidro, landed a 3-¼ pound silver salmon. A lingcod is normally caught in more than 200 feet of water and the silver salmon is normally only found in Northern California.

—Chula Vista Star-News, April 9, 1967​

Sportfishing Scene
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Stormy weather slowed fishing to almost a stop in the South Bay during the past week although an 80 pound bat ray provided some excitement on the Imperial Beach Pier. According to Ralph (Big John) Johnson, who operates the bait shop on the pier, the ray was the largest ever taken on the pier. Johnson said the angler who took the big ray was using fresh water tackle and fought the giant for more than an hour before bringing him in...The sport fishing boat R-Zee was forced to cancel operations due to rough weather, although it is expected the vessel will soon be operating off the Coronado Islands. —Chula Vista Star-News, April 16, 1967

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Fishing Derby Set Saturday​

The 20th annual Senior Citizens Fishing Derby will be held this Saturday at the Imperial Beach Pier. The event sponsored by the IB Chamber of Commerce, will get under way at 7:30 a.m. with a free pancake breakfast. Fishing for anglers 55 years young and up will commence at 8:30 and participants must register their catches by 12:30 p.m. There is no entry fee for the contest. This year’s trophy categories include the fisherman traveling the farthest to participate; the largest fish caught; the largest fish caught by an Imperial Breach citizen; the largest non-fish; oldest participant and smallest fish caught. Free bait will be provided to everyone and door prizes will be awarded — Chula Vista Star-News, October 3, 1985

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