October 2022 Fishing Report, Southern California (#279)
Remember that all lobsters must be caught in the appropriate lobster nets, none can be kept when hooked on a fishing line.
San Diego County Piers
Imperial Beach Pier – Reports indicate that the mackerel bite is good and that small bonito are also making a showing. This is the time to go! How To Get There: From I-5 take the Palm Ave. (Hwy. 75) exit and follow it to where Palm Ave. and Hwy. 75 divide. Follow Palm Ave. to Seacoast Dr., turn left and it will take you right to the pier.
Ocean Beach Pier — Dominique at the Ocean Beach Pier Bait and Tackle said a variety of fish have been hitting. Most common are the mackerel but people have also been pulling in halibut, some shovelnose sharks (guitarfish), small rockfish, bass and the usual small croakers. People are also showing up in good numbers and catching lobsters at night. A few bonito continue to make a showing buy not many. How To Get There: From the north, take I-5 to the Sea World Dr. exit and follow it until it turns off to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. From the south, take I- 5 to the Nimitz Blvd. exit, then follow that road to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Follow Sunset Cliffs Blvd. to Newport Ave., turn right and follow the road to the pier parking lot.
Crystal Pier – Unfortunately the bait shop has closed and we now need a reporter. How To get There: Take I-5 to Garnet Ave. then take Garnet west to the foot of the pier.
Pepper Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter! How To Get There: From I-5 ta ke the 24th Street off-ramp west to Tidelands Avenue and go left (south) on Tidelands to the end.
Bayside Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From I-5 take the J Street off ramp and go west. Take J Street to Tidelands Ave.; turn right. Take Tidelands to Sandpiper Way; turn right. Take Sandpiper to Bayside Parkway, turn left and follow the road to the park.
Embarcadero Marina Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From the I-5 south, take the Front Street exit south to Market (just stay on Front Street, it runs into Market), take Market west to Harbor Dr. Turn left on Harbor Dr. and take it to 8th Ave., turn right onto Convention Way (formerly Harbor St.). Follow it a short block to 5th Ave. and the pier. It seems that with the new Convention Center the city is constantly working on these streets near the pier and renaming them; if you get confused remember that the park and pier are immediately to the southwest of the Convention Center. From I-5 North, approaching from the south, take the J Street exit, then go straight, three blocks up to Market, turn left and take it from there.
Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado) — Need a reporter although bass (kelp, sand and spotted) always seem to be around as well as a mix of sharays (mostly round stingrays and bat rays). How To Get There: From San Diego, take the Coronado Bay Bridge (Highway 75) to Coronado. Once over the bridg e you are on Third Street. Simply follow it to B Avenue, turn right, and follow it to the front of The Old Ferry Landing — the intersection of First Street and B Avenue. The pier sits behind the shops in the complex.
Shelter Island Pier — No report and we need a reporter. A report from Ray619 on Aug. 31 said, “Went fishing from 9pm to about 1230am. First 2.5 hours just a small ray on squid. Then around 1130pm...a nice run of mackerel. A bit bigger than usual. Caught all on strip squid with the assistance of a glow stick. Fun on spinning gear with 6-pound test.” How To Get There: Take I-5 or I-8 to Rosecrans (Hwy. 209) and go west, turn left at Shelter Island Dr. and follow the road until you see the pier and the entrance to the parking lot.
Oceanside Pier — Update — Oct. 4 — Apparently the bonito have returned as well as all the sardines you want to catch. Sounds like most of the bonito are hitting in the morning. A report from my friend Bill said the water has turned dirty (looking like tea) and the action had slowed down a little. He said anglers are getting yellowfin croaker and sargo inside the bait shop area on worms, but the spotfin croaker have really slowed. Mid-pier is the usual, a few halibut but most are shorts, a few bass, and the usual small herring (queenfish). Out at the end there was a good bonito bite then it slowed but seems to be picking up again. And, when the bonito bite slowed the mackerel bite started back up. He said a few sculpin (scorpionfish) have been taken along with some small rockfish but not much else. A report from bassfanatick on September 28 said, “Fishing slowing down due to water quality getting more cloudy, windy and rough waves. Baits are still here, Jacksmelt being the most common species, mackerel can be caught but not in large number, and usually after sunset. I managed to catch 3 keeper scorpionfish, a 21 ½-inch halibut on drop shot zoom fluke. Bonito chasing bait but don't seem to want anything do to with artificial baits. That is the report, thanks for reading, and good luck fishing everyone!!!” How To Get There: From I-5 take Mission Blvd. west to Pacific, turn left and follow it to the pier.
Oceanside Harbor Pier — No recent reports but expect the occasional croaker, sargo and bass on the bottom, jacksmelt and possibly a bonito or two in the top waters. Some perch and bass may show while fishing by the rocks. How To Get There: From I-5 take the Harbor Dr. exit off the freeway, follow it and it will wind down to the harbor; where the road splits stay to the right on North Harbor Dr., and follow it to the pier.
Orange County Piers
San Clemente Pier — Skyler at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. says it’s pretty much the regular fish, mainly perch and croaker inshore (mussels and worms) and some bass mid-pier. He does report some halibut being taken in the shallows both on live bait and on lures—i.e., soft plastics or Lucky Craft. Mackerel are available out at the end with most being taken on Sabikis while some sharks and rays continue to bite, mostly bat rays and (inshore) stingrays and thornbacks). He also reported a good opening weekend on the lobsters with a lot of legal sized bugs being taken. How to Get There: From I-5 take any of several exit streets west to El Camino Real, follow it to the center of town, and from there take Del Mar down to the pier.
Dana Harbor Pier — Skyler at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. says it’s mainly perch, croaker (spotfins) and bass (kelp, sand and bay). Most of the fish are taken on bait while the bass are generally taken on lures. How To Get There: The pier is located in the Dana Cove Park area of Dana Point Harbor. From the Pacific Coast Highway take Green Lantern Road south to the harbor, turn left on Cove Road, and follow it to the pier.
Balboa Pier — Our reporter Snookie says, “Things have been much better lately. There has been lots of bait and lots of strikes. They are mainly halibut, some calico bass, and white seabass. The seabass are not much bigger than 20 inches. There was a 9-foot thresher shark caught this week on a sardine at the end. With all the bait in the water I am sure there are more threshers around. One keeper halibut was caught lately in the surf area and it was caught on a sardine. It was 27 inches. Although it has been hot we get some relief if the wind comes up which it has most of the time. When the water cooled last week the fishing slowed, but now it is picking up again. Fall can be a good time for fishing.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot.
Newport Pier — Generally the action mirrors, for the most part, that seen at Balboa although when the fishing is hot the mobs will be bigger and the railing space more limited. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take the Newport Blvd. turn off and proceed west watching for signs directing traffic to the pier. The pier sits at the foot of McFadden Place.
Huntington Beach Pier — We need a reporter. A report from Evanluck on Sept. 27 said, “Arrived at 7:30AM and went to the end to the left of the restaurant at the end facing the shore. I hooked a decent sized white seabass on a 20g slow pitch jig that came off at the surface of the water right at the pier. All for the best as it was not legal size. I caught a 13" sand bass on live smelt fished on a Carolina rig. While fishing for bait I caught a couple handfuls of sardines and a handful of smelt. Bite was slower today. Was harder to get bites both fishing for bait and fishing for bigger fish. I saw a couple of small bonito caught on Sabiki rigs and another short white seabass was caught on a stick bait used as a sinker on a Sabiki rig. I saw one mackerel caught on a Sabiki with bait. Apparently there were mackerel to be had from 5:30AM until just after sunrise. Walking back off the pier I saw someone caught a medium size leopard shark in the inshore fishing area and someone else released a small unidentified shark also in the inshore area.” An earlier report from Evanluck on Sept. 20 said, “Started fishing around 7:00AM. I fished the left side of the restaurant at the end of the pier on the side that faces the shoreline. I was actually looking to catch mackerel but from the looks of the buckets of everyone at the end, they were not around. I noticed a young man pulled in a white seabass on a live smelt on a Carolina rig. So I started catching smelt and would fish one on a split shot rig and the other on a Carolina rig. I ended up catching two white seabass, two sand bass, one kelp bass, one spotted bay bass, and of course a bunch of smelt. This is the first time I've caught bass of any kind at this pier so it was exciting to catch multiple bass with four different species. I also lost a big spotted bay bass just at the surface of the water. It was a big one and I took the risk to try to get it over the rail without a net. One good headshake and it broke me off. All fish were caught on fairly small live smelt with the splitshot rig out performing the Carolina rig about 3 to 1. I stopped fishing at 12:30PM. The young man who initially clued me in to the presence of the white seabass ended up landed four white sea bass and a halibut. All fish were short of the legal limit so both of us safely released our fish. I did see a couple of anglers keep a short white seabass and a short calico. We told them that the fish were not legal but they kept them anyways. I saw another two short halibut pulled up about 20 yards inshore from where I was fishing and I saw someone else land a good-size butterfly ray. I saw a couple of isolated bait boils but other than that there was no evidence of the presence of bonito. I also saw a small mackerel and a sardine caught by different anglers using Sabikis as I was packing up to leave. I've really been enjoying smoking mackerel. It tastes delicious apple wood smoked on my little Weber Smokey Joe. I'm gonna try to target them again this week hopefully with more success. I think I need to start earlier.” How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.”
Seal Beach Pier — Nel(?) at Big Fish Bait & Tackle, 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy, said the fishing has slowed down. A few bonito are being taken at the end of the pier, a few yellowfin croaker and corbina at the shore end of the pier. No much is showing up mid-pier. A report from Fishman Fishman on Sept. 23 said, “Fished Thursday morning. Lots of smelt and small herring in the water. White seabass chasing the bait balls. Caught and released short WSB on chrome metal jig. No Bonito seen or caught. Caught and released two short sand bass, two thornbacks, and one bat ray. Caught a few mackerel and herring. Nothing hit live, smelt or herring bait. Just a beautiful Fall day on the pier. Good luck this weekend.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway simply take Main St. west and follow it to the pier.
Los Angeles County Piers
Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier — Need a reporter. A report from Fishman Fishman on September 17 said, “The fish bite was off and on today. Had to "work" to catch them. Decent early morning bite, caught two short sand bass, one legal size sculpin (released), one small bonito (released). Fishing slowed down until 11 a.m. when mackerel appeared. Caught Spanish and Pacific mackerel and topsmelt. Bonito bite was slow. Many fisherman chasing mackerel and bonito left by 10:30. Caught fish on anchovy, mackerel and sardine. Bonito on Sabiki. Sculpin spit out small baitfish when I landed it. Looks like a small perch. Good luck fishing this weekend!” How To Get There: From the north take I-405 to the Lakewood Boulevard turnoff, and then go south to 7th Street, turn west (right) until you come to Ximeno Ave. and then turn left. Follow it to Livingston Dr. and go west. You will see signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier. From the south take the Pacific Coast Highway to 2nd. Street (Westminister becomes 2nd. Street when it crosses PCH), go west, follow to Livingston Dr. Follow it to signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier and parking lot.
Shoreline Aquatic Park Piers (Long Beach) — Expect the usual when casting straight out from the pier(s), some white croaker on the bottom and possibly some mackerel (or bonito) on top. Casting parallel to the shoreline rocks should produce a few croakers, some sargo and a possible perch using mussels, lugworms, or shrimp. How to Get There: From downtown Long Beach, take Pine Avenue south to Shoreline Drive. For the northernmost pier #1 follow Shoreline Avenue west and follow it around the lagoon to where the street ends. For the southernmost piers #2-#5 follow Shoreline Drive east to the markings for Shoreline Village, continue past the shopping complex, and follow the road out to near the end of the peninsula. You will see the piers.
Pier J Piers (Long Beach) — White croaker are available most days as are a variety of fish, mackerel on top and rock frequenting species like perch and opaleye along the rocks. How To Get There: From I-710 follow the signs saying S. Harbor Scenic Drive. From downtown Long Beach follow Queens Way past the Catalina Landing and on to the Queens Way Bridge over the water and take the S. Harbor Scenic Drive.
Cabrillo Pier (San Pedro) — Alex at the Rusty Hook, 245 N Gaffey St., San Pedro, said it’s about the same report as previous. Locals with know how are still catching halibut while a few mackerel are showing up, assorted bass, and a variety of sharks and rays (mostly bat rays). How To Get There: Take the Harbor Freeway (I-110) south; it will turn into Gaffey St. Follow it to 22nd Street and turn left. Follow 22nd St. to Pacific Ave. and turn right. Follow Pacific Ave. to 36th Street and the entrance to Cabrillo Park.
Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon, Catalina Island) – Expect the normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, and sheephead. Now that lobster season has started also expect a few lobster from the pier at night. A report from fish-ninja on Oct. 3 said, “I joined an annual pilgrimage of Mahigeer at Green Pleasure Pier for spiny lobster season opener over this weekend. Weather was pretty nice without strong winds though a bit cloudy most of the days. Moon was up phase quarter. For me it was a long 24 hours of straight fishing without much sleep. A bit taxing on my body but Mahigeer does even longer than that so no complaints here and I could land 10 species including some nice lobsters...[at the gpp]... I started to fish there before we start hoop netting after dusk. It was my first time trying at green pleasure pier. I made my high low gear with 8lb mono leaders and size 6 hooks. Lots of small calicos were there. After I landed some and a wrasse, I started to target sheephead with shrimps. Mahigeer showed me the corner of the pier a certain expert angler there prefers. He said to cast it away and see. A nice female sheephead greeted me after a few casts. When fish hit the pier, local opener regulars showed up and swapped the news with us. They all were nice and welcoming. It was a night of hard work setting and checking baits, throwing the nets and pulling them up. We landed three keeper sized ones among what we think of 40 shorts we landed. My flat net got none. Well, probably one came in as Mahigeer heard flapping sound when I was pulling it up but it escaped through a small hole developed over the night. Mahigeer’s pair of conical nets were the way to go. All regulars used the same and used a pair. I brought only one net and hoped to fish alongside. Next time, I will get the conical nets and focus only on hoop netting. A lesson learned. Some entertainment came as a couple of bycatches in the nets. We landed three horn sharks, two moray eels and two round stingrays. My night fishing was sporadic as my sleep deprivation and sore handed from net pulling got me away from it. But I managed a half dozen calico basses as well as Salema that was biting well at the side of the pier.” How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon there should be no problem in finding the pier, which is located at the foot of Catalina Avenue.
Cabrillo Mole (Avalon, Catalina Island) — Expect the normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, sheephead and ocean whitefish. Bonito are in and out, barracuda are around, and anglers are hoping for a dorado or some other exotic species. Also expect a lot of kelp. A report from fish-ninja on Oct. 3 said, “I started my day later than usual arriving at the mole around 11am. I fished for bonito at the mole hoping to make some fresh baits. Threw in a variety of metal jigs but no hits. My neighbor fishing with three hook Sabiki rigs were attracting some bonitos at top. He gave me one and I found a biter on my pink gold jigpara surf soon after. I landed a small Spanish Mac on a small blue pink jig while the neighbor added a few more in his sack. I left the mole at 3pm to join Mahigeer at green pleasure where he has been fishing since the morning... Next morning, we moved to the mole to fish. My return ferry was booked to depart in afternoon but I changed it to a morning departure at 10:15. I fished for bonito with Mahigeer and a large crew of other bonito anglers who showed up on the first boat. I landed a calico bass and a Spanish Mac. How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon when you walk off the ferry onto the landing you are at the Mole.
Redondo Beach Pier — No report this month but the last report said both mackerel and bonito were available. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway, take Torrance Blvd. west to the foot of the pier and the parking lot.
Manhattan Beach Pier — No report this month. How To Get There: From Sepulveda Boulevard, turn west on Manhattan Beach Drive and follow it to the pier.
Hermosa Beach Pier — No report this month. How To Get There: Take the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to Pier Avenue and follow Pier Avenue west to the pier.
Venice Pier — No report this month. How Get There: Highway 1 to Washington St., turn west and follow Washington St. to the pier.
Santa Monica Pier — No report this month. How to Get There: From I-405 take Santa Monica Blvd. west to Ocean Ave. Turn left, go to Colorado Ave., and turn right onto the pier.
Malibu Pier — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu) said the numbers of anglers is down but she’s still getting reports of good fishing at the pier. There aren’t many mackerel but good numbers of sargo, quite a few bass, some perch, and even a few halibut. They are also still getting some threshers out at the end as well as the smaller sharks and rays. How To Get There: The pier fronts on the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) so just drive until you see it.
Paradise Cove Pier — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu) said anglers are still reporting some large bat rays. She says due to the high cost of parking most anglers are walking in from the street. It used to be free but she’s heard they are now even charging $5 to walk in. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Paradise Cove Dr., turn west, and follow the road back into the parking lot. It’s very expensive unless you buy a meal at the restaurant and then you are allowed to fish for, I think, three hours.
Ventura & Santa Barbara County Piers
Port Hueneme Pier — No report this month but a variety of fish should be available. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take Hueneme Rd. west until it turns into Port. At Ventura Rd turn left and follow it to Surfside Dr. Turn left again and follow it to the park.
Ventura Pier — Boyd Larson at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura says that the halibut action has been excellent. A buddy got a 35”, 17 ½-lb fish on a live smelt while another friend got a 29-in fish on frozen anchovies. The regulars are going to the end, snagging up anchovies, smelt or sardines and bringing them back to the shallow water near the surfline where the halibut are to be found. He said some of the hallies are in three feet of water. He says mackerel and bonito are missing in action (he says they are all down in the Ventura Harbor) but there are big jacksmelt to be had. The shallow waters are also producing a lot of leopoard sharks (up to six feet in length) along with a few gray smoothhound. Mid-pier to deeper water sees a lot of thornbacks and bat rays. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Seaward Drive exit west to Harbor Drive, turn right and follow it to the pier.
Stearns Wharf — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, says the pier is mainly yielding baitfish (mackerel and sardines) and crabs. He says there are good numbers of mackerel and many are the large sized variety. Both red and rock crabs continue to show in good numbers with many limits being taken. He does say the halibut action has slowed in the entire harbor area. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take Castillo St. or State St. west to the beach and follow signs to the pier.
Goleta Pier — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, reports this is the best place to go currently with a lot of fish and a good variety making a showing. He says the halibut bite (both large and small fish) has been consistent while white seabass also are making a showing but most of them are shorts. He says there has also been a good mackerel bite for about the past 10 days with many of them good-sized macs. A few sand bass are also being taken along with good numbers of leopard sharks and bat rays. As usual, the pipe reef is yielding up a mix of fish—mostly small rockfish, bass, and cabezon. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Hwy. 217/Airport exit. Follow it to Sandspit Rd. and the Goleta Beach Park turnoff. Follow this to the park and the pier.
Gaviota Pier — The pier has now been closed for somewhere around eight years but I have been told that the state has now allocated money to rebuild the pier. My fingers are crossed. How To Get There: From Highway 101 simply take the Gaviota State Park turnoff down to the beach and pier.
Remember that all lobsters must be caught in the appropriate lobster nets, none can be kept when hooked on a fishing line.
San Diego County Piers
Imperial Beach Pier – Reports indicate that the mackerel bite is good and that small bonito are also making a showing. This is the time to go! How To Get There: From I-5 take the Palm Ave. (Hwy. 75) exit and follow it to where Palm Ave. and Hwy. 75 divide. Follow Palm Ave. to Seacoast Dr., turn left and it will take you right to the pier.
Ocean Beach Pier — Dominique at the Ocean Beach Pier Bait and Tackle said a variety of fish have been hitting. Most common are the mackerel but people have also been pulling in halibut, some shovelnose sharks (guitarfish), small rockfish, bass and the usual small croakers. People are also showing up in good numbers and catching lobsters at night. A few bonito continue to make a showing buy not many. How To Get There: From the north, take I-5 to the Sea World Dr. exit and follow it until it turns off to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. From the south, take I- 5 to the Nimitz Blvd. exit, then follow that road to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Follow Sunset Cliffs Blvd. to Newport Ave., turn right and follow the road to the pier parking lot.
Crystal Pier – Unfortunately the bait shop has closed and we now need a reporter. How To get There: Take I-5 to Garnet Ave. then take Garnet west to the foot of the pier.
Pepper Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter! How To Get There: From I-5 ta ke the 24th Street off-ramp west to Tidelands Avenue and go left (south) on Tidelands to the end.
Bayside Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From I-5 take the J Street off ramp and go west. Take J Street to Tidelands Ave.; turn right. Take Tidelands to Sandpiper Way; turn right. Take Sandpiper to Bayside Parkway, turn left and follow the road to the park.
Embarcadero Marina Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From the I-5 south, take the Front Street exit south to Market (just stay on Front Street, it runs into Market), take Market west to Harbor Dr. Turn left on Harbor Dr. and take it to 8th Ave., turn right onto Convention Way (formerly Harbor St.). Follow it a short block to 5th Ave. and the pier. It seems that with the new Convention Center the city is constantly working on these streets near the pier and renaming them; if you get confused remember that the park and pier are immediately to the southwest of the Convention Center. From I-5 North, approaching from the south, take the J Street exit, then go straight, three blocks up to Market, turn left and take it from there.
Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado) — Need a reporter although bass (kelp, sand and spotted) always seem to be around as well as a mix of sharays (mostly round stingrays and bat rays). How To Get There: From San Diego, take the Coronado Bay Bridge (Highway 75) to Coronado. Once over the bridg e you are on Third Street. Simply follow it to B Avenue, turn right, and follow it to the front of The Old Ferry Landing — the intersection of First Street and B Avenue. The pier sits behind the shops in the complex.
Shelter Island Pier — No report and we need a reporter. A report from Ray619 on Aug. 31 said, “Went fishing from 9pm to about 1230am. First 2.5 hours just a small ray on squid. Then around 1130pm...a nice run of mackerel. A bit bigger than usual. Caught all on strip squid with the assistance of a glow stick. Fun on spinning gear with 6-pound test.” How To Get There: Take I-5 or I-8 to Rosecrans (Hwy. 209) and go west, turn left at Shelter Island Dr. and follow the road until you see the pier and the entrance to the parking lot.
Oceanside Pier — Update — Oct. 4 — Apparently the bonito have returned as well as all the sardines you want to catch. Sounds like most of the bonito are hitting in the morning. A report from my friend Bill said the water has turned dirty (looking like tea) and the action had slowed down a little. He said anglers are getting yellowfin croaker and sargo inside the bait shop area on worms, but the spotfin croaker have really slowed. Mid-pier is the usual, a few halibut but most are shorts, a few bass, and the usual small herring (queenfish). Out at the end there was a good bonito bite then it slowed but seems to be picking up again. And, when the bonito bite slowed the mackerel bite started back up. He said a few sculpin (scorpionfish) have been taken along with some small rockfish but not much else. A report from bassfanatick on September 28 said, “Fishing slowing down due to water quality getting more cloudy, windy and rough waves. Baits are still here, Jacksmelt being the most common species, mackerel can be caught but not in large number, and usually after sunset. I managed to catch 3 keeper scorpionfish, a 21 ½-inch halibut on drop shot zoom fluke. Bonito chasing bait but don't seem to want anything do to with artificial baits. That is the report, thanks for reading, and good luck fishing everyone!!!” How To Get There: From I-5 take Mission Blvd. west to Pacific, turn left and follow it to the pier.
Oceanside Harbor Pier — No recent reports but expect the occasional croaker, sargo and bass on the bottom, jacksmelt and possibly a bonito or two in the top waters. Some perch and bass may show while fishing by the rocks. How To Get There: From I-5 take the Harbor Dr. exit off the freeway, follow it and it will wind down to the harbor; where the road splits stay to the right on North Harbor Dr., and follow it to the pier.
Orange County Piers
San Clemente Pier — Skyler at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. says it’s pretty much the regular fish, mainly perch and croaker inshore (mussels and worms) and some bass mid-pier. He does report some halibut being taken in the shallows both on live bait and on lures—i.e., soft plastics or Lucky Craft. Mackerel are available out at the end with most being taken on Sabikis while some sharks and rays continue to bite, mostly bat rays and (inshore) stingrays and thornbacks). He also reported a good opening weekend on the lobsters with a lot of legal sized bugs being taken. How to Get There: From I-5 take any of several exit streets west to El Camino Real, follow it to the center of town, and from there take Del Mar down to the pier.
Dana Harbor Pier — Skyler at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. says it’s mainly perch, croaker (spotfins) and bass (kelp, sand and bay). Most of the fish are taken on bait while the bass are generally taken on lures. How To Get There: The pier is located in the Dana Cove Park area of Dana Point Harbor. From the Pacific Coast Highway take Green Lantern Road south to the harbor, turn left on Cove Road, and follow it to the pier.
Balboa Pier — Our reporter Snookie says, “Things have been much better lately. There has been lots of bait and lots of strikes. They are mainly halibut, some calico bass, and white seabass. The seabass are not much bigger than 20 inches. There was a 9-foot thresher shark caught this week on a sardine at the end. With all the bait in the water I am sure there are more threshers around. One keeper halibut was caught lately in the surf area and it was caught on a sardine. It was 27 inches. Although it has been hot we get some relief if the wind comes up which it has most of the time. When the water cooled last week the fishing slowed, but now it is picking up again. Fall can be a good time for fishing.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot.
Newport Pier — Generally the action mirrors, for the most part, that seen at Balboa although when the fishing is hot the mobs will be bigger and the railing space more limited. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take the Newport Blvd. turn off and proceed west watching for signs directing traffic to the pier. The pier sits at the foot of McFadden Place.
Huntington Beach Pier — We need a reporter. A report from Evanluck on Sept. 27 said, “Arrived at 7:30AM and went to the end to the left of the restaurant at the end facing the shore. I hooked a decent sized white seabass on a 20g slow pitch jig that came off at the surface of the water right at the pier. All for the best as it was not legal size. I caught a 13" sand bass on live smelt fished on a Carolina rig. While fishing for bait I caught a couple handfuls of sardines and a handful of smelt. Bite was slower today. Was harder to get bites both fishing for bait and fishing for bigger fish. I saw a couple of small bonito caught on Sabiki rigs and another short white seabass was caught on a stick bait used as a sinker on a Sabiki rig. I saw one mackerel caught on a Sabiki with bait. Apparently there were mackerel to be had from 5:30AM until just after sunrise. Walking back off the pier I saw someone caught a medium size leopard shark in the inshore fishing area and someone else released a small unidentified shark also in the inshore area.” An earlier report from Evanluck on Sept. 20 said, “Started fishing around 7:00AM. I fished the left side of the restaurant at the end of the pier on the side that faces the shoreline. I was actually looking to catch mackerel but from the looks of the buckets of everyone at the end, they were not around. I noticed a young man pulled in a white seabass on a live smelt on a Carolina rig. So I started catching smelt and would fish one on a split shot rig and the other on a Carolina rig. I ended up catching two white seabass, two sand bass, one kelp bass, one spotted bay bass, and of course a bunch of smelt. This is the first time I've caught bass of any kind at this pier so it was exciting to catch multiple bass with four different species. I also lost a big spotted bay bass just at the surface of the water. It was a big one and I took the risk to try to get it over the rail without a net. One good headshake and it broke me off. All fish were caught on fairly small live smelt with the splitshot rig out performing the Carolina rig about 3 to 1. I stopped fishing at 12:30PM. The young man who initially clued me in to the presence of the white seabass ended up landed four white sea bass and a halibut. All fish were short of the legal limit so both of us safely released our fish. I did see a couple of anglers keep a short white seabass and a short calico. We told them that the fish were not legal but they kept them anyways. I saw another two short halibut pulled up about 20 yards inshore from where I was fishing and I saw someone else land a good-size butterfly ray. I saw a couple of isolated bait boils but other than that there was no evidence of the presence of bonito. I also saw a small mackerel and a sardine caught by different anglers using Sabikis as I was packing up to leave. I've really been enjoying smoking mackerel. It tastes delicious apple wood smoked on my little Weber Smokey Joe. I'm gonna try to target them again this week hopefully with more success. I think I need to start earlier.” How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.”
Seal Beach Pier — Nel(?) at Big Fish Bait & Tackle, 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy, said the fishing has slowed down. A few bonito are being taken at the end of the pier, a few yellowfin croaker and corbina at the shore end of the pier. No much is showing up mid-pier. A report from Fishman Fishman on Sept. 23 said, “Fished Thursday morning. Lots of smelt and small herring in the water. White seabass chasing the bait balls. Caught and released short WSB on chrome metal jig. No Bonito seen or caught. Caught and released two short sand bass, two thornbacks, and one bat ray. Caught a few mackerel and herring. Nothing hit live, smelt or herring bait. Just a beautiful Fall day on the pier. Good luck this weekend.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway simply take Main St. west and follow it to the pier.
Los Angeles County Piers
Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier — Need a reporter. A report from Fishman Fishman on September 17 said, “The fish bite was off and on today. Had to "work" to catch them. Decent early morning bite, caught two short sand bass, one legal size sculpin (released), one small bonito (released). Fishing slowed down until 11 a.m. when mackerel appeared. Caught Spanish and Pacific mackerel and topsmelt. Bonito bite was slow. Many fisherman chasing mackerel and bonito left by 10:30. Caught fish on anchovy, mackerel and sardine. Bonito on Sabiki. Sculpin spit out small baitfish when I landed it. Looks like a small perch. Good luck fishing this weekend!” How To Get There: From the north take I-405 to the Lakewood Boulevard turnoff, and then go south to 7th Street, turn west (right) until you come to Ximeno Ave. and then turn left. Follow it to Livingston Dr. and go west. You will see signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier. From the south take the Pacific Coast Highway to 2nd. Street (Westminister becomes 2nd. Street when it crosses PCH), go west, follow to Livingston Dr. Follow it to signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier and parking lot.
Shoreline Aquatic Park Piers (Long Beach) — Expect the usual when casting straight out from the pier(s), some white croaker on the bottom and possibly some mackerel (or bonito) on top. Casting parallel to the shoreline rocks should produce a few croakers, some sargo and a possible perch using mussels, lugworms, or shrimp. How to Get There: From downtown Long Beach, take Pine Avenue south to Shoreline Drive. For the northernmost pier #1 follow Shoreline Avenue west and follow it around the lagoon to where the street ends. For the southernmost piers #2-#5 follow Shoreline Drive east to the markings for Shoreline Village, continue past the shopping complex, and follow the road out to near the end of the peninsula. You will see the piers.
Pier J Piers (Long Beach) — White croaker are available most days as are a variety of fish, mackerel on top and rock frequenting species like perch and opaleye along the rocks. How To Get There: From I-710 follow the signs saying S. Harbor Scenic Drive. From downtown Long Beach follow Queens Way past the Catalina Landing and on to the Queens Way Bridge over the water and take the S. Harbor Scenic Drive.
Cabrillo Pier (San Pedro) — Alex at the Rusty Hook, 245 N Gaffey St., San Pedro, said it’s about the same report as previous. Locals with know how are still catching halibut while a few mackerel are showing up, assorted bass, and a variety of sharks and rays (mostly bat rays). How To Get There: Take the Harbor Freeway (I-110) south; it will turn into Gaffey St. Follow it to 22nd Street and turn left. Follow 22nd St. to Pacific Ave. and turn right. Follow Pacific Ave. to 36th Street and the entrance to Cabrillo Park.
Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon, Catalina Island) – Expect the normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, and sheephead. Now that lobster season has started also expect a few lobster from the pier at night. A report from fish-ninja on Oct. 3 said, “I joined an annual pilgrimage of Mahigeer at Green Pleasure Pier for spiny lobster season opener over this weekend. Weather was pretty nice without strong winds though a bit cloudy most of the days. Moon was up phase quarter. For me it was a long 24 hours of straight fishing without much sleep. A bit taxing on my body but Mahigeer does even longer than that so no complaints here and I could land 10 species including some nice lobsters...[at the gpp]... I started to fish there before we start hoop netting after dusk. It was my first time trying at green pleasure pier. I made my high low gear with 8lb mono leaders and size 6 hooks. Lots of small calicos were there. After I landed some and a wrasse, I started to target sheephead with shrimps. Mahigeer showed me the corner of the pier a certain expert angler there prefers. He said to cast it away and see. A nice female sheephead greeted me after a few casts. When fish hit the pier, local opener regulars showed up and swapped the news with us. They all were nice and welcoming. It was a night of hard work setting and checking baits, throwing the nets and pulling them up. We landed three keeper sized ones among what we think of 40 shorts we landed. My flat net got none. Well, probably one came in as Mahigeer heard flapping sound when I was pulling it up but it escaped through a small hole developed over the night. Mahigeer’s pair of conical nets were the way to go. All regulars used the same and used a pair. I brought only one net and hoped to fish alongside. Next time, I will get the conical nets and focus only on hoop netting. A lesson learned. Some entertainment came as a couple of bycatches in the nets. We landed three horn sharks, two moray eels and two round stingrays. My night fishing was sporadic as my sleep deprivation and sore handed from net pulling got me away from it. But I managed a half dozen calico basses as well as Salema that was biting well at the side of the pier.” How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon there should be no problem in finding the pier, which is located at the foot of Catalina Avenue.
Cabrillo Mole (Avalon, Catalina Island) — Expect the normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, sheephead and ocean whitefish. Bonito are in and out, barracuda are around, and anglers are hoping for a dorado or some other exotic species. Also expect a lot of kelp. A report from fish-ninja on Oct. 3 said, “I started my day later than usual arriving at the mole around 11am. I fished for bonito at the mole hoping to make some fresh baits. Threw in a variety of metal jigs but no hits. My neighbor fishing with three hook Sabiki rigs were attracting some bonitos at top. He gave me one and I found a biter on my pink gold jigpara surf soon after. I landed a small Spanish Mac on a small blue pink jig while the neighbor added a few more in his sack. I left the mole at 3pm to join Mahigeer at green pleasure where he has been fishing since the morning... Next morning, we moved to the mole to fish. My return ferry was booked to depart in afternoon but I changed it to a morning departure at 10:15. I fished for bonito with Mahigeer and a large crew of other bonito anglers who showed up on the first boat. I landed a calico bass and a Spanish Mac. How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon when you walk off the ferry onto the landing you are at the Mole.
Redondo Beach Pier — No report this month but the last report said both mackerel and bonito were available. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway, take Torrance Blvd. west to the foot of the pier and the parking lot.
Manhattan Beach Pier — No report this month. How To Get There: From Sepulveda Boulevard, turn west on Manhattan Beach Drive and follow it to the pier.
Hermosa Beach Pier — No report this month. How To Get There: Take the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to Pier Avenue and follow Pier Avenue west to the pier.
Venice Pier — No report this month. How Get There: Highway 1 to Washington St., turn west and follow Washington St. to the pier.
Santa Monica Pier — No report this month. How to Get There: From I-405 take Santa Monica Blvd. west to Ocean Ave. Turn left, go to Colorado Ave., and turn right onto the pier.
Malibu Pier — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu) said the numbers of anglers is down but she’s still getting reports of good fishing at the pier. There aren’t many mackerel but good numbers of sargo, quite a few bass, some perch, and even a few halibut. They are also still getting some threshers out at the end as well as the smaller sharks and rays. How To Get There: The pier fronts on the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) so just drive until you see it.
Paradise Cove Pier — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy Malibu) said anglers are still reporting some large bat rays. She says due to the high cost of parking most anglers are walking in from the street. It used to be free but she’s heard they are now even charging $5 to walk in. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Paradise Cove Dr., turn west, and follow the road back into the parking lot. It’s very expensive unless you buy a meal at the restaurant and then you are allowed to fish for, I think, three hours.
Ventura & Santa Barbara County Piers
Port Hueneme Pier — No report this month but a variety of fish should be available. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take Hueneme Rd. west until it turns into Port. At Ventura Rd turn left and follow it to Surfside Dr. Turn left again and follow it to the park.
Ventura Pier — Boyd Larson at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura says that the halibut action has been excellent. A buddy got a 35”, 17 ½-lb fish on a live smelt while another friend got a 29-in fish on frozen anchovies. The regulars are going to the end, snagging up anchovies, smelt or sardines and bringing them back to the shallow water near the surfline where the halibut are to be found. He said some of the hallies are in three feet of water. He says mackerel and bonito are missing in action (he says they are all down in the Ventura Harbor) but there are big jacksmelt to be had. The shallow waters are also producing a lot of leopoard sharks (up to six feet in length) along with a few gray smoothhound. Mid-pier to deeper water sees a lot of thornbacks and bat rays. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Seaward Drive exit west to Harbor Drive, turn right and follow it to the pier.
Stearns Wharf — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, says the pier is mainly yielding baitfish (mackerel and sardines) and crabs. He says there are good numbers of mackerel and many are the large sized variety. Both red and rock crabs continue to show in good numbers with many limits being taken. He does say the halibut action has slowed in the entire harbor area. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take Castillo St. or State St. west to the beach and follow signs to the pier.
Goleta Pier — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, reports this is the best place to go currently with a lot of fish and a good variety making a showing. He says the halibut bite (both large and small fish) has been consistent while white seabass also are making a showing but most of them are shorts. He says there has also been a good mackerel bite for about the past 10 days with many of them good-sized macs. A few sand bass are also being taken along with good numbers of leopard sharks and bat rays. As usual, the pipe reef is yielding up a mix of fish—mostly small rockfish, bass, and cabezon. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Hwy. 217/Airport exit. Follow it to Sandspit Rd. and the Goleta Beach Park turnoff. Follow this to the park and the pier.
Gaviota Pier — The pier has now been closed for somewhere around eight years but I have been told that the state has now allocated money to rebuild the pier. My fingers are crossed. How To Get There: From Highway 101 simply take the Gaviota State Park turnoff down to the beach and pier.