Fished on Monday morning from 7:45AM-12:30PM.
Used market shrimp on two hi lo setups. One long casting with size 2 Kahle hooks. Another shorter casting setup with size 6 baitholder hooks. I was casting off the end of the pier to the reef off the end.
Did not see or detect any bait fish in the water but I didn't investigate that thoroughly because the bottom bite was active.
Final catch tally:
5 Black perch
2 Brown rock fish
1 sculpin
1 Shovel nose guitarfish (approximately 5' lost while attempt to hand line over the rail).
I'll edit with full story plus pics later.
Was good to be out there. Been to long since I had time to fish.
Saw one small/medium size spotfin landed by an angler fishing inshore with mussels.
-----> More details
My nephew asked to take him fishing on Monday. I check the tides and noticed that we had a morning low tide the day after significant rain. Not ideal conditions for fishing most Orange County piers so I decided to choose San Clemente because I have very consistent results casting out toward the reef at the end of the pier. This area has the consistency of jetty fishing with the comfort of pier fishing. Just need to be able to cast out far enough to reach the rocky bottom 40+ yards out from the end.
As I was leaving, I stared at my hoop net and decided that I would leave it at home seeing that I had appointments after fishing that would require me to keep all my stuff in the car. I figured that I would be spending most of my time helping my nephew catch bait fish with a sabiki.
I arrived at 7:30AM and received word that my nephew had a late night, woke up grumpy and was not interested in fishing. I changed my approach to my usual bigger and smaller hook hi-lo rigs on a shorter casting and long casting setup (both cast well enough to reach the rocky areas out from the end of the pier),
I baited my hooks using market shrimp and decided this time to take extra time to secure my baits with bait elastic. This really improvement my hookup rate. I was even able to hook quite a few smaller fish on size 2 Kahle hooks and I credit this to the use of the bait elastic. The fish were not biting everywhere but I was able to find the structure with active fish and started to catch fish very shortly after arrive.
Black perch were the dominant species of the day which is typical of this area for me. I also caught two brown rock fish which were first time catches for me off this pier. Also added a small sculpin before I started packing up.
As I was leaving I decided to reel in my long casting setup (by far the most productive setup of the day). I usually jerk the rod up before reeling to try to live my sinker of the rocks to prevent snagging on my retrieve. When I pulled up I noticed a heavy pull that felt like. snag but as I applied more leverage the line began retrieving with a still steady, heavy pull. When I got the the link halfway to the pier, the fish starting swimming diagonally and I knew that I had hooked a good sized fish. I got the fish to the surface and it was very good sized shovelnose guitar fish. Would have easily been my personal best.
The problem is I had purposely left my landing net at home and no one else was fishing the end of the pier. A curious bystander offered his assistance and I asked him to hold my rod while I attempt to hand line the fish over the rail. Right when I got the fish's head out of the water, it thrashed and snapped the hook off my 30lb leader.
Disappointing I could not have a closer experience with that fish or take a picture but I got to feel the excitement of fighting the fish and I got to see what it was and its approximate size. It also released itself with very minimal gear attached so I was pleased about that.
Felt so great to be out. I haven't fished in months due to a very busy work schedule.
Used market shrimp on two hi lo setups. One long casting with size 2 Kahle hooks. Another shorter casting setup with size 6 baitholder hooks. I was casting off the end of the pier to the reef off the end.
Did not see or detect any bait fish in the water but I didn't investigate that thoroughly because the bottom bite was active.
Final catch tally:
5 Black perch
2 Brown rock fish
1 sculpin
1 Shovel nose guitarfish (approximately 5' lost while attempt to hand line over the rail).
I'll edit with full story plus pics later.
Was good to be out there. Been to long since I had time to fish.
Saw one small/medium size spotfin landed by an angler fishing inshore with mussels.
-----> More details
My nephew asked to take him fishing on Monday. I check the tides and noticed that we had a morning low tide the day after significant rain. Not ideal conditions for fishing most Orange County piers so I decided to choose San Clemente because I have very consistent results casting out toward the reef at the end of the pier. This area has the consistency of jetty fishing with the comfort of pier fishing. Just need to be able to cast out far enough to reach the rocky bottom 40+ yards out from the end.
As I was leaving, I stared at my hoop net and decided that I would leave it at home seeing that I had appointments after fishing that would require me to keep all my stuff in the car. I figured that I would be spending most of my time helping my nephew catch bait fish with a sabiki.
I arrived at 7:30AM and received word that my nephew had a late night, woke up grumpy and was not interested in fishing. I changed my approach to my usual bigger and smaller hook hi-lo rigs on a shorter casting and long casting setup (both cast well enough to reach the rocky areas out from the end of the pier),
I baited my hooks using market shrimp and decided this time to take extra time to secure my baits with bait elastic. This really improvement my hookup rate. I was even able to hook quite a few smaller fish on size 2 Kahle hooks and I credit this to the use of the bait elastic. The fish were not biting everywhere but I was able to find the structure with active fish and started to catch fish very shortly after arrive.
Black perch were the dominant species of the day which is typical of this area for me. I also caught two brown rock fish which were first time catches for me off this pier. Also added a small sculpin before I started packing up.
As I was leaving I decided to reel in my long casting setup (by far the most productive setup of the day). I usually jerk the rod up before reeling to try to live my sinker of the rocks to prevent snagging on my retrieve. When I pulled up I noticed a heavy pull that felt like. snag but as I applied more leverage the line began retrieving with a still steady, heavy pull. When I got the the link halfway to the pier, the fish starting swimming diagonally and I knew that I had hooked a good sized fish. I got the fish to the surface and it was very good sized shovelnose guitar fish. Would have easily been my personal best.
The problem is I had purposely left my landing net at home and no one else was fishing the end of the pier. A curious bystander offered his assistance and I asked him to hold my rod while I attempt to hand line the fish over the rail. Right when I got the fish's head out of the water, it thrashed and snapped the hook off my 30lb leader.
Disappointing I could not have a closer experience with that fish or take a picture but I got to feel the excitement of fighting the fish and I got to see what it was and its approximate size. It also released itself with very minimal gear attached so I was pleased about that.
Felt so great to be out. I haven't fished in months due to a very busy work schedule.
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