Got to San Clemente Pier around 5:30AM. My girlfriend and I split up. She stayed inshore, and I went to the end.
Morning bite was good. Most productive rig was a high low rig. I rigged the top hook with 1/3 of a live blood worm and the bottom hook with a piece of cut shrimp. I fairly quickly caught a decent size Calico bass on the blood worm. Once I saw the first calico bass, I switched the bottom hook to a pieces of cut squid. I caught a smaller calico bass next on the squid. Then I caught a rock wrasse on blood worm. I hooked another decent size fish that broke me off. As we got close to low tide, the interesting fish stopped biting and we were left with mackerel and smelt.
Things we tried that did not catch fish or produce any bites:
a full head-on shrimp on a 3/0 circle hook on a fish finder rig. This setup kept getting covered with red kelp. I was trying to get a larger sheephead with this but didn't get any bites.
fishing a live smelt on a Carolina rig with a 1/4 oz. egg sinker. The last time I was here someone caught a White Sea bass using this type of rig and bait. No bites for me on this and it was too hard to cast and fish this type of rig on the crowded end with lots of shark poles in the water.
We caught some decent sized mackerel and a couple larger jack smelt. The larger one was the biggest jack smelt I ever caught. We left at 2:30PM.
I am very interested to fish the end of this pier during high tide. I'll head back tomorrow evening and fish at night with a 98% moon at high tide as see how that combination produces.
Didn't see any other interesting fish caught around the pier. In shore action was very slow. My girlfriend got no bites other than smelt nibbles fishing inshore and we didn't see anyone else fishing inshore catch any fish. The shark crew hooked up on a smaller thresher but it popped off right as it got to the pier.
There was consistent action at the end of the pier on larger mackerel.
Morning bite was good. Most productive rig was a high low rig. I rigged the top hook with 1/3 of a live blood worm and the bottom hook with a piece of cut shrimp. I fairly quickly caught a decent size Calico bass on the blood worm. Once I saw the first calico bass, I switched the bottom hook to a pieces of cut squid. I caught a smaller calico bass next on the squid. Then I caught a rock wrasse on blood worm. I hooked another decent size fish that broke me off. As we got close to low tide, the interesting fish stopped biting and we were left with mackerel and smelt.
Things we tried that did not catch fish or produce any bites:
a full head-on shrimp on a 3/0 circle hook on a fish finder rig. This setup kept getting covered with red kelp. I was trying to get a larger sheephead with this but didn't get any bites.
fishing a live smelt on a Carolina rig with a 1/4 oz. egg sinker. The last time I was here someone caught a White Sea bass using this type of rig and bait. No bites for me on this and it was too hard to cast and fish this type of rig on the crowded end with lots of shark poles in the water.
We caught some decent sized mackerel and a couple larger jack smelt. The larger one was the biggest jack smelt I ever caught. We left at 2:30PM.
I am very interested to fish the end of this pier during high tide. I'll head back tomorrow evening and fish at night with a 98% moon at high tide as see how that combination produces.
Didn't see any other interesting fish caught around the pier. In shore action was very slow. My girlfriend got no bites other than smelt nibbles fishing inshore and we didn't see anyone else fishing inshore catch any fish. The shark crew hooked up on a smaller thresher but it popped off right as it got to the pier.
There was consistent action at the end of the pier on larger mackerel.
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