Hi everyone.
I was able to visit Seal Beach Pier for a nice evening yesterday. While I arrived at the pier later than I would have liked, it still ended up being a fun day on the water.
I arrived at the pier at about 6:45 PM to a high, outgoing tide. Although I had mussels, I decided to head out to the end of the pier to see if any Bonito were running about. On my way out, I saw an angler catch a, probably newborn, Grey Smoothound Shark on a chunk of market shrimp on a Carolina rig just past the lifeguard tower. Around mid-pier, I saw a Topsmelt caught on a small sabiki baited with chunks of market shrimp. Lots of anglers were fishing inshore, mostly using shrimp, but few were successful.
As I arrived at the end, I noticed it to be much less crowded than usual. I spoke with one angler using a bobber with a crankbait who said he caught a California Needlefish shortly before but didn't see anything else. I began to rig up my setups, with a small Okuma light spinning rod and reel combo and an 8lb mono mainline with no leader. I used a 1/2-oz Ahi Live Deception Blue-Colored jig, which I cast around until the sun went down at about 7:30. I fished on the northern side of the pier facing Long Beach Harbor, and saw what looked like some pelagic surface action. I hooked one fish, which I could not tell if it was a bonito or mackerel, but it fell off on the way to the railing. During this time, I also saw a Bat Ray gliding just beneath the surface.
As the sun went down, I retired my pelagic setup and began to rig up my bottom-fishing rigs. As I was not fishing alone, I was able to have more than 2 rods in the water. I used my two Cajun baitcasting rods and reel combos with 10 lb spectra mainline and 6 lb fluorocarbon leaders, with triple dropper-loop rigs, size 10 hooks, 2-oz torpedo sinkers, and frozen mussels for bait. I also used a PENN Fierce II spinning rod and reel combo with 65 lb spectra mainline and a 25 lb fluorocarbon leader with a Carolina rig, a 2/O live bait hook, and a 3-oz egg sinker baiting with a frozen Topsmelt. I had a Promar non-collapsible hoop net baited with 3 Salema, 2 Topsmelt, and a Jack Mackerel that were caught from the Belmont Veteran's Memorial Pier about a year prior.
Almost immediately after dropping my second Cajun to the bottom, I felt a hard pull and began cranking. For a moment, I thought I had a Bonito, but it ended up being an 11" Barred Sand Bass. Luckily, the fish hadn't swallowed the hook, and it was an easy release. I rebaited the line, and shortly afterwards felt a much lighter tap. I pulled up a medium-sized Topsmelt. I switched out the frozen smelt for the live one that I had caught, and saw that something was chewing on the frozen smelt's face, while I had tail-hooked it. I didn't see any marks on the fish's body from teeth, so I believe that it was a crab or lobster that had been munching on it.
Shortly afterward, I caught a decent-sized Yellowfin Croaker, and about a half-hour later, another Topsmelt. The smelt provided constant action for the rest of the trip, but most of them were too small to stay hooked, and would regularly strip the bait. I didn't have any miracle thread with me that would've worked in keeping the mussel attached, as I assumed the "foot" of the mussel would be too thick for the smelt to tear through.
At 9:00 PM, on my second pull of the night, I caught a Spiny Lobster. After measuring it with my gauge, I saw that it was well past being legal size. After making a mental note to return to this spot in 3 weeks for the lobster opening night, I released the giant lobster. Although I made pulls on 20-minute intervals, the lobster was my only catch in the net for the night.
At 9:45 PM, I decided to pack up as Seal Beach Pier does not have any buildings that protect from the wind, and I wished to avoid being kicked out by the 10:00 PM curfew. I saw that my live Topsmelt was missing from my heavy setup, either something snatched it, or the smelt swam off. I donated my leftover bait to another angler, who had accidentally dropped a Round Stingray on a maintenance railing leftover from the rebuilding of the end of the pier while attempting to release it. I helped the angler release the ray by using my Fierce rod to push the ray off the end of the railing and into the water. While it wasn't the most conventional way to release a fish and resulted in some minor damage to my rod, the ray swam off okay.
I spoke with anglers fishing inshore, who only caught rays. I witnessed one angler reel up a massive Thornback Ray using a chunk of market shrimp on a Carolina rig. I wondered if I should have fished inshore when the sun went down, since I had the mussels. While the other anglers didn't appear too successful, they were all using market shrimp. Curiously, many anglers were just starting to arrive, and nobody was packing up. Either the anglers were unaware of the curfew, or the curfew was not enforced. Overall, it was a very fun evening on the water, and catching the bass and lobster was extremely fun. Hopefully, I can get a Bonito on my next outing.
Notes:
-Mussels are much more fragile than squid or cut fish, and fall off much more quickly
-Anglers at this pier seem to fish the inshore area more than the end.
-This pier always seems to be less crowded than others nearby, such as Huntington or Belmont.
-If it's a windy day, I would not recommend coming to this location due to the lack of structure.
Questions:
-Has anyone ever caught crabs at Seal Beach Pier? In 5 years of fishing, I have only caught one Sheep Crab at this pier, all the way back in April 2021. I have not seen any other shellfish caught here until the lobster.
-Do Bonito bite at night? I stopped using my pelagic setup because I couldn't see the surface action on the water, but I was unsure if the fish were still there or not.
Fish Count (Personal):
-2 Topsmelt
-1 Yellowfin Croaker
-1 Barred Sand Bass Released
-1 California Spiny Lobster Released
3 Total Fish (1 Released)
1 Shellfish Released
Fish Count (Observed):
~20 Anglers
-3 Round Stingrays
-1 Thornback Ray
-1 California Needlefish
-1 Grey Smoothound Shark
-1 Topsmelt
7 Total Fish Observed
I was able to visit Seal Beach Pier for a nice evening yesterday. While I arrived at the pier later than I would have liked, it still ended up being a fun day on the water.
I arrived at the pier at about 6:45 PM to a high, outgoing tide. Although I had mussels, I decided to head out to the end of the pier to see if any Bonito were running about. On my way out, I saw an angler catch a, probably newborn, Grey Smoothound Shark on a chunk of market shrimp on a Carolina rig just past the lifeguard tower. Around mid-pier, I saw a Topsmelt caught on a small sabiki baited with chunks of market shrimp. Lots of anglers were fishing inshore, mostly using shrimp, but few were successful.
As I arrived at the end, I noticed it to be much less crowded than usual. I spoke with one angler using a bobber with a crankbait who said he caught a California Needlefish shortly before but didn't see anything else. I began to rig up my setups, with a small Okuma light spinning rod and reel combo and an 8lb mono mainline with no leader. I used a 1/2-oz Ahi Live Deception Blue-Colored jig, which I cast around until the sun went down at about 7:30. I fished on the northern side of the pier facing Long Beach Harbor, and saw what looked like some pelagic surface action. I hooked one fish, which I could not tell if it was a bonito or mackerel, but it fell off on the way to the railing. During this time, I also saw a Bat Ray gliding just beneath the surface.
As the sun went down, I retired my pelagic setup and began to rig up my bottom-fishing rigs. As I was not fishing alone, I was able to have more than 2 rods in the water. I used my two Cajun baitcasting rods and reel combos with 10 lb spectra mainline and 6 lb fluorocarbon leaders, with triple dropper-loop rigs, size 10 hooks, 2-oz torpedo sinkers, and frozen mussels for bait. I also used a PENN Fierce II spinning rod and reel combo with 65 lb spectra mainline and a 25 lb fluorocarbon leader with a Carolina rig, a 2/O live bait hook, and a 3-oz egg sinker baiting with a frozen Topsmelt. I had a Promar non-collapsible hoop net baited with 3 Salema, 2 Topsmelt, and a Jack Mackerel that were caught from the Belmont Veteran's Memorial Pier about a year prior.
Almost immediately after dropping my second Cajun to the bottom, I felt a hard pull and began cranking. For a moment, I thought I had a Bonito, but it ended up being an 11" Barred Sand Bass. Luckily, the fish hadn't swallowed the hook, and it was an easy release. I rebaited the line, and shortly afterwards felt a much lighter tap. I pulled up a medium-sized Topsmelt. I switched out the frozen smelt for the live one that I had caught, and saw that something was chewing on the frozen smelt's face, while I had tail-hooked it. I didn't see any marks on the fish's body from teeth, so I believe that it was a crab or lobster that had been munching on it.
Shortly afterward, I caught a decent-sized Yellowfin Croaker, and about a half-hour later, another Topsmelt. The smelt provided constant action for the rest of the trip, but most of them were too small to stay hooked, and would regularly strip the bait. I didn't have any miracle thread with me that would've worked in keeping the mussel attached, as I assumed the "foot" of the mussel would be too thick for the smelt to tear through.
At 9:00 PM, on my second pull of the night, I caught a Spiny Lobster. After measuring it with my gauge, I saw that it was well past being legal size. After making a mental note to return to this spot in 3 weeks for the lobster opening night, I released the giant lobster. Although I made pulls on 20-minute intervals, the lobster was my only catch in the net for the night.
At 9:45 PM, I decided to pack up as Seal Beach Pier does not have any buildings that protect from the wind, and I wished to avoid being kicked out by the 10:00 PM curfew. I saw that my live Topsmelt was missing from my heavy setup, either something snatched it, or the smelt swam off. I donated my leftover bait to another angler, who had accidentally dropped a Round Stingray on a maintenance railing leftover from the rebuilding of the end of the pier while attempting to release it. I helped the angler release the ray by using my Fierce rod to push the ray off the end of the railing and into the water. While it wasn't the most conventional way to release a fish and resulted in some minor damage to my rod, the ray swam off okay.
I spoke with anglers fishing inshore, who only caught rays. I witnessed one angler reel up a massive Thornback Ray using a chunk of market shrimp on a Carolina rig. I wondered if I should have fished inshore when the sun went down, since I had the mussels. While the other anglers didn't appear too successful, they were all using market shrimp. Curiously, many anglers were just starting to arrive, and nobody was packing up. Either the anglers were unaware of the curfew, or the curfew was not enforced. Overall, it was a very fun evening on the water, and catching the bass and lobster was extremely fun. Hopefully, I can get a Bonito on my next outing.
Notes:
-Mussels are much more fragile than squid or cut fish, and fall off much more quickly
-Anglers at this pier seem to fish the inshore area more than the end.
-This pier always seems to be less crowded than others nearby, such as Huntington or Belmont.
-If it's a windy day, I would not recommend coming to this location due to the lack of structure.
Questions:
-Has anyone ever caught crabs at Seal Beach Pier? In 5 years of fishing, I have only caught one Sheep Crab at this pier, all the way back in April 2021. I have not seen any other shellfish caught here until the lobster.
-Do Bonito bite at night? I stopped using my pelagic setup because I couldn't see the surface action on the water, but I was unsure if the fish were still there or not.
Fish Count (Personal):
-2 Topsmelt
-1 Yellowfin Croaker
-1 Barred Sand Bass Released
-1 California Spiny Lobster Released
3 Total Fish (1 Released)
1 Shellfish Released
Fish Count (Observed):
~20 Anglers
-3 Round Stingrays
-1 Thornback Ray
-1 California Needlefish
-1 Grey Smoothound Shark
-1 Topsmelt
7 Total Fish Observed