September 2022 Fishing Report, Central California (#278)
San Luis Obispo County Piers
Pismo Beach Pier — No report but some surfperch should be available on the bottom and jacksmelt, sardines or mackerel (maybe) on top. That’s assuming red tide isn’t visiting the pier. How To Get There: From the north, take Hwy. 101 to the Five Cities Dr. exit; follow Dolliver into the middle of town, then turn west on Pomeroy and follow it to the pier and parking lot. From the south, take the Pismo Beach Exit (Price St.), follow it to Pomeroy; turn west and follow it to the pier.
San Luis (Harford) Pier — Debbie at the Patriot Sportfishing says there are a lot of anchovies in the water but the pier is surrounded by red tide and people aren’t catching much. The longer it stays the less fish will be caught. How To Get There: Take Hwy. 101 to the Avila Rd. turnoff and head west; follow the road to the end and the pier. How To Get There: Take Hwy. 101 to the Avila Rd. turnoff and head west; follow the road to the end and the pier.
Morro Bay T-Piers – A variety of perch and small rockfish should still be available—blackperch, pileperch, and striped perch along with grass, brown, copper, blue and black rockfish. How To Get There: From Highway 1 turn south onto Main Street, follow it to Morro Bay Boulevard, turn left toward the bay and follow it to Embarcadero, turn right and follow Embarcadero to the end of the public parking which adjoins the piers.
Cayucos Pier — September should see some surfperch inshore, both barred and calico, using worms or shrimp as bait. Walleye surfperch should be caught under the pier, mid-pier to the end, using small hooks or a Sabiki baited with pieces of worms or other bait. White croaker should be on the bottom (cast out from the pier using pieces of worm, anchovy or strips of squid). Jacksmelt, and sometimes mackerel or sardine, should be in the top-waters all along the pier and most people use Sabikis for the pelagics. Nighttime during the summer can mean excellent sharay action, everything from schooling dogfish, to swell sharks, horn sharks, soupfins, and even 7-gills not discounting the large bat rays. However, that action may be slowing. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to either Ocean Boulevard, which is the main street and will take you past the pier, or take the Cayucos Drive exit which will take you straight to the pier.
San Simeon Pier — Expect the usual, a variety of perch inshore (I’ve caught nine different varieties) while mid-pier to the end may see some pelagic action on top—mainly jacksmelt but sometimes large schools of mackerel and/or sardines, or both. How To Get There: Highway 1 to the entrance to the park.
Monterey-Santa Cruz-San Mateo County Piers
Monterey Coast Guard Pier — No report although the usual mix of small rockfish, perch, cabezon and even a possible lingcod should be available. How To Get There: From Hwy 1 going north: Take the Aguajito Road exit, turn left at the first traffic signal intersection, which is Aguajito Road, and continue under Highway 1 and cross Fremont Street. At the next traffic signal intersection, which is Del Monte Avenue, turn left. Continue down Del Monte Avenue and under the tunnel where the street turns into Lighthouse Avenue. Get into the right-hand lane. As the street veers to the right it turns into Foam Street. Continue on Foam Street to the first right and turn into the parking lot. From Hwy 1 going south: Take the Del Monte Avenue exit, continue down Del Monte Avenue for several blocks and go under the tunnel where the street turns into Lighthouse Avenue. Get into the right-hand lane. As the street veers to the right it turns into Foam Street. Continue on Foam Street to the first right and turn into the parking lot.
Monterey Wharf #2 — No reports and hard to predict. The pier is usually very good or very bad depending upon the availability of the pelagic species, i.e., Pacific mackerel, so it’s kind of a crap shoot. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the central Monterey exit and follow Del Monte Avenue to Figueroa Street, turn right and follow to the wharf.
Seacliff State Beach Pier — No report; still closed? How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the State Park Drive exit; follow the road west to the park entrance.
Capitola Wharf — Ashley at the Capitola Boat & Bait, on the pier, said good numbers of anchovies and mackerel are being caught from the wharf. Several halibut showed up in weeks past but none this week; however, one large striped bass did fall to an angler. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the Bay Avenue exit west until it hits Capitola Avenue where you turn right; stay on this to Cliff Drive, turn right and park wherever you can find a spot.
Santa Cruz Wharf — Mady at the Santa Cruz Boat Rental & Bait, on the wharf, said about the only thing hitting are anchovies, a lot, and a few mackerel. Most of the other fish, i.e., halibut, have slowed. How to Get There: Ocean Street south from Highway 1; when you get to Laurel Street turn right and follow it to Pacific Street, turn left and follow Pacific to the wharf.
Johnson Pier (Pillar Point Harbor) — I fished the pier for one mid-day hour on the 25TH of the month. Fishing was slow yielding up two white seaperch and one bullhead (staghorn sculpin). How To Get There: From Highway 1 simply take the Pillar Point Harbor turnoff and follow the road down to the main parking lot.
Pillar Point Pier (Pillar Point Harbor)— I fished the pier for one mid-day hour on the 25TH of the month. Fishing was slow, one grass rockfish, one blackperch, one shinerperch and six bullheads (staghorn sculpin). The million or maybe billion fruit flies made it impossible to stay for more than an hour. How To Get There: From Highway 1 simply take the Pillar Point Harbor turnoff and follow the road down to the main parking lot. This pier is to the far right of the parking lot
Pacifica Pier — I visited the pier on the 26th and the pier was filled as usual. Anglers had a ton of jacksmelt (virtually everyone was catching them) along with smaller numbers of small perch. A few crabbers showed some rock crabs but there weren’t any of the larger fish—striped bass or salmon (although there were at least 50 salmon boats offshore). Liu at Coastside #2 Bait & Tackle, said the fishing had been fairly slow. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Pacifica, take the Paloma Avenue-Francisco Boulevard exit, take Paloma west to Beach Road, turn left and proceed a short way until you see markers indicating the way to Fort Point, turn left on Long Avenue and it will take you down to the pier.
San Luis Obispo County Piers
Pismo Beach Pier — No report but some surfperch should be available on the bottom and jacksmelt, sardines or mackerel (maybe) on top. That’s assuming red tide isn’t visiting the pier. How To Get There: From the north, take Hwy. 101 to the Five Cities Dr. exit; follow Dolliver into the middle of town, then turn west on Pomeroy and follow it to the pier and parking lot. From the south, take the Pismo Beach Exit (Price St.), follow it to Pomeroy; turn west and follow it to the pier.
San Luis (Harford) Pier — Debbie at the Patriot Sportfishing says there are a lot of anchovies in the water but the pier is surrounded by red tide and people aren’t catching much. The longer it stays the less fish will be caught. How To Get There: Take Hwy. 101 to the Avila Rd. turnoff and head west; follow the road to the end and the pier. How To Get There: Take Hwy. 101 to the Avila Rd. turnoff and head west; follow the road to the end and the pier.
Morro Bay T-Piers – A variety of perch and small rockfish should still be available—blackperch, pileperch, and striped perch along with grass, brown, copper, blue and black rockfish. How To Get There: From Highway 1 turn south onto Main Street, follow it to Morro Bay Boulevard, turn left toward the bay and follow it to Embarcadero, turn right and follow Embarcadero to the end of the public parking which adjoins the piers.
Cayucos Pier — September should see some surfperch inshore, both barred and calico, using worms or shrimp as bait. Walleye surfperch should be caught under the pier, mid-pier to the end, using small hooks or a Sabiki baited with pieces of worms or other bait. White croaker should be on the bottom (cast out from the pier using pieces of worm, anchovy or strips of squid). Jacksmelt, and sometimes mackerel or sardine, should be in the top-waters all along the pier and most people use Sabikis for the pelagics. Nighttime during the summer can mean excellent sharay action, everything from schooling dogfish, to swell sharks, horn sharks, soupfins, and even 7-gills not discounting the large bat rays. However, that action may be slowing. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to either Ocean Boulevard, which is the main street and will take you past the pier, or take the Cayucos Drive exit which will take you straight to the pier.
San Simeon Pier — Expect the usual, a variety of perch inshore (I’ve caught nine different varieties) while mid-pier to the end may see some pelagic action on top—mainly jacksmelt but sometimes large schools of mackerel and/or sardines, or both. How To Get There: Highway 1 to the entrance to the park.
Monterey-Santa Cruz-San Mateo County Piers
Monterey Coast Guard Pier — No report although the usual mix of small rockfish, perch, cabezon and even a possible lingcod should be available. How To Get There: From Hwy 1 going north: Take the Aguajito Road exit, turn left at the first traffic signal intersection, which is Aguajito Road, and continue under Highway 1 and cross Fremont Street. At the next traffic signal intersection, which is Del Monte Avenue, turn left. Continue down Del Monte Avenue and under the tunnel where the street turns into Lighthouse Avenue. Get into the right-hand lane. As the street veers to the right it turns into Foam Street. Continue on Foam Street to the first right and turn into the parking lot. From Hwy 1 going south: Take the Del Monte Avenue exit, continue down Del Monte Avenue for several blocks and go under the tunnel where the street turns into Lighthouse Avenue. Get into the right-hand lane. As the street veers to the right it turns into Foam Street. Continue on Foam Street to the first right and turn into the parking lot.
Monterey Wharf #2 — No reports and hard to predict. The pier is usually very good or very bad depending upon the availability of the pelagic species, i.e., Pacific mackerel, so it’s kind of a crap shoot. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the central Monterey exit and follow Del Monte Avenue to Figueroa Street, turn right and follow to the wharf.
Seacliff State Beach Pier — No report; still closed? How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the State Park Drive exit; follow the road west to the park entrance.
Capitola Wharf — Ashley at the Capitola Boat & Bait, on the pier, said good numbers of anchovies and mackerel are being caught from the wharf. Several halibut showed up in weeks past but none this week; however, one large striped bass did fall to an angler. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take the Bay Avenue exit west until it hits Capitola Avenue where you turn right; stay on this to Cliff Drive, turn right and park wherever you can find a spot.
Santa Cruz Wharf — Mady at the Santa Cruz Boat Rental & Bait, on the wharf, said about the only thing hitting are anchovies, a lot, and a few mackerel. Most of the other fish, i.e., halibut, have slowed. How to Get There: Ocean Street south from Highway 1; when you get to Laurel Street turn right and follow it to Pacific Street, turn left and follow Pacific to the wharf.
Johnson Pier (Pillar Point Harbor) — I fished the pier for one mid-day hour on the 25TH of the month. Fishing was slow yielding up two white seaperch and one bullhead (staghorn sculpin). How To Get There: From Highway 1 simply take the Pillar Point Harbor turnoff and follow the road down to the main parking lot.
Pillar Point Pier (Pillar Point Harbor)— I fished the pier for one mid-day hour on the 25TH of the month. Fishing was slow, one grass rockfish, one blackperch, one shinerperch and six bullheads (staghorn sculpin). The million or maybe billion fruit flies made it impossible to stay for more than an hour. How To Get There: From Highway 1 simply take the Pillar Point Harbor turnoff and follow the road down to the main parking lot. This pier is to the far right of the parking lot
Pacifica Pier — I visited the pier on the 26th and the pier was filled as usual. Anglers had a ton of jacksmelt (virtually everyone was catching them) along with smaller numbers of small perch. A few crabbers showed some rock crabs but there weren’t any of the larger fish—striped bass or salmon (although there were at least 50 salmon boats offshore). Liu at Coastside #2 Bait & Tackle, said the fishing had been fairly slow. How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Pacifica, take the Paloma Avenue-Francisco Boulevard exit, take Paloma west to Beach Road, turn left and proceed a short way until you see markers indicating the way to Fort Point, turn left on Long Avenue and it will take you down to the pier.