San Francisco Municipal Pier aka “The Muni”

Posted by cchiou

I think someone else on this board posted a novel idea a couple weeks back: panty hose. It’s meshy so it allows scents/liquids to flow freely, light, and if you use a few layers its pretty strong. Carl

 Posted by oljo

Some time back I clipped an article by a charter boat skipper out of Saltwater Sportsman Mag. His surefire chum rig is made from 35 mm film containers. Drill a bunch of ¼” holes thru the barrel part, and one thru the top and bottom. Run the sinker end of the leader thru the lid and bottom then attach the sinker. The lid pops off; fill with your favorite chopped bait, Snap on the lid and you are ready to go with a real compact and neat chum system. Also, you can use a little less weight on the sinker. (I made up about a dozen of these. I haven’t been out to try them out yet, but I can’t believe they would be any less than that skipper claims them to be). Good Luck

Posted by Songslinger

Chum’s the word. This has been a fascinating thread. As someone who fishes for perch often, I have been intrigued and edified by the discussions. I don’t often chum, but when I do (on piers) I just use my wire fish basket, the same one I have on hand to keep my fish alive so I can decide whether to keep or release them. I’ll just take the mussel halves and throw them in the basket, lower it down, and fish. Seems to work okay, and I like to think I’m providing a free meal for my “prisoners” as well.

Posted by harukan

A question regarding perch and tide. I keep reading/hearing that the best time to fish is the two hours before, during, and after high tide, yet Scooterfish, et al., had their run of fish a good three hours AFTER high tide (which was around 8:20 a.m. on the 20th). So does tide really matter that much? Or is just that your chances of catching fish are SLIGHTLY better at high tide than at other times? From what I’ve personally observed, it seems that the fish bite when they damn well please, and the tide doesn’t have all that much to do with it.

 Posted by Songslinger

All saltwater species are tidal dependent. There is a difference between fish that are just biting and fish that are feeding. It is true that you can catch fish during different periods of the tide, but that’s more than likely because you and they were at the same place at the same time (always important—and I never scorn good fortune!). However, it is also true that your chances of catching fish are better when the fish are feeding—and this is where the tide is crucial. For perch, there are two periods of the tide when the fishing is the best: the change of the tide at the top or bottom. I prefer the very beginning of the tide for ocean perch, and the two-hour window (the last hour of the incoming through the first hour of the outgoing) at the top for bay perch. Of course, I can catch them during other parts of the tide, but these parameters have always worked best. Remember, Scooterfish didn’t start out at Muni but wound up there later on. My feeling is that he would have done even better during the peak tide cycle.

Date: February 14, 2001; To: PFIC Message Board; From: Scooterfish; Subject: Muni Pier

Fished today for a little over two hours at Muni. Used fresh live pile worms on size 8 hooks on hi/lo setup. Caught a bunch of smallish striped perch, all released. Met Songslinger out there, he had a couple of decent perch in the bag already… Weather was pleasant, company was great… Great to finally meet you ‘Slinger… Hope to see you out there again! Scooterfish

Posted by Songslinger

Modesty all aside for Scooterfish, the man put on a clinic on how to fish the bay rocks. If you see him at Muni, watch closely and learn. Few people know how to work the shore this well, when to wait and when to reel in.

As for me, well… first time there in at least a decade. Because it’s important to pay dues and/or homage, I donated tackle and frightened fish for the first two unwholesome hours, working up and down the pier. I caught a white perch and didn’t pursue any possible schools because I didn’t have ultra light tackle; white perch aren’t much on line over 8#, in my view. Then I found Scooterfish’s spot and caught a nice pile perch, which I mistakenly identified as a rubberlip. Foolish me, but it’s been that long since I caught a pile perch in that range. Another normal sized pile perch followed and was placed in the wire basket—and somehow escaped within ten minutes. Then it was a bunch of small buffalo sclupins, bullheads and cabezons before Scooterfish showed up and showed me how it’s done. I got two striped perch, which I kept to go along with the pile perch for tomorrow’s dinner, and also some more small sculpin types. And Scooterfish just kept bagging striped perch after striped perch. If he wasn’t such a nice guy I would hate his guts! But all in all a nice day on the SF side, something I haven’t done for at least six months.

Posted by harukan

Hey, Scooterfish, care to share your secrets? If Songslinger’s that impressed, you’ve surely got some good pointers to offer. Mind telling us some of them?

Posted by Scooterfish

I keep expecting to run into you one of these days at Muni… Maybe we should meet up there some afternoon and catch a couple of fish? I’ve found that Muni isn’t that bad if you don’t focus all of your time ON the pier… do you have a license? If so, there is some good fishing to be had for sure. Regardless, there are fish to be caught from the pier and where are these 600 sea lions you keep talkin’ about? I’ve only seen a few, and in my opinion, they only screw with the crab nets this time of year. There ARE fish in there… Scooterfish

Posted by harukan

Yes, it seems that the fishing at Muni IS somewhat better now than it was this summer. As for the 600 sea-lions, that’s how many there supposedly are in the colony at Pier 39, according to an article I read about the “World-Famous Sea-Lions at Pier 39!” (exclamation mark in original). Also, male sea-lions migrate in the winter, starting in September or so, so there are probably somewhat fewer lions in the area now.

Posted by harukan

Sometimes ya see ‘em… sometimes ya don’t. I was looking at Pier 39’s web site and they have a live web cam, with a blurb that says something to the effect of, “Here’s a stunning view of beautiful San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background and Pier 39’s WORLD FAMOUS SEA LIONS in the foreground!” Well, on that particular day, the background, bridge and all, was entirely concealed by fog or rain, and there wasn’t ONE single sea-lion to be seen. TOO funny.

Posted by Scooterfish

Awww. I’m flattered. Thanks for the kind words Slinger! To be honest, I really don’t know if there’s much to it except for just paying a lot of attention to detail (where rocks are, keeping a mental database of places I’ve snagged repeatedly, where the deeper holes and kelp strands are located). “Feeling” the bottom with your setup is important also (lighter tackle advantageous here). I’ve been fishing that particular area heavily for a couple of months, and you really start to get a feel for what the fish *might* be doing under there… kind of like the “think like a fish” mentality. I also think that it is incredible valuable to visit a spot like this a few times at an extreme minus tide to get the maximum read on what structure is lurking out there. I’ll be out there this afternoon from 2pm until 7pm or so plunking pile worms… Same perch time, same perch place…. Scooterfish

Posted by stinkyfingers

If I didn’t have to work…I’d be there with you, man. I’ve wanted to come out there since back in fall, remember when we were gong to try and hookup for some sharkin’? I’ve yet to catch a single perch. Just haven’t tried it yet! Well, maybe one of these weekends…

Date: January 19, 2004; To: PFIC Message Board; From: RaidersFan1; Subject: Is Muni Pier legal for crabbing?

Posted by Tchli_88

If you’re talking about SF, I think its legal for… rock and reds but no Dungees.

Posted by RaidersFan1

Yes, for San Francisco… I took a stroll out there with my nephew the other day and we saw lots of people dropping both snares and hoop nets down. I asked one guy off in the corner what kind of crabs he was going for, his reply was ‘anything that has meat on it’ when I mentioned Dungy he said ‘if it goes in the net it’s a catch.’ I wasn’t sure about the legality of Dungy crabbing since the pier is just inside of the Bridge, so I thought I’d check with the board before drawing my own conclusions as to the legality of possible poaching. Thank you, Tchli, Mike, RaidersFan1

Posted by ron

I believe it’s ILLEGAL to keep… a Dungie caught within the SF bay area during this time. This applies to any pier within the boundaries of the bay. The guy was lucky that a warden wasn’t around ‘cause the fine for one Dungie would’ve been steep! Red and Rock crabs would’ve been good to keep as long as they are past legal size.

Posted by lucy

There’s a sign right at the entrance to the damn pier that says what crabs are legal to keep. Obviously the jerk never looked at it. These idiots come in two flavors: those who don’t know what the law is because they don’t care enough to find out, and those who do know what the law is but don’t care because they think it shouldn’t apply to THEM. Both flavors of idiot would make good shark food.

Posted by gyozadude

That’s the Lucy I remember. Long time no hear M’Lady. Are you still alive? The board hasn’t been graced by your likes in a long time.

Posted by Ken Jones

Yes, Dungeness are illegal in the bay… and the Bridge is the basically the boundary line for piers. So, at Fort Point Pier, Fort Baker Pier, and the SF Muni Pier, people can keep red and rock crabs but no Dungeness crabs.

Potpourri — Possibly More Than You Want To Know About The Muni Pier

<*}}}}}}}}}>< — There are a lot of sea lions in these waters and it pays to keep an eye on them. The following story comes from Gyozadude (real name James Liu), one of the most honored  “pier rats” on the Pier Fishing in California Message before his passing. (It’s in GDude’s autobiography on the PFIC site). Most Memorable Pier Fishing Trips (and Why): Muni Pier, early spring 1999. Tagged along with my mother-in-law and some co-workers to Muni Pier. Rumor had it that people were catching rock crabs using crab nets and a piece of chicken wire-tied to the center of the net. Weather was cold and bleak and I was freezing. I brought a couple of poles and caught some small perch off bits of shrimp. Lost a lot of bait to unseen thieves below. Back near the entrance to the pier, the rag tag crabbing crew were watching over their two nets… a bunch of ladies who’d be better off playing Mahjonghh than crabbing. Then screams. Both nets and the long ropes had been dragged into the water. In the distance, some sea lions surfaced with pieces of chicken still in their mouths.”

<*}}}}}}}}}>< — As mentioned above, a wide variety of species have been caught at the pier. One day I had an interesting conversation with Kirk Lombard who, at the time of our talk, was doing fish surveys for the Fish and Game Department. He mentioned that during one visit to the pier (around 2004) he saw a strange fish in a bucket of an angler.

Kirk and his California record monkeyface eel

Unable to identify the fish, Kirk asked if he could take it over to the Steinhart Aquarium for identification. Sure, no problem. There it was identified as a Stripefin Ronquil, Rathbunella hypoplecta. In a later conversation, Dr. Iwamota (the head of icthyology at the aquarium) informed Kirk that it was the first stripefin ronquil donated to the academy since 1963. And where was that one taken? At that same SF Muni Pier! In 2007 Kirk spotted a bucket at the pier containing more of the ronquils. Sounds to me like we’ve found their secret hiding place! Kirk’s response: “Strange to think there may be a community of those odd little buggers living down there, or perhaps just migrating through.  Either way it’s kinda cool.”