November 2016 archives

Thomas Orozco

It’s always a pleasure to see youngsters at our PFIC (Pier Fishing In California) and UPSAC (United Pier and Shore Anglers of California) events—fishing derbies and classes. What’s especially interesting is to watch some of these youngsters grow up right before our eyes. One such young man is Thomas Orozco who probably attended more of [...]

Dumbarton Pier

            The pier sits adjacent to and almost under the Dumbarton Bridge This pier in Newark was a virtual copy of the Ravenswood Pier, its sister pier to the west.  However, it is still open while the Ravenswood Pier is history. The similarity was to be expected since this pier, for the most part, is [...]

Ravenswood Pier — Gone But Not Forgotten

The Ravenswood Pier — 1991 Sometimes it’s hard to fight for a pier when you hear ongoing, almost non-stop stories of people (anglers and non-anglers alike) vandalizing and committing a variety of crimes at the pier. Eventually the poor behavior and crimes seen at this pier helped define the pier itself and would lead to [...]

San Mateo Pier aka the Werder Pier — Gone But Not Forgotten

 The pier and the nearby San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in 1991 There was a time when this was “the treasure chest” among the piers located in south San Francisco Bay. It was perhaps the best pier from which to catch sharks in the entire bay (including large seven gill sharks) and the best place for a [...]

Croakers in Oceanside

A nice spotfin croaker taken by “Charley” in 2016 The croaker family—yellowfin croaker, spotfin croaker, white croaker, black croaker, corbinia, queenfish (aka herring), white seabass and shortfin corvina are among the most important fish for SoCal pier anglers. The small queenfish and white croaker annually rank among the largest number of fish caught from piers [...]