James (GDude) and a nice bonito  from the Mole

Posted by Mahigeer — Date: April 30, 2009 — The following report is about the trip, rather than the fish count. The trip preparation for me actually started a month before the event. I usually get all of my fishing gear out and go through them. Then I decide what to take and what to leave. I had to get goodie bags from Marty Golden at NOAA, and get prizes from Bass Pro Shops etc. etc. Then over-pack as usual. This time I had to build a new cart as well, which worked fairly well. It needs some reinforcing for the next year.

Wednesday April 22nd — Pre-trip —I had my roommate to be, Santa, drop his gear at my house so we could pack the car. This way we were able to leave early on Thursday morning. He also helped me rebuild my Penn reel. After sharing a light supper with Santa, and the Jones’s it was on to bed for an early rise and departure on Thursday.

Thursday 23rd — The Trip — We (Santa and I) stopped at the Paul’s Bait and Tackle in San Pedro to pick up bait. They gave us $ 240.00 worth of bait free.

Next it was on to the Catalina Express Terminal where we found the Skipper and his wife Pat along with Rita and Kyle. Catalina was having a special “flying fish” season so I took a picture of everyone wearing their flying fish hats.

Mike (Santa)

We went to the line to get on the boat. I was first in line, and Santa saw the attendee, giving a dirty look to my “four wheel” cart. To his amazement I pulled a couple of pins out and it  met the requirement for a “two wheel” cart. On the way down the ramp to get on the boat, I did not see a protrusion, and the top heavy cart went flying. Fortunately Santa and Skipper helped me to upright the cart and Mrs. Jones took my clothing bag thus, reducing my load. We got on the boat and stored our gear at the stern of the boat. There was a clothing bag on top of this cart before the incident. I was proud of my cart and wondering if I looked liked a professional “pier rat”, but I was told by some visiting Floridians that I look like a homeless person with all of his possessions in tow!!

I was relaxed and happy to be on board. I decided to take a look at the dock to see what was going on. I suddenly see my jacket and the rod holder tubes still on the dock. When the cart went over, I had put them down to work on the cart. Then I forgot to take them. Fortunately the Captain was right there and he allowed me to go get my jacket and rods.

Derby Pics #1

Cabrillo Mole

The ride to the island was smooth for the most part. I took a pill and put on my wrist bands. This helped me recover, with no sea sickness. Upon arriving at the island, we decided to go to the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP). They had moved the floating dock and the ramp to one side, so there was plenty of railing space to fish from. One problem though, the entire back area was closed due to the construction going on. It happened that the man in charge was a “ham vatan” countryman in Farsi. Whether because I made friends with him or Skipper talking to him or to the Harbor Patrol, they provided us with a place to fish from for the duration of the weekend. Good thing, otherwise the Skipper would have been unbearable to be with. He looooves that pier.

The hotel was nice enough to let us check in early and after unpacking and a quick lunch, Skipper, Rita, and Kyle, went to the GPP. Santa and I went to check the Descanso Beach, for a possible surffishing site.

Derby Pics #2

SteveO and a barracuda

Rita with a bonito

Giant Kelpfish

After we returned to the hotel, I went to the GPP, and Santa went to the Casino jetty. Kyle got some good-size opaleye and sheephead, Skipper got his usual variety, and I got some short bass and medium-size opaleye.

We decided to meet later at Antonio’s with Gordo and Baitfish and family. I was the only one left at the pier when I saw the party of Gordo, and his guests arrive at the island. I used my small binoculars, and tried to wave at them. They waved back, but I am not sure if Gordo was waving one or five fingers!! After a nice dinner and conversation, everyone but me went to bed. I walked around with a powerful flashlight in hopes of seeing some thing, like a lobster, or flying fish.

Derby Pics #4

Eugene with a kelp (calico) bass

Rebecca (Roosterqueen( with an opaleye

Friday 24th — Pre-event —I wanted to meet Adam at the Mole around 5:30 AM, but did not set the alarm correct. Around 6:20, while I am washing up, my cell phone goes off and there is a picture send by Adam holding a 2-1/2 lb. bonito, and smiling. As though he is saying “see what you are missing by sleeping.” By the time I got to the Mole he had caught and released four bonito. We fished till it was time to meet others at the Jack’s for breakfast.

After breakfast, I had to take care of some organizing business and did not get to the Mole till afternoon. People started to show up and we fished the Mole. In the afternoon, some of the gang went to see the famous Tuna Club. I fished till it was time to clean up for the dinner at the Mia Casita’s. After dinner I again went for a walk at the GPP, where I saw Minnow magnet getting fish after fish.

Derby Pics #5

Scott and Steve waiting for bonito

Adam (Baitfish)  with a sheephead

Hashem (Mahigeer) with a bonito

Saturday 25th — the main event —I was at the Mole around 6:00 am, having set and worn my wristwatch, and having my cell phone next to my pillow in bed. The first bonito of this trip was landed around 6:30 or so. This time Adam was sleeping late. I fished till 9:00 am, at which time I went to the hotel to get all the necessary items for the “main event” By this time more and more people were arriving and setting up at the Mole.

After the derby, lunch, raffle, and distribution of the trophies, we took a group picture and then everybody went back to fishing or packed up to go home. It was dark when we left the Mole to clean up at the hotel and meet for one more dinner at the Antonio’s.

This time it was Baitfish and Rosterqueen, Santa, Gordo, SoCalNewb, and yours truly. We had a nice dinner and lots of laughs. After dinner I went for my after dinner walk, and checked the GPP. While there, Steve-O hooked in to something big. He will report on that I am sure.

Derby Pics #6

Mike (Santa)

Friends—Rita, Ross and Kyle

Adam (Baitfish) and James (GDude)

Day 4, Sunday 26th — The Saddest part of the trip! — After another breakfast at Jack’s we said good–by to each other, and went back to the hotel to pack and check out. Santa and I were on the 6:00 pm boat, so we went to the Mole, where we met Scooterfish and Steve-O. They were in their usual form of slaying bonito after bonito. We fished and had tourist fish with our gear, re-organized our stuff and cooler full of fish, etc. At one point while Santa was removing hook from a bonito, Scott, Steve, and I had a triple hook up on bonito.

The ride home was smooth as silk with no problems except the weight of the cart. We arrived at the Long Beach Terminal to find my wife waiting patiently for us. As with all good things in life, this event had to have an end. That is the sad part. Now I/we start to count the days to the next one.

Derby Pics #7

Jimbojack with a sheephead

James (GDude) with a bonito — background support Eugene and Adam

Barracuda

Here are some side notes: I mainly bought the “wave cast” reel for this trip. It did not disappoint me. I even had veteran casters such as baitfish and Scooterfish, cast some with it. They seemed to like it too. It is not the ultimate reel by any chance, but it will do for me. While cleaning the bonito at my house, two of them had hooks in their throats. The 1/0 hooks are still in pretty good shape, with no sign of rust.

In Conclusion, I would like to thank Scott, Adam and Rebecca for coming such a long way to fish and visit with us. Thank you Gdude and family for the food, and the prizes donated. Thank you Gordo for collecting donation instead of fishing, and putting up with my singing! Thank you everyone who endured long drives and perhaps some monetary hardship to come join us and making this one of the best gatherings yet. Thank you to all who attended from far and near. Without your participation it would have been just a fishing trip, rather than a Gathering.

Derby Pics #8

Rita with an ocean whitefish

Bonito

Cole with smallest fish award (sheephead)

Posted by Scooterfish — Date: April 30, 2009

Another Catalina event comes and goes! As I expected, this was another spectacular year for fishing and for catching up with friends. This report contains no pictures because I was too busy fishing to take many… I will post the pics I did take later once I have processed them. Steve-O is having trouble logging on the board for some reason, so his pics will come later (including a couple of a real monster!)

I left my house Friday morning at 5:00am CST, and arrived at Long Beach Airport at 12:55 PST. Steve-O was waiting for me after flying down from San Jose, and we grabbed our shuttle to Long Beach Downtown Terminal for the Cat Express. Upon arrival we noticed a fellow fisherman already waiting, which turned out to be SoCalNewb and his lady friend. Took our seats up in the Commodore Lounge, had a beer or two, and before we knew it we had pulled into the harbor at Avalon.

Derby Pics #9

Adam with a bonito  

Cole with an opaleye

Barracuda

Upon disembarking, the usual suspects were fishing the Mole… Quite a few Bonito had been caught just before we arrived, so we high-tailed it to the room, checked in, loaded Bonito gear and headed back to the Mole. Fished for a couple of hours for nothing but jumbo mackerel before it was time to return to the room and then head over to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. Dinner was good, drank Raki in moderation washed down with a few beers, and then back to the hotel.

Rigged up a pole with a Big Hammer and headed for the GPP for some nighttime Calico action. I managed a couple of legals and several dinks on artificials before calling it a night.

Following morning (Saturday) I woke up at 4:45, loaded up and headed for the Mole to secure my favorite spot for the derby. Caught two nice bonito before the derby started at 10:30. Once the derby started, I got focused and really hammered the fish!! Most of the bonito were nice sized, with an occasional 5-6lb’r mixed in. Fish number 5 was a killer for me Sad I have fought and landed lots of fish on my G-Loomis, and this one was no different. I usually land these fish by reeling down until my rod is pointing straight down at the fish, then I pendulum swing the fish onto the Mole. This was a slightly larger than average bonito and I did my standard swing landing with very little load on the rod (mostly on the line) but when I reached the apex, the top half of my rod just snapped loudly in two! I was bummed for a minute, but since it was the middle of the derby, I went to my backup rod (8.5’ G-dude special) immediately and kept catching fish. I landed 11 bonito during the derby, officially counting 10 towards my score. (One fish that was caught near the end of the derby was returned to the water before I could find someone to record it.) The Loomis will cost $50 to replace with the lifetime warranty.

Scott and a bonito

After the derby and raffle concluded, we headed back to the hotel for some R&R. Napped for a couple of hours, grabbed some dinner at Antonio’s, then grabbed our heavier gear and headed for the GPP to soak some bait. Using whole fresh squid we landed a couple of 10-12lb horn sharks, which is something like fighting a wet blanket… Pretty boring fish to catch, although cool to look at! We jigged up some nice 8” Jack Mackerel and threw them in as live bait. I was first hit, on my Ugly 7’ Tiger with a Penn 965 spooled with 50lb PowerPro and a 50lb mono leader. The fish took two long smoking runs against max drag before breaking off the 50lb leader halfway up. Steve-O was up next on a Jack Mackerel he had just tossed out. Steve was rigged with a 10ft MedHvy Ugly Stik with a Shimano BR6500 loaded with 65lb braid. The fish took the bait slow, Steve set the hook, and the fish headed seaward at a steady rate. 5 minutes later and nearly spooled, Steve got the fish turned around, it came in very slowly, lots of pump and grind kept it moving in. Halfway back to the GPP, the fish broke off the 65lb mainline. Whatever it was, it was huge! We had a couple of small hits after that, before calling it quits and getting some much needed sleep at 1:30am.

Fish On! — SteveO and a big one on the line

Sunday was a mellow day… we fished the Mole all day, picking off bonito at a steady pace, with the occasional mega-mackerel thrown in. We were the only fishermen out there most of the day. Capped off the day with another dinner at Antonio’s and decided to save ourselves for Monday’s fishing.

SteveO with a nice-sized bonito

Monday we slept in a little, but still hit the Mole by around 8:00am. Bonito were sporadic early but still present in good size and numbers. Early afternoon was epic! At some point, seemingly out of nowhere, the entire Lover’s Cove area lit up with a huge school of giant mackerel chasing smaller bait up against the beaches, and all of the associated Seagulls and Pelicans taking advantage of the situation. I wish I had my camera with me at the time, as it was incredible to watch. This continued for quite some time before the macs headed offshore a bit and the birds followed. We caught more jumbo macs (16-19”) than we could count, with quite a few bonito mixed into the bunch.

Scott with a kelp (calico) bass

We also met a fisherman named Harold at the Mole Monday afternoon. He was on the island for a fishing day trip. This guy knew his stuff from top to bottom, and was an expert at fishing the Mole. He limited on big Opaleye, and caught two Calicos that were at least 4.5-5lbs (with a couple of other nice ones for a limit of Calico). He also had a heavy lever drag rig that was loaded with 150-lb braid. He threw a big 9” smelt on as live bait and threw it just past the kelp. 10 minutes later the smelt was picked up and the clicker started a slow deliberate crawl. Harold waited patiently for about 12 seconds before setting the hook hard on the fish. He was instantly pinned to the Mole railing by the fish surging out to sea!! After a very long, dogged battle though the kelp, this MONSTER ray appears… in the water it looked bigger than it was, but we taped it at 58” or 59” wide with a massive head and body… Steve-O has the pics, which will be put up later… I had never personally seen one this big, and certainly had never seen anything that size landed through kelp like that!! The two huge calicos were also very impressive fish!

Nice bat ray from the Mole

We fished Monday to the point of exhaustion, and headed back to the hotel. We stopped by the GPP and found it was closed off at the end again, so our plan for night fishing there was cancelled, and we decided on a good night’s sleep instead after a final dinner at Antonio’s.

Woke up, finished packing and checked out for our 8:00am departure. Arrived at the Mole and realized we had no time left to fish, so we snapped a couple of pics and jumped on the ferry home. 28 hours 4 shuttles and 4 flights later I arrived on my front doorstep… Long story short we had mechanical failure in Phoenix that kept us on the runway for 1.5 hours, causing me to miss my connection in Denver, resulting in a free hotel room in Aurora, Colorado, followed by two more flights (Denver–>Charlotte, Charlotte–>New Orleans), My luggage came in on the wrong airline so I had to go through hell to find and claim it…. Woo Hoo!! I was so exhausted when I got home yesterday, but I promised my wife I would take all the baby feedings, so STILL no sleep for me, and I’m back at work already….

The trip was awesome as usual… Great to see and catch up with all of you! I look forward to next year’s event. Thanks to all that helped organize, prepare food, prizes, etc… Now just counting the days until next year! Scooterfish

Derby Pics #10 — The Food

Posted by minnowmagnent — Date: April 30, 2009

My dad and I drove down Friday and arrived at the ferry terminal at about 5:00pm. I fished a while around the ferry terminal with jigs and missed two hits and saw a guy catch some undersized sand bass. We got on the ferry at 7:00pm and arrived at the island just after 8:00pm. To my surprise there were still many garibaldi under the docks. We stopped at the hotel and my dad went to bed and I came out to the Pleasure Pier at about 8:45 pm. I started catching calicos one after another using jigs as soon as I got there. within the first 45 minutes I caught at least 10-15 with two about 12″ and one at 14.” After that the calico bite slowed down a bit and a few others joined me. I ended up catching a total of 27 calicos and a scorpionfish. I also saw some big fish that started surfacing just after midnight. I stared getting these soft hits on my big rod and then around 1:30 am I finally hooked one, I took off running and I could feel head shakes. It was not a bat ray, it jumped a couple times a couple hundred yards out then broke off. I ended up leaving around 2:00.

I got up around 6:00am on Saturday and was at the Mole by 6:45 am. I set up on the corner and started catching calicos and small opaleye on peas, then around 8:00 the wind picked up and I moved down to another spot. There I started catching lots of fish on peas including opaleye, calicos, smelt, sheephead, mackerel, halfmoon, blacksmith and wrasse.

Minnow Magnet with a nice–sized opaleye

After the derby started I continued my method of fishing for opaleye with peas and caught a few opaleye in the derby along with many other fish all caught free-lining a single pea with 4-lb fluorocarbon. That method came through for me and I ended up getting second place overall and the award for the most fish. I moved back to the corner and continued catching macks and opaleye. Then I caught a nice garibaldi about a pound on free-line ghost shrimp.  A little while later I caught a nice opaleye about 2lbs.

Minnow Magnet with a garibaldi

I caught a few more fish before we caught are ferry at 7:30pm. We ended up driving all night to get to the Sierras to fish for trout. We stopped a few times and got to our first spot around 7:00am. We fished all day and I ended up; spending a lot of time stalking some suckerfish that were very difficult to catch. I ended up catching five of them up two about 2-lbs and eight trout all around 2-lbs. The suckerfish fought real hard and I could not get the to hit on 6-lb line and had to change to 4-lb fluorocarbon, they fought like carp and jumped when hooked.

Posted by santa — Date: April 28, 2009

FIRST Catalina Get Together, FIRST time fishing on island, many new FIRST time species caught, and the best FIRST was meeting many new friends/anglers, (as well as renewing ties to dear friends).

Some visiting Aussies!  

Highlight of my trip was having a dad and three young daughters work together and reel in a decent Bonito (near right knee of girl in middle of pic). I had just hooked off the Mole. They were visiting from Australia and were watching us fish while waiting for boat to mainland, gave him my UPSAC business card and told him to E-me and I’d send them a pic. Great food, great friends, great time. Kudos to Hashem for all his hard work in setting up and coordinating the overall event. Thanks to all the folks who, worked, donated time/food/prizes/money, made suggestions, shared a meal/drink/laugh/conversation, and just being there. Whew! Still unwinding from trip. Talk about your getting back to the REAL WORLD shock.

Mike (Santa) and a bonito

Mike (Santa) with an opaleye

Posted by SoCalNewb — Date: April 27, 2009

Alright, so my report: I played hooky from work so my girlfriend and I could catch the 2 pm ferry from Long Beach on Friday. While waiting I spotted the only other two people carrying rod cases, with a suspicion they were pier rats. Once we got in line, my suspicions were confirmed, and I met scooterfish and steve-o for the first time.

After a couple rum and cokes, (sorry, I’m bad with time…) the ferry reached the Mole. As tempting as it was to just start fishing, I decided to check in first (I didn’t want to have to unpack all my gear out on the pier) before heading down to Vons for some frozen shrimp and peas before going to check out the fishing. I’m guessing by then it was sometime around 5.. I settled into a spot near the corner where scooterfish and steve-o had set up casting for bonito and met Mahigeer who wasn’t too far away, and soon after met Gordo and Santa, and later Mr. Ken Jones himself. I met a few more forum members that night, but at the moment I can’t recall who I met on Friday and who I met at the derby. (hint: too many margaritas that night) but I’m pretty sure I met everyone there before it was over.

Derby Pics #11 — The Raffle

Ross (GordoGrande)  aka “Raffle Master”

The water quality was incredible — my photos can’t do it justice. There was only a mild swell and so I decided to set up a high-low and drop straight down between the pilings. My bait was stripped many times until I figured out just the right size to cut it for it not to be stripped — the peas were just hit or miss. My first catch was a seniorita — unfortunately it had somehow been foul hooked deeply through the side… Not a nice way to start the trip. A few minutes later I picked up a decent-sized (about 6 inches) blacksmith perch, followed by another seniorita and a nice sized garibaldi (6-7 inches, but fat.), which was promptly returned to the water. I was using an 8′ ugly stick 8-20-lb. for those hookups, with spinning reel outfitted with 20-lb. braid, and 8-lb.-15-lb. leader, varying between high-low and single surgeons loop.

My bait continued to be stripped for some time before I hooked up with another garibaldi — again it was promptly returned. For a change, I was busy spending more time talking with the people around me than paying attention to my rod, and so I lost a few hook ups after. I decided to switch to my Sabiki rig while the others were getting their gear packed up to get ready for the dinner. I was using a 20 dollar 5′ Ugly Stik kit with 6-lb braid, and a size 12 circle hook Sabiki. Jigging produced nothing, so I switched to a 1 oz weight and tried my luck casting. Immediately I began to hook up with small jack mackerel and a few good-sized Pacific mackerel, keeping a handful of them for bait. Once it got dark, I packed it up to go to dinner myself.

Derby Pics #12 — The raffle

Hashem (Mahigeer) wins a  prize

SoCalNewb wins the “Grand Prize” — GDude hand wrapped Rod and a Reel

I came down to the mole later, with some glow sticks and bait hoping to hit some more mackerel, but, no takers for two hours before I gave up and went back to my room at the Hermosa Hotel.

Saturday morning I hit the Mole a couple hours before the derby was to begin, and took up the same spot near the bait board between where Hashem had taken up residence, and the corner that Scott and Steve-O were sharing… which happened to end up directly in front of the lunch/raffle table.

My luck before the derby was just decent — a couple jack mackerel, my first calico, a little 4-5 inch thing, and a garibaldi. During the derby I didn’t do much better — a seniorita, a jack mackerel, and another, smaller calico if I remember right. Scooterfish and Steve-O were slaying the Bonito, and I spent more time just enjoying watching their battles over paying attention to my own line, making for some good photos. I remember seeing a massive sheephead pulled up, and a nice barracuda being landed, and watching G-Dude wrestle in some nice bonito of his own. Some kid and his dad were trolling in a boat, and everyone enjoyed the show as a kid landed a 32-inch or so barracuda out in the area where the bonito were being caught from.

Derby Pics #13 — Awards

Jimbojack

Rita

Robert

Lunch was great, and Gyozadude’s potstickers were incredibly good. After the derby, the winners received their trophies, and a few goody bags were handed out. I won a few small prizes at the raffle — a couple towel clips, some tackle, some nice lead-free split shot that I later put to good use.. After all the other prizes had been awarded, the big draw came up; most of the numbers pulled had been much higher than mine, and the competition was pretty fierce. it must have just been beginners luck, because the final ticket just barely fell into the low end of my spread… I’ll post a couple close ups of the details on the rod, it’s a piece of art. yet another thanks to G-dude for donating it, and the Daiwa Excel reel he paired it with.

I had gotten pretty sunburned after my girlfriend had borrowed my jacket against the wind (the swells were like a washing machine, snags were unavoidable, though I only lost 6 hooks and 3 sinkers including a “snag free” sinker) so I decided to head back to my room to rest and recover, as well as to safely stow the new rod, despite the temptation to use my spooled light reel on it for the time being. (after watching and hearing Scotts rod break, I had bad visions in my head…) After a late second lunch with my girlfriend, I returned to the mole for some late afternoon fishing with Scott, Steve-O, Hashem, and Ross, and got to chatting with Adam and Rebecca. Towards sunset as everyone began to pack up, I decided to toy around with my cheapo 5′ rod again, and sure enough began picking up mackerel. I had decided because of the time I was only going to cast as long as they were biting, or until I caught a dozen… that only took me 7 casts, and so I managed to catch up with everyone else on the way back to the hotel.

My girlfriend had received some tough news regarding a family emergency and wanted some alone time so I tagged along to dinner at Antonio’s with Hashem, Ross, Mike, Adam and Rebecca, for some good food and better conversations. The dinner was a blast, and lasted til long after they had stopped seating customers.

Derby Pics #14 — Awards

Minnow Magnet and Kyle

Adam (Baitfish)

Award Winners

I decided to call it a night and rest my back and legs rather than night fishing  and on the way back Hashem received a text regarding horn sharks at the Green Pleasure Pier if I recall correctly, which tempted me, but with my sunburn sleep beckoned.

I woke up early, and went down to the Green Pleasure Pier Sunday morning around 6:30 to get some photos, where I found Mr. Jones in the corner with his lines out. After getting some photos of the casino and the harbor, I retreated to let him fish in the morning peace. The crowds were still in their hotel rooms, and the bay was still and quiet, perfect for photos and fishing. I made my way out to the Mole to get more photos before returning to my room. My girlfriend and I decided to pack early to get it done with, and so I only left my 5′ rod out, with one of my mini-trays with artificial baits and that Sabiki that had been working wonders.

Leaving our gear in the room, I took the rod with just a 2-inch pumpkin seed grub on a 1/16th oz jig head, and my girlfriend and I walked down to the pier. I tried jigging it a couple times, nothing, so I cast out as far as I could underhand with such a light jig, not far. I let it sink for a couple minutes until I guessed it had reached bottom, and began a slow retrieve. I got a couple nibbles the first couple casts, then nothing. I promise my girlfriend one last cast and of course then I catch my first fish from Green Pleasure Pier, a 7 inch or so calico. After returning to the room to store my gear, we ran into Mr. Jones on the way out and I heard about some bat rays he’d hooked up with that morning.

Derby Pics #15 — Group Pic

United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC) Banner

The 2009 Catalina get Together Pier Rats

My girlfriend wanted some food, but it was still a couple hours before the breakfast the others had invited me to, and so I indulged her, deciding that I would go to the other breakfast at 9 am anyways… I got back to my room around 8, and returned to the Green Pleasure Pier thinking I’d just get a couple casts in. After a couple more small calicos I realized it was already well past 9 and that I’d likely missed the breakfast.

We got our gear and decided to head to the mole, just in time to see Adam, Rebecca and Ross about to get on the ferry before I could exchange any words—unfortunately. I set up beside scooterfish, steve-o, mahigeer and santa and proceeded to get skunked at the Mole while waiting for the ferry. A big thanks to Mike for rigging up a strap for my wide brimmed hat , without it I would have had to retreat to the benches in the shade, rather than being able to enjoy everyone’s great company while waiting for the ferry, even if I did get skunked.

I sure hope I can make it to the get together next year, whatever happens I know the next time I head to Catalina, I’m arming myself with those launcher floats and heavier gear so I can target those Bonito myself!

Posted by gyozadude — Date: April 25. 2009

So much to report, but sooooo Tired … with a capital T. Smile It was a great time to fish with all of you and what fishing it was! Perhaps the best bonito fishing of any year I’ve attended was Scooterfish’s opinion and I have to agree. We really hooked up this year and my arms, back, legs are slow, cramped and burning as proof. More to come as I process the images.

Date: April 25, 2005 —To: PFIC Message Board — From: Ken Jones — Subject: Catalina 2005 — Another Catalina Weekend

Day 1 — Thursday, April 21, 2005 — As for myself, I took off at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning and headed south on I-5. I knew I was cutting it short since I had a reservation on the 10 a.m. boat but thought I could make it. Wrong! Great time until about ten miles from downtown Los Angeles when the traffic stopped. No way around it and when I pulled up at the Queen Mary Landing the boat was just heading out.

The Queen Mary next to the landing for the ferry

Downtown Long Beach across the bay

Missed it by ten minutes and for my efforts got to hang around the landing until 12:30. (Knowing what I now know, I could have gone and gotten some fresh bait but at that point I was just tired from the drive and had a leisurely lunch.)

Arriving at Avalon

Upon arrival at Catalina I checked into the palatial edifice know as The Hermosa Hotel, unpacked the gear, and headed down to one of my favorite piers. By 2:30 I was rigged up and catching fish but soon noticed a paucity of the fish I was seeking. Yes, there were fish there—as evidenced by the quick nibbles and resultant fish. But the numbers of not-a-bass that I was seeking were down. Part of the problem was that I did not have as good of bait as last year (variety) but I truly believed at an early point that the fishing variety itself would be down, at least at the Green Pleasure Pier, and my results over the next four days would unfortunately prove that true.

What was of fairly immediate interest was the appearance of a large black (giant) sea bass that swam into the waters by the pier several times that afternoon. It was only a few feet down in the water and its massive shape was impressive to say the least. We estimated the weight at 100+pounds but it may have weighed twice that much. People disembarking from the glass bottom boat said they had seen it on their cruise; we were able to see it from our perch at the end of the pier. A second creature, 4-5 foot-long, also made an appearance but it was a little deeper in the water and we could not provide a positive identification. It had the triangular shape of an angel shark and if so would have been up around 40-50 pounds in weight. Neither fish was hooked which is probably a good thing.

I was joined by Pierhead himself later that afternoon and was provided with the clear and coherent loquacity that is his mark. We swapped stories and caught fish until dinnertime at which point we retired to an excellent dinner at the Galleon Restaurant.

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 2:30-6:30 p.m. — 32 Kelp Bass, 16 Senorita, 5 Rock Wrasse and 1 Halfmoon

After dinner I decided to give the pier one more chance hoping for a big sculpin (scorpionfish) or a shark on the bottom (several horn sharks have been landed over the years). Alas, results were nill with the exception of a few bass which can always be found hanging under the pier. (Nightime action is always different here since the senorita and rock wrasse bury themselves and take a snooze at night—along with the sheephead.)

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 9:00-10:00 p.m. — 5 Kelp Bass

Day  2 — Friday, April 22, 2005 — I slept a little later than planned this morning but still managed to arrive at the pier by 7:30. The bait was ready but I wasn’t. I needed a cup of Joe so I followed the smell of bacon emanating from the adjacent stand. Caffeine—oh yea!  The bacon was awfully tempting but so was the fishin’ so the lines were soon in the water and the fish came over to say hello. Shortly thereafter I was joined Pierhead and not too long later Gdude showed up.

As the boats began to arrive from the mainland, we were joined by several additional and esteemed pier rats including Jimbojack, Joromaca, Graybeard, GordoGrande and eventually Kyle and Rita.  By then we had figured out which fish were where and what bait was working for each so it was all pretty easy. Unfortunately neither our giant bass nor our mystery fish made an appearance but we were so busy catching fish it didn’t matter.

Collage by GDude (James Liu)

GDude had discovered the attraction of large opaleye (the famous Ray Cannon’s favorite fish) and a school that ranged at times up to fifty fish or so made their tantalizingly presence known. They would head over to a bait, give it a quick look and be on their merry way. Shrimp, peas, bloodworms, squid: nothing worked. Then jimbojack volunteered some moss he had gathered that morning and the opaleye began to pay real attention. At least they made a few hits but were still wary. Finally Gdude switched to two-pound monofilament and he began to get bites. Unfortunately the lines, cables, structures and pilings that make up the end area provided perfect opportunity for the big button-backs to break off. I was finally able to hand line one of Gdude’s nice-sized fish up to the pier but the rest got away. They wouldn’t hit when he switched to four-pound test but were hard to keep out of the pilings with the two pound test. BUT, James had some nice and exciting fights.

Fishing with Graybeard (Harry Goddall)

While Gdude was experimenting on the opaleye the rest of us continued to catch the easier to catch species. It was good to have the opportunity to show Gordo a couple of tricks for catching the bass and it brings to mind an old Latin saying—a bove majori discit arare minor (the older ox teaches the younger how to plow). However remember, in this case there isn’t too much difference is age.  Finally people began to look at their watches and head off to wash up for the 8 p.m. dinner. Since I was approaching a 100-fish day I tried just a few more casts.  Finally hit the mark and retired shortly thereafter.

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. — 77 Kelp Bass, 9 Senorita, 7 Rock Wrasse, 4 Blacksmith, 2 Halfmoon, 2 Jack Mackerel and 1 Jacksmelt

Amidst a large and very enthusiastic gathering of pier rats at Antonio’s we had a great dinner. The UPSAC Board then retired to the Hermosa’s lobby for a meeting (and I want to thank Boyd, James, Adam, Rita, Ross and Ben who were willing to meet until past 11 p.m. that night after a hard day of travel and fishing). Spouses were ignored and the very tired group discussed matters of earth-shattering importance even though everyone planned to be up early the next morning fishing. Thank you guys (and a certain lady) for your hard work.

Jimbojack

Baitfish (Adam Cassidy), Roosterqueen (Rebecca Cassidy) and Anadromous

DompfaBen (Ben Acker), Brandy Acker and Jimbojack

Dora and Amanda Liu and Gordo Grande (Ross Kestin)

Day 3 — Saturday, April 23, 2005 — After dinner and the late-night meeting it was good to get a little extra sleep. Finally headed down to the mole where several people were already catching fish. Unfortunately the action remained slow for me for much of the derby hours just as the previous year. A little variety did show up but most of the fish were not too big with the exception of a couple of the sheephead and garibaldi.

Cabrillo Mole—8:15 a.m.–2:15 p.m.—south side — 7 Kelp Bass, 5 Sheephead, 4 Garibaldi, 2 Treefish and 1 Senorita

We had a decent crowd at the Mole and some decent but not great action.

The railing was lined with “Pier Rats”

DompfaBen and a bonito

Chaum with a hook up!

Baitfish with a sheephead

Jimbojack with an opaleye

A young Kyle Pease with a young sheephead

Rich Reano pulls in a bonito

A colorful giant kelpfish

DompfaBen with another bonito

Sheephead

Collage’s by GDude

About one o’clock James and Dora showed up with some delicious food!  

The awards were at 2:30 and once again there were many, many prizes — and happy faces.

Gordo Grande is the “king” of ticket salesmen

Adam calling out ticket numbers

Picking the tickets

PFIC Webmaster Rich Reano

DompfaBen

Last but not least was a group photo

Everyone again seemed to have a great time. Good companionship, good food, and good fishing.

After the festivities and picture taking it was time for a little more fishing and just as the previous year I changed sides of the pier and began to pull in the fish. The current was different, the water was now a darker color (with the sun being blocked in part by the mole itself), and the fish were far less wary. A school of halfmoon made it interesting along with the beautiful little blacksmith. Finally though I hit one of those toad opaleyes that had been making fun of us all day long. This one got hooked on a combo piece of shrimp w/one pea. After a scare as it headed into the kelp I finally got it where we could hand line it up. A nice fish that might have won the derby but the derby was long over. No problemo, it was just nice to get the fish — which was released.

Cabrillo Mole — 3:30-7:30 p.m. — north side — 26 Halfmoon, 16 Blacksmith, 2 Kelp Bass, 1 Jacksmelt, 1 Kelp Perch and 1 Opaleye—15 1/2” length, 12 1/2”girth

I finally headed back to the motel but decided to make a short stop at the Green Pleasure Pier along with Boyd. Still seeking out some sculpin, whitefish or sharks but alas just more of the bass. At least the company was good but we both were tired and decided to call it an early night.

Green Pleasure Pier — 7:50-8:50 p.m. — 9 Kelp Bass

Day 4 — Sunday, April 24, 2005 — Up at the crack of dawn for one last shot at the fish but bait was now limited and it showed with a relatively sparse catch of bass and one senorita. I kept thinking if I had just brought some ghost shrimp the sheephead would have made a better appearance but hindsight is, as they say, always 20-20.

Green Pleasure Pier — 6:15-7:45 a.m.  — 6 Kelp Bass and 1 Senorita

Kudos — The main people to thank for this annual gathering are Adam and Rebecca, the conductors of this little opera. Adam first proposed this trip four years ago and they have overseen the planning and execution ever since. It’s an amazing job considering the logistics involved. Obtaining the food and prizes and transporting them to Catalina is, in itself, a big endeavor. Combined with the willingness to spend time judging instead of fishing (a big matter in my book), require a deep commitment. I hope both understand how deeply our thanks run for their actions. A BIG THANK YOU is not nearly enough of a thanks.

A special thanks also has to go out to Mr. Gdude and his wife Dora who have annually provided the exquisite pot stickers for the lunch. It takes preparation, as well as hauling quite a bit of food and cooking utensils to Catalina to provide this treat. Thanks—again!

Many more people provided food, cash for the drawings, and help when needed. Unfortunately I do not have all the names but a BIG thanks goes out to all of you. Overall, there were close to forty people present and a final thanks go out to each of you. Some of you traveled several hundred miles to attend but your presence makes the event special. Gemütlichkeit is a German word that represents a certain cozy and relaxed atmosphere and that was what we had Saturday. Forty people in a synergistic, friendly gathering that seemed almost clan-like in feeling. Of course even those who were new to the gathering were seen as old friends since all have posted on the PFIC board. So, there were really no strangers even if some of the faces were new. Amazing! But I shouldn’t have been surprised since it’s now an annual occurrence!

I do want to make my annual apology for fishing too much and personally socializing too little. When I’m fishing I’m concentrating on the fish so sometimes I fail in my role as one of the hosts. Sorry!

Quite a few fish were caught but as I said the results were down from previous years, at least in regard to the Green Pleasure Pier.

It is hoped that additional PFIC posts will be found once the “old” message board is accessible.

I’ve been coming to Avalon on Catalina Island for 51 years and it’s always a highlight of the year. However, just like the changing seasons, the face of Avalon reflects changes throughout the year. In the spring to fall seasons it can be crowded which, if you are trying to fish on the Green Pleasure Pier or the Cabrillo Mole, can mean less fishing space and less of the solitude which I enjoy while fishing.

In the wintertime, especially during a mid-week visit, the streets (and piers) can be almost deserted. That’s fine with me, since my visits are fishing visits and having the piers and the fish to myself is a good thing.

Thus a short trip toward the end of December 2017 proved to be most pleasant. The weather was of the shirtsleeve variety (at least during the day), the piers were uncrowded, (although there are always tourists checking out your fish and wishing they had a fishing pole), and the fish were biting.

In addition there were the signs of Christmas, the Casino had its Christmas lights, businesses and homes were lit up for the season, and a Christmas tree greeted visitors smack dab in the middle of the beachfront area on Crescent Avenue.

A morning view of the Casino

It was a short two-day visit but one that was long enough to reenergize the batteries of life: it was good for the soul.

Lover’s Cove

Day 1, December 20, saw a very early morning trip to Long Beach with my friend Hashem and a smooth ride to Avalon on the 6 AM ferry. Upon arrival at the Cabrillo Mole we noticed an angler casting for bonito—and shortly thereafter a hook-up. Since Hashem was going to do two main things on the trip—fish for bonito at the Mole and hoop net for lobster at the Green Pleasure Pier, we went over to check out the action.

An angler on the Cabrillo Mole

Yes he had been getting strikes and the fish were nice sized. As we talked he hooked up and fought a good-sized bonito until a sea lion, decided it too wanted a meal of the bonito. The saying “thrill of victory and agony of defeat was epitomized in the fight with the fish. What started as a good fight ended with the angler pulling in about half of a bonito after the attack of the sea dog. But he would hook and land more bonito. Hashem was pleased, he was planning on fishing for bonito early Thursday morning and now knew the fish were present and that they were good-sized.

The “Sea Dog” got it!

But we moved on to the Green Pleasure Pier since Hashem had about a half a ton of equipment (he really follows the 7 P’s—Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) and didn’t want to unload it at the Mole and then repack and unload it again later at the pleasure pier. This of course was necessitated by the closure of the Cabrillo Mole to lobster hooping due to the regulation changes in the past few years. You can still hoop at the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) but not at the Mole. Hashem had come to the GPP opening night and limited out on the bugs and was hoping there might still be a few around for his Christmas dinner.

The Green Pleasure Pier

As for myself, I just wanted to catch some fish and as usual was mainly seeking out variety and possibly something new to add to my list. I would see good variety, a few good-sized fish, and although not catching a new species, did see a new species that to date is stumping the experts that I have contacted (with pictures). So, all in all a very good visit even if these old bones were really tired by the time we left Thursday night.

As for the fishing: Wednesday was spent at the Green Pleasure Pier. I had brought three rod/reel combinations, one for the light tackle fishing I would mainly be doing, one a little heavier combination for hopefully some bigger fish, and a third fairly heavy rod/reel that I planned to use for sharks at night when Hashem was hooping.

A Sheephead

I fished from 8-1:30, 2:30-4:45, and 5:15-6:45 a total of 9.25 hours and caught 78 fish. Most of the fish were of the smaller or mid-size variety—the wrasses, smelt, perch-like opaleye and garibaldi. Unusual was the paucity of small kelp bass fish that are sometimes so common in spring and summer that it is hard to keep them off your hook. What was high was the number of sheephead; usually most days at the GPP will see only a few of the big-toothed fish.

A “Mr. Limpet” kind of look — a Sheephead head

Unfortunately the largest fish of the day, a sheephead I estimated at 6-7 pounds was lost. I had cast out a piece of shrimp on my light line and hooked the sheephead while Hashem had gone to the store and had not as yet taken out his net. I got the fish up to the pier and a boy I had been talking to, one who said he worked as a “pinhead” on Sportfishing boats in Santa Barbara, said he would go down to the adjacent float and grab the fish. He grabbed the line and half way to the dock the fish gave a jerk and was off. Although Hashem had followed the 7 p’s I had not and had lost the biggest fish I would hook on this trip.

One interesting creature this day was a California Two-Spot Octopus, the second I have caught from the pier; they are always an interesting and somewhat gnarly catch.

California Two-Spot Octopus

Although the bass were few, they were bigger than normal. Most of the bass were 10 or more inches and I caught fish of 12-½ inches, 13 ½-inches, 13 ½-inches, and 13 ¾-inches. However, the new 14-inch minimum length meant all of the bass were returned to grow a little bigger.

I had brought four main baits—three boxes of lug worms, a little over a pound of market shrimp, two containers of frozen mussels, and a half pound of baby octopus (for the sharks).

As usual, if you fished a size 8 hook baited with worm and cast out and made a slow retrieve you would get a wrasse on almost every cast. That is you would get a fish or lose the bait to the bait stealers. As for the rock wrasse, they are a favorite fish on light tackle. Most are under a half-pound but put up a very scrappy fight for their size, fighting all the way up to the pier.

Rock Wrasse

Given that ghost shrimp, my favorite bait for sheephead and opaleye, was unavailable, I had brought back-up bait—market shrimp and mussels. The middle rod, the one that was cast out and used with a Baitrunner feature, was rigged with size 4 hooks and baited with the shrimp and mussels. It caught several of the sheephead, opaleye and garibaldi (but several were also caught on the worms). Whatever the case there was steady action throughout the day.

An Opaleye

Since Hashem could not hoop net for the lobsters until the evening, he was concentrating on catching opaleye (and he’s become an expert on the good fighting fish). He uses a bobber, a long opaleye leader, and frozen peas for bait.  He also uses a chum mixture to attract the opaleye—a mix of bread crumbs and peas that he would throw out every so often to attract the opaleye (and there were many). Hashem out fished me on the opaleye at least 2-1.

By 4:40 the sun was going down and the bite on the “diurnal” fish stopped (the rock wrasses and sheephead sleep at night) while the bass action would pick up.  Unfortunately the wind also picked up and I found that I was much colder than I had planned even though I had brought what I thought were warm clothes. I think it was age and tiredness from the long day more than anything but my plan to fish for sharks until the late hours while Hashem hooped would not survive the wind chill. I was dragging by 7 PM and headed back to the hotel. Hashem continued to hoop but with nary a lobster he too would stop much earlier than he had planned. My take for the day:

43 Rock Wrasse
12 Jacksmelt
8 Kelp Bass
5 Sheephead
5 Opaleye
4 Garibaldi
1 Ocean Whitefish
+ 1 California Two-Spot Octopus

The Casino

Crescent Avenue during the Christmas season

Day 2, December 21, saw our usual outstanding breakfast at “Jack’s” (although later than usual) before heading out to the Mole. Although Hashem had planned to be at the Mole by 7 AM casting for the bonito, he too was tired out and decided that the fishing would follow breakfast.

I fished from 9:40-12:40, 1-3, 3:30-4, and 4:30-5:30, a total of 6.5 hours and this day would catch 69 fish, a very nice variety with 13 different species.

A brown-colored Giant Kelpfish

A reddish-colored Giant Kelpfish

I started out fishing at the south end of the Mole casting down around the rocks (or under the Mole) with my light rod baited with worms. I was quickly rewarded with a number of garibaldi (which I didn’t want), a striped kelpfish, a small giant kelpfish, and an opaleye. I soon added a number of sheephead to the mix. The action would continue with about one fish every 8-10 minutes while I was there.

Sheephead

At 1 PM I headed down to the other end of the Mole to fish with Hashem who was primarily casting for bonito. I stated fishing down by the shoreline rocks while occasionally I would move out to the main railing. The variety was good with a number of different species.

Brownish-colored Striped Kelpfish

Reddish-colored Striped Kelpfish

About 2 PM I caught a largemouth blenny, a new species to the Mole that I had also caught in June. It would be followed by a second largemouth blenny later in the day.

Largemouth Blenny

One fish I wanted to catch was a blacksmith. I had caught over a hundred in my visits over the years but for some reason had not taken a good picture of one. I didn’t catch one most of the day and when I spotted a fellow angler catching one asked if I could take a picture. He said sure. Not long afterward I caught five in fairly rapid succession.

Blacksmith

Unusual for the day was the number of garibaldi. They are illegal to keep but at times it’s hard to keep them from grabbing bait when you are fishing for opaleye or halfmoon. For some reason they were very, very numerous this day and acted hungry as they grabbed bait after bait. All were safely returned to the water but I’m not sure how to avoid them without using large hooks and then you miss the other fish.

An adult Garibaldi and a juvenile Garibaldi with its blue spots

As the day when on I took several pictures of fish even though I already have a library of such pictures.

An Opaleye and an Opaleye head

The most interesting fish of the trip  was one I did not catch. I stopped fishing at 5:30, went to get a hot chocolate, and then put everything away prior to our departure on the late ferry. I noticed a nearby angler, the only other angler on the Mole, had caught a fish in the darkness and I went to see what it was. I suspected a type of rockfish or a salema, both of which hit well at the Mole after it is dark.

Unknown fish — picture #1

The fish turned out to be a fish that was new to me (and a quick check of my reference book did not reveal a picture). My first thought had been of a tiny, juvenile giant sea bass (it was only 5-6 inches long) but the fin structure was wrong. My next thought was of a was a popeye catalufa, the fin structure was about right but the color was wrong. We talked the angler into letting us take a couple of quick photos before returning the fish to the water. That fish helped make my trip even though I didn’t catch it.

Unknown fish — picture #2

[Upon returning home I sent a copy of the pictures to Milton Love at UC Santa Barbara for identification but he said he'd never seen it before so he was sending the pictures out to his network of friends to see if anyone could identify it. (He also said he wished I had gotten the fish for study.) In time, the best guess among various fishery biologists was that it was a Pacific Glasseye, scientific name Heteropriacanthus carolinus. I would eventually do a post on the fish — http://kenjonesfishing.com/2018/09/pacific-glasseye/ 

By 7 PM we were lined up awaiting the ferry—and wishing we had a few more days in Avalon. It wasn’t to be but hopefully a few more trips are still in the future.

My take for the day:

24 Garibaldi
13 Kelp Bass
9 Sheephead
5 Blacksmith
4 Rock Wrasse
3 Striped Kelpfish
3 Giant Kelpfish
2 Opaleye
2 Largemouth Blenny
1 Halfmoon
1 California Scorpionfish
1 Señorita
1 Jacksmelt

A sign on the walkway to the Mole that seems appropriate for the Christmas season.

This young lady caught the first and only bonito when we visited the San Clemente Pier

Saturday, August 28 in Dana Harbor

Anyone one for cookies?

Setting up!

There was an inside classroom and also several places set up outside for short, 20-minute presentations on different topics (pier fishing, boat fishing, how to tie knots, lures, etc.)

Carrie Wilson of the DF&W was the main person who set up the workshop

Dr. Zachary Schakner discussed the biology of the  SoCal fishing environment

Marty Golden discussed ethical angling

Since most of the kids had never been fishing, one of the first lessons was how to hold a rod and — and how to make a cast — Ron Owens and Roger Eckhardt

Practice, practice, practice…

Mary Patyten discussed Marine Protected Areas

Wayne Kotow of CCA Cal discussed boating

Jordan Smith (not pictured) discussed how to release deep-water fish

Know your fish!

Two DF&W wardens discussed common problems they see

Outside

Oops, where’s the “pier rat”

Virgil Perez & Dave Young discussed how to tie knots

Lures

Emilio Rebollar

More practice casting — Marlon Meade, Dave Young, and Emilio Rebollar

Sunday, August 29, San Clemente Pier

First things first — cutting mackerel and squid for bait — Jordan Smith and Hashem Nahid

Helping the kids get set up

Pacific mackerel were the main catch

This young man caught a thornback ray

A mackerel coming over the railing along with Ben Acker (DompfaBen) helping untangle a line [Dompfa = dominating positive fishing attitude]

Mackerel

A bat ray

A happy mom and a young man’s first mackerel

Her first bonito!

The pier became fairly crowded

Another mackerel

A yellowfin croaker

Happy mom, happy daughter

Spotfin croaker

“Pier Rats”

Yellowfin croaker and a happy angler

Hashem Nahid and Carrie Wilson

California halibut

Our Gang #1

Our Gang #2

Given that we were busy setting the kids up to fish near the front section of the pier we failed to notice one very important visitor to the pier that morning — a “Great White” shark.

Luckily others noticed the shark swimming alongside the pier and took pictures which resulted in a newspaper article and a video. It’s unfortunate that we missed seeing the shark and showing it to the kids.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/28/video-great-white-shark-filmed-near-san-clemente-pier/

Great white shark filmed near San Clemente Pier — Orange County Register — August 28, 2017 — Laylan Connelly

Jordan Jesolva was about to reel in a fish caught on her line when the shark suddenly appeared. “I didn’t care about the fish at that point, I was like, ‘I need to film this’,” she recalled saying as she handed her rod over to her grandfather to get her phone out to capture the sight. “This is once in a lifetime.”

While shark sightings are becoming more frequent, with many in the San Clemente area this past summer, the sight of a great white lingering just beneath a pier is enough to send kids squealing and adults running for the camera.

Jesolva said she spotted the great white — which she estimated to be about 10-foot — at about 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 27. “I was casually fishing on the pier, all of a sudden there’s a huge great white,” she said Monday. “It was probably 100 yards from shore. I had caught a fish — it kind of came right in front of me. It made a circle and it kept swimming under the pier.”

Jesolva, who was on a weekend trip from La Mirada, she had heard about all the recent sightings. “I’ve never seen a shark before. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy’,” she said. “It was a really cool experience.”

She said it was on the left side of the pier, with surfers sitting out in the water on the right. Some people shouted to the surfers that there was a shark in the water and some paddled toward shore.

She said she didn’t think to report the sighting to lifeguards, too caught up in the moment. “I feel like maybe I should have. I was too excited,” she said. “Everyone on the pier came and looked at it.”

San Clemente Marine Safety Lifeguard Rod Mellott said no reports came into lifeguards about the sighting. “Anybody that thinks they saw a shark, has video or pictures, please contact the lifeguards right away,” he said. “We can do the proper follow-up and take the proper precautions.”

In the video captured by Jesolva, a child’s voice can be heard saying, “Oh. My. God. Get mom!” A man’s voice, while calmer, still suggests shock. “Wow, that’s a white.”

For Jesolva, it was quite the fish tale she’ll never forget. “Even though I was far from it, it was scary,”  Jesolva said. “But cool at the same time.”

And we missed it — darn!

August 26-27, 2017 saw me scheduled to (1) present the “Basics of Pier Fishing” to a group of neophyte anglers at a classroom in Dana Point Harbor and to  (2) help them test out their new knowledge on a visit to the San Clemente Pier.

Needing to arrive the day before, and free the afternoon and evening of the class, meant I could get a little fishing in for myself. The final day wouldn’t allow time for fishing but would allow me to see some old friends and  get a few pictures on the pier.

Day One — Friday — I arrived at the pier after the long drive from Fresno. I was tired and hungry but I wanted to fish. I also wanted to see what was biting and what bait was needed so that Sunday’s outing with the new anglers would, hopefully, see them catch some fish. Since nothing seemed to be biting inshore, I headed out to the end. The fishing presented an interesting mix of fish but little worth filming (since I had already filmed all the species previously)

San Clemente Pier — August 25 — 5-7:15 PM
14 Pacific Mackerel  — 6 Salema  — 3 Jacksmelt —1 Rock Wrasse —1 Jack Mackerel  — 1 Topsmelt  — 1 Grunion

San Clemente was a busy pier that Friday night

I stopped after a couple of hours of fishing since I was tired and would be getting up early for the class. However, it was obvious by then that some fish were hitting at the pier (especially mackerel) and that we should be able to help the newbies catch some fish.

Day Two — Saturday — The morning was spent teaching the “new” anglers a little of what Ive learned about “pier fishing” over the years. The class was held in Dana Harbor and since just about every parking space in the harbor was taken at 6:45 in the morning, I parked near the small fishing pier at the north end if the harbor.

The class was over about 1:30 so I walked over to where I had parked my car, drove back to pick up my pier cart and all the goodies I had brought, and then drove back to the small pier. About that time Mahigheer (Hashem) called and said he was headed down to the harbor. He had decided to help out with the Sunday gathering and to do a little fishing himself.  He met me on the pier just about the time I was setting up to fish.

The Dana Harbor Pier from the classroom where we had our class

I began to fish from the small pier and though I tried a variety of baits — bloodworms, fresh mussels — cut mackerel and anchovies —I didn’t have a bite for over an hour until a small opaleye decided to grab a piece of worm. Mahigeer decided to move on to the San Clemente Pier and I told him I would join him but that I wanted to try the small pier a little bit longer.

A closer look at the Dana Harbor Pier — Baby Beach is to the right of the pier

Soon after I decided to change positions and moved inshore where I cast to the waters just outside “Baby Beach.”  A few minutes later I caught a spotfin croaker so again decided the spot deserved a little more time.

A few minutes later my second rod had a good hit. I grabbed it and made sure the fish was hooked and then watched the fish and line perform a large curving arc from about the 15 minute spot on a watch to the 45 minute spot. The fish was moving fast and I wasn’t sure what I had hooked. It didn’t fight like a croaker, bass, mackerel, flatfish or sharay that typically inhabit the harbor. But within a short time I had the fish to the pier and much to my surprise saw it was a bonefish, a Cortez bonefish to be exact, the first I had caught in nineteen years. I had landed two from the Embarcadero Marina Pier in San Diego Bay in 1999 but they had been caught in deeper water on a heavier line and didn’t give the same fight as this fish. The fish MADE MY TRIP..

Cortez Bonefish

Dana Harbor Pier — August 26 — 3:15-5:15 PM
1 Cortez Bonefish —1 Spotfin Croaker — 1 Opaley

Although I wouldn’t have minded trying for a second bonefish, I decide to join Hashem at the San Clemente Pier for one more rnight of fishing.

The fish were still there but now I told Hashem we needed to catch some mackerel to use for bait on Sunday morning. We were probably not going to have fresh mussels so instead of croaker we would target mackerel and mackerel like nothing better than a fresh piece of another mackerel. It was much the same species, mainly mackerel and salema, but I did add a small black croaker. Since black croaker will often school together with salema at night it seemed to make sense that one would grab my bait.

Salema

Black Croaker

Once again I decided to call it a night somewhat early. We had enough mackerel for bait  on Sunday and I was ready for a meal.

San Clemente Pier — August 26 — 6-7:45 PM
23 Pacific Mackerel — 11 Salema —1 Black Croaker

Day Three — Sunday — Although I had hoped to once again do a litle fishing I would stay far too busy with the kids to fish.I did get a chance to see some friends and to take a few pictures of people (not in the class). The classroom/pier pictures will be in a different post.

The San Clemente Pier during the day — beautiful shoreline

The rules

Three “Excellent” friends — Eugene Kim (kelpangler), Ben Acker (DompfaBen —  Dominating Positive Fishing Attitude Ben), and Hashem Nahid (Mahigeer)

Two nice “Golden” Spotfin Croaker caught on fresh mussels

Mina Kim and friend with a Pacific Mackerel

Bonito caught by “Dusty”

Salema

KJ and DompfaBen — Reunion time

A Pacific mackerel and a really nice family that we met

Spotfin Croaker

Bonito

By the end of the class a break and lunch was needed. DompfaBen headed home while Eugene, Hashem and myself went across the street to the Pizzaria. After lunch I headed over to Redondo Beach to meet my son and the next morning I would get to fish a couple of hours at the Redondo Sportfishing Pier (no pictures).

Redondo Sportfishing Pier — August 28, 2017 — 6-8:30, 10:15-11:15 AM
22 Kelp Bass  — 7 Senorita  — 3 Rock Wrasse  —2 Opaleye

GDude (James Liu) and a bonito he caught at the Cabrillo Mole at Catalina — 2008

Date: April 8, 2008
To: PFIC Message Board
From: gyozadude
Subject: Bonito fishing at the Cabrillo Mole, Avalon, Catalina Island

If you’re coming to Catalina and want to catch bonito, here are some tips:

Gear to bring: Get an 8 – 10 ft spinning rod with a mod-fast action, and 12 – 20 lb test line. Try to avoid a full surf rod as the butt section may be too long for good under-hand casting. I like to use braid as it seems to have less memory and casts farther.

Bring some metal spoons, in the 1 – 3 oz range. Kroc spoons in chrome with a splash of colour work. Also an in-line golf-ball with two small screw-in framing loops works if tied to a 5 ft leader and streamer or Hoochie or glow grub. The golf ball is just a bit denser than water so it sinks slowly, and will create a splash if you retrieve it quickly. But my favourite lure has to be a size 4 Buzzbomb. A popular lure up in B.C. for salmon, the Buzzbomb flutters when jerked and released and catches all sorts of fish. The Buzzbomb is about 1.75 oz and casts far, plus sinks fairly quickly. Due to its pulsing hydrodynamics, however, the lure puts out a huge alert under water. So unlike the golf ball rig that generates the most flash just at the surface, the Buzzbomb draws out fish from deeper waters.

You’ll see myself, Mahigeer, and Scooterfish using Buzzbombs this year. Chrome or holographic finishes are ideal.

Location: Best location I think for bonito is the Cabrillo Mole. You can often spot them at a distance off shore attacking schools of baitfish. The water dances wildly on the surface. But even when there is no surface activity, there are schooling bonito that may be sub-surface, around 6 – 10 ft deep.

GDude and a bonito — 2006

How far you need to cast varies. Sometimes they’re in close. More often, they’re out beyond 30 – 50 yds. As the Mole only allows for underhand casting, we get best results using an 8 – 10 ft spinning rod held vertically downward. 10 ft seems ideal for me. The extra length allows me to clear the structure and swing inboard and under the Mole in a pendulum motion, then quickly pull back on the butt section, which lifts the tip and shoots the lure out quite a ways.

Useful tips: Be careful during underhand casting so as not to smash rods against the concrete Mole understructure. This can chip ceramic guides. I recommend a Berkley or Abu made rod or custom rod that uses either the new flex ring memory metal titanium guides or Berkley SS304 type guides which have no ceramic ring inside but just a hardened TiCh or TiNitride coated metal ring.

The kelp grows thick in front of the Mole and bonito will tangle up in it. Try to keep lines tight and fish from diving into the kelp if possible. Braid can help in these cases if you hook up because the thin, tough line can cut somewhat through the foilage. Best tactic is to be quick and keep the fish’s head up and out of the water.

If the bonito seem to disappear and stop hitting, often, they’re still there. Just cast further, and let the lure sink to about 10 ft and work your lure. Bonito are attracted to the surface often because of baitfish. But otherwise, in bright sunlight, they will stay deeper.

Vary the speed of the retrieve and depth to find where the fish are and then work that section for 10 minutes or until the hits stop and then move on. If the bonito are out there, they won’t waste time chasing food, and they are picky. If there are no hits, change positions and cast some more.

When a bonito hits, often, you won’t hook up. Crank up the slack quickly, and continue to retrieve. Bonito will give chase and often smack a lure multiple times until hooked.

If you plan to have kids work rods and fight bonito, you may want to go with 8 lb line and a tether to the rod just in case the kids let go and fish wants to pull the rod into the water.

Scooterfish (Scott) and a bonito — 2009

Date: April 24, 2008
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Scooterfish
Subject: Catalina bonito rigging 

Some folks at Catalina were interested in details about the bonito rig I was using at Catalina, so here they are, starting with the terminal end…

Lure — 1/4oz jig head dressed with a 4 inch Saltwater Assassin “Sea Shad” in the “Space Guppy” pattern (Chartreuse with salt + pepper flaked clear). Not the most durable plastic by a long shot (1 per landed fish), but very effective with great action. I like using a ¼ oz head because it keeps the lure ~6” underwater even when retrieving “bonito fast”. Tail action of the Sea Shad is frantic, even at lower speeds and on the fall.

Leader — 5+ feet of 20lb P-line CFX fluorocarbon leader. I’ve used this stuff for quite a few years in the 15-30lb test and have never had it fail me. Works well with my Uni knots.

Splasher — 3” Magnum (1-1/8oz) Flexcoat “Launcher” casting float. There are larger sizes of this float, but this size casts best for me with this rod. The larger sizes seem awkward and have too much wind resistance, and the lighter sizes are too light to get distance… *Distance casting was less important this year as the bonito were cruising primarily just outside the kelp, and inside the harbor. On Sunday I caught a few smaller sized bonito on long casts, but the rest of the week they were close in. Thursday afternoon they were cruising the Green Pleasure Pier and the harbor and technically could have been caught with a handline!

Mainline — ~270yds 20lb PowerPro. Old reliable! Casts far, sensitive, strong. Brought a spare spool with 30lb PP, but never needed it. FWIW I had zero break-offs this year from kelp, fish, or bad casts!

Rod — 11’ G-Loomis SUR1324s (Fast Action ½-3oz lure, 15-30lbline). Same rod as last year, and same rod I use primarily for Jack Crevalle and Redfish here in Louisiana. Light, strong and fast. Allows me to easily load up under the pier for a pretty effective underhand cast.

Reel — Shimano Sustain 4000fe. The drag on this reel got a pretty good workout this year, and did not disappoint. Spool lip is definitely smoother than the Stradic, although I did not notice any big difference in casting distance.

Scooterfish and a Catalina bonito — 2008

Date: May 1, 2010
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Scooterfish
Subject: Bonito fishing, rig and technique notes from Catalina 2010

This is a summary of my bonito fishing notes from Catalina this year. Hopefully this adds some more useful information to the PFIC archives for future visitors to the island, and those who are obsessed with targeting these awesome fish!

There were two environmental factors that I believe directly affected fishing at the Catalina event this year for bonito. It was generally more overcast, usually for the first half of the day, and windier with a light chop on the water (with the exception of Friday). Wednesday the weather was very windy, with a huge swell, which stirred up the water quite a bit and seemed to put off the bite for pelagics for about a day and a half. We were also faced with a situation where the anchovy that are usually present around the island (and usually available at the bait shops frozen) were reportedly no where to be found. Anchovy happen to be the primary food source for Sarda Chiliensis (Pacific Bonito), closely followed by squid…

Our usual routine at Catalina in years past has consisted of spotting “boils” (fish working on the surface), and repetitive casting to cover as much water as possible when the fish are not showing. Most of us utilized “splasher rigs”. A splasher rig is a topwater rig that utilizes a weighted float (cast-a-bubble, Launcher floats or drilled golf balls) with a leader of 4-8 feet (preferable good fluorocarbon). At the business end of the rig there are a variety of options that will work (and you should keep a good selection of these in your tackle box!). Lures for a splasher rig can be a simple as a couple of rubber bands tied to a bare hook, fancy flies and feathers, and even small plastics. I’m sure a squid strip would do well on this rig also, although I’ve never tried it.

The most popular (and effective in my opinion) color for bonito lures is chartreuse, while white, olive green and other colors can be effective at times also. All of these colors will benefit greatly when combined with a good bit of silver flash or chrome.

About a month or so prior to the event Hashem had visited Catalina and posted about the technique that was most effective at the time. This rig is very similar to the splasher rig, but the float is replaced with a 1-3oz torpedo sinker. I stocked up on 1-3 oz torpedo sinkers and found a Bass Pro Shop version that includes an integrated inline swivel on both ends marketed as a trolling sinker. These proved to be indispensable at Catalina this year. This rig casts farther than a splasher, can cover the entire water column, and is much easier to work in the water. It also is more flexible as far as lure options. I was able to use this rig with flies, plastics with jigheads, and even a 3 1/2” X-rap with the middle hook removed (caught a good bonito on that one!).

When casting a rig with a longer leader, braided line and a weight in between, I find it necessary to slightly modify my casting style and leader. If you attempt to cast this rig overhand, it will foul almost every time because the weight will shoot straight out, the leader will straighten behind it (parallel to the braid mainline) and then spin around the mainline causing a tangle. This is a worse problem if you use thinner diameter leader material (like 10-15lb). I had my best results using P-Line CFX 25lb flourocarbon which is a bit thicker and stiffer than the 15lb version I usually use. This makes it far more resistant to wrapping around the mainline, and easier to free up if it fouls.

I modified my casting style to a semi-sidearm (maybe 45 degrees from vertical), with a sweeping follow through down and to the left (I am a right hand caster). When casting this way, the weight flies forward first leaving the rod with a straight trajectory about 2 feet to your right. The leader and fly will follow in line with the weight. The follow through part of the cast holds the mainline off to the left for a second so that it is not parallel to the leader during the initial flight of the cast when speeds are high and fouling/wrapping is more likely. I hope I explained this well enough, it is much easier to actually demonstrate… This casting technique worked really well when casting nearly weightless flies. If you use plastics with a light leadhead, or heavier flies with lead eyes, the follow through part of the cast becomes less important.

On each and every cast, as the rig is about to hit the water, I touch my finger to the mainline to slow down the weight, and the fly or lure will shoot forward ahead of the weight as it splashes down. I follow this with two quick and firm jerks of the rod to straighten out the leader. This is where the swivel equipped weights really shined. A couple of jerks on the rod almost always cleared the line for a good retrieve. On rare occasions, the leader would wrap a few times and stay that way throughout the retrieve. Most times you can pull the rig out of the water, jig it lightly a couple of times and it would resolve itself, ready for the next cast. This is a very easy rig to cast when you use a 1oz torpedo with a 1/4oz leadhead and 4” plastic. This has opened up my fishing options for just about everywhere I fish! A 1/4oz leadhead with plastic on this rig can be cast long, long distances and will cover much more water than the leadhead alone. The Rapala X-rap behind a 2oz. torpedo can easily be thrown 90+ yards (this could make a killer striper rig for some spots).

You can fish this rig surface, shallow, deep, fast, slow, dead drop, etc…. We had quite a few hits on the dead drop. Just cast out, straighten the line, and wait. Or stop for 5-10 seconds mid-retrieve. A very, very versatile rig that is as simple as can be!

The most effective lures this year were flashy chartreuse flies in #2 and #1 sizes. Clouser Minnows, Deceivers and Bunny flies all worked well. The interesting thing was that the more bloody, mangled and sparse the fly would get, the better it seemed to work. I knew that small sparse baits were effective, and many of the flies I brought had been trimmed down in advance to simulate a smaller, thinner profile bait. The flies seemed to hold up very well, with 10+ fish on one fly before it started to become ineffective. Most of the damage to my flies actually was not from the fish, but from grasping the shank of the hook with pliers for hook removal. For some reason the Jack Mackeral shredded flies far worse than the bonito, even though the bonito have visibly bigger teeth. I was also able to catch using the torpedo rig with a standard 1/4oz leadhead and the Space Guppy 4” SWA plastics that I have had success with in years past. I tried the Rapala for a while, and landed one bonie on it, but that was more of an experiment to see if the rig was still castable with a hard jerkbait, and it is!
I did try throwing tins/ metal jigs this year for a brief time, but with no fish to show, so I concentrated on what worked. G-dude did manage a few on his smaller BuzzBomb I think…

Already looking forward and planning already for next years hot pursuit of the speedy striped silver wonders!

Posted by RYRYK

Wow … I just got my PhD in bonito fishing. Great details. Can u see this rig working on the end of some jettys out here in socal for barracuda macs n bonies?

Posted by pinfish

Thanks for the description. So the boils are way far out huh?

Posted by scooterfish

RYRVK: I think the torpedo/lure combo could work for many fishing situations. I would use it at a jetty, but be careful not to go to heavy or too slow, as structure is not going to be your friend with a rig like this. I would work it in the upper half of the water column.

Pinfish: This year I only heard of or saw two visible boils the whole week (as in visible surface strikes on baitfish school). In years past visible boils have ranged from just outside the kelpline, to way out of range of even the most accomplished casters. That being said, most fish were caught from 40-80 yards from the Mole. From what I have researched about Pacific bonito and their East Coast cousin, when food is available they tend to have consistent cruising spots that they pass by on a regular basis. By numbers, the best technique for a non-mobile bonito fisherman is to find a known cruising spot and cover that water as completely as possible with repetitive cast and retrieve. I hooked fish this year at well over 100yds, and also just outside the kelp at 25yds. No consistency this year, water was often chopped up by wind, so boils would have been hard to see anyway. If we had seen boils, I likely would have switched back to the splasher rig.

Some Catalina bonito — from the Cabrillo Mole

Joey (Grammar Police) and a bonito from the Mole in 2006

Redfish (Robert) and a Catalina bonito — 2010

Rita and a bonito at the Cabrillo Mole — 2012

Mahigeer (Hashem) and a bonito at the Mole —2012

Interestingly, I got an email a while back inviting me to see him play in his band at the high school band championships at Fresno State. I met with his parents and learned how busy he is with his band and how it was restricting his time to go fishing. Then, later in the summer, I saw him at the Marin Rod and Gun Club “Kids Day on the Pier” when he showed up to volunteer and to help out as needed. He had tuned 16 and was no longer young enough for the derbies but still wanted to help out. Herein is a pictorial essay documenting his growth over the years.

2005

Thomas won his first age group division championship at the 2005 IGFA Young Anglers Tournament held at the “Pep” Pepper Park Pier in National City. Here he receives an award along with another winning young lady.

Thomas holding a Pacific mackerel he caught at the pier.

A brown smoothhound shark  he caught at the Dumbarton Pier that year

A striped bass Thomas caught at the Dumbarton Pier that same trip

Later in the summer of 2005 Thomas attended the Shelter Island Young Anglers Tournament at the Shelter Island Pier and won another age division championship.

Thomas and Adam Cassidy (Baitfish) at the Shelter Island Pier with the grand award

Thomas and his award at the Shelter Island Pier event

2006

Thomas would attend the Shelter Island Pier event again in 2006, and once again win his age division, but we do not have a picture.

Thomas and a leopard shark caught at the Dumbarton Pier in 2006

2007

Hard to believe but Thomas did not win the Shelter Island event in 2007. He did however visit Rosarito Beach in Mexico that summer and fish from the pier where he caught these bonito

2008

In 2008 Thomas once again visited San Diego and the Shelter Island Pier for the IGFA Young Anglers Tournament. He would win his third award following wins in 2005 and 2006

2009

A blackperch from the Berkeley Pier — 2009

2010

Jacksmelt from the Berkeley Pier — 2010

2010 saw a return to San Diego and another age division championship at the Shelter Island Pier

At the Shelter Island event with Mahigeer (Hashem Nahid)

2011

2011 saw a championship at the UPSAC/PFIC Berkeley Pier Young Anglers Tournament

2012

2012 saw another victory at the UPSAC/PFIC Berkeley Young Anglers Tournament

UPSAC Tournament Director Brian Linebarger, Thomas, and yours truly

Thomas and me (Ken Jones, UPSAC President)

Thomas also attended and was the age group winner at the Marin Rod and Gun Club Kids Derby

Thomas was also a raffle prize winner. Carrie Wilson of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife presented the prizes.

Thomas with his gifts for winning his age division along with a gnarled old guy and Mary Patyten of the California Fish and Wildlife Department

2013

Thomas at the 2013 UPSAC/PFIC Berkeley Pier Kids Derby

Thomas together with Mary Patyten and Carrie Wilson from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Thomas and KJ at the derby

Thomas and a blackperch caught at the derby

Later that summer Thomas once again attended the Marin Rod and Gun Club’s “Kids Day on the Pier”

Taking a break

Thomas and a small leopard shark at the derby

Once again Thomas was a winner

2014

2014 saw a return to the IGFA Shelter Island Tournament and another win

2015

2015 would see a return by Thomas to the Marin Rod and Gun Club’s Kids Day on the Pier — and yes, one more win

Thomas with a shovelnose guitarfish he caught at the derby

Thomas and a small leopard shark

KJ (me) presenting Thomas with yet another trio of gifts — a beautiful certificate from the IGFA, a signed copy of Pier Fishing In California (he has enough for a library), and a trophy

2016

Now 16 and too old for the derby, Thomas attended the Marin Rod and Gun Club derby as a volunteer

I think I speak for all PFIC and UPSAC members when I thank Thomas for attending the events and say we admire his growth as an angler and the skill he showed in winning so many championships in these tournaments. We also hope to see Thomas again at our events and I hope to have a chance to fish with him at additional piers.

Thomas is now in the marching band at James Logan H.S. and finds it takes a lot of practice — and time away from fishing. But he loves both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIkeRPxnSeY

_________________________________________________

One in a series of PFIC Young Angler articles

Unfortunately the pictures are not great quality but it is what it is.

Albacore taken at the pier

Triggerfish (probably a finescale triggerfish) taken at the pier

A young giant (black) sea bass

A nice catch of yellowtail and bonito at the pier (although it looks over the limit)

A keeper-size white seabass

“While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.” Oops, whoa Nellie, stop, stop, stop the press, that’s the wrong vision! This vision was more pescatorial, one of big game fish being caught at the SoCal piers, fish such as yellowtail, shortfin corvina, bonefish and more exotic species rarely seen at the piers. The reports of great fishing and unusual species that began to show up in boat reports in the spring and summer of 2015 were amazing. Bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, dorado, wahoo, unbelievable numbers of yellowtail, marlin, spearfish and others were seemingly being caught throughout southern California’s offshore waters. Even half day boats and kayaks fishing fairly close to land were catching the big game species.

For the piers the main difference, at least into July and August, was the arrival of bonito, one of the hardest fighting fish in the sea, and the boneheads were being reported from San Diego up to Goleta. Every warm-water year sees some bonito but by the end of August yellowtail were also being reported at many piers. Then came reports of the aforementioned corvina and bonefish. September seemed like it might be an epic month, perhaps even rivaling the 1957 season when so many big game fish were caught from piers.

The result was an almost mandatory trip to southern California; a five-day trip to eight southland piers. But, it was a trip that would earn the nickname “Sauna Tour.”

Why that title? One initial hope for the trip was to escape the 100-104 degree weather that was taking place in Fresno. There’s nothing like a cool 75-degree day at the beach to alleviate the scorching valley heat. Hurricane Linda, sitting off of Baja, and the effects from that storm, would change the entire picture, both the weather and the fishing.

The temperature at the beach cities for the five-day trip was basically the same—92 to 98 degree heat along with very high humidity. It felt more like Mississippi or Louisiana than SoCal.  It was scorching in the sun and shirts were sweat soaked after a short time.

The hurricane also affected the fishing. A few days before the trip, powerful waves began to slam the SoCal beaches. In response, the huge numbers of baitfish that had been reported in inshore waters disappeared. Apparently they moved offshore and that meant the number of larger fish that fed on the baitfish also largely disappeared. The story was the same at every pier. “You should have been here last week. The bonito bite was fantastic but they all disappeared.” One bait shop reported they had been selling over 50 pounds of anchovies a day before the fish left, now they were selling about four pounds a day.

It is what it is, you have to take the bad with the good and there are rarely guarantees when it comes to fishing. The trip would yield some fish but nothing like anticipated. One bonito would be caught, but no more, and none of the more exotic species.

Day one, Wednesday, September 9, would see me pick up my fishing buddy, Mike Granat, in Clovis before starting the four hour drive from Fresno to Los Angeles. We would make a stop to pick up some “Goody Bags” for our next Kid’s Fishing Derby, and then make another short stop at Best Fishing Tackle on Rosecrans in Hawthorne to pick up some lug worms. From there it was a short trip down to Costa Mesa and our motel for the night. Upon arrival in Costa Mesa it was quickly evident how hot and sticky the weather would be.

But, since there was time for a few hours fishing before dinner, we headed out to the Newport Pier. I always tell Mike that if a pier is crowded the fish are in, if the pier is deserted, fishing is slow. Given the sparse number of anglers on the pier, it was obvious that the fishing might not be as hot as the weather—and that indeed was the case.

The dozen or so anglers at the end were fishing Sabiki bait rigs and catching a few fish, a few small fish. Their main catch was little 6-inch Pacific mackerel which make great bait for halibut (or yellowtail). However, our visit would be short and it was getting a little too late in the day to be catching live bait.

Nevertheless, high-low rigs were sent out baited with lug worms and cut mackerel. Soon after, a kelp bass (aka calico bass) in love with the lug worm decided to make a trip up to the top of the pier. But, instead of 14 inches, the legal length, it was only 11 inches long. It was returned to the briny and told to grow a few more inches. Not much was biting other than a few mackerel.

Kelp Bass aka Calico Bass, Checkerboard Bass and Police Cars

Eventually the 4:15-6 PM fishing yielded three mackerel and the one bass, all fairly small. The one good bite, two large mackerel grabbing the high/low hooks at the same time, were lost when one of the three sea lions patrolling the pier waters decided the mackerel were easy pickings. The bewhiskered beast grabbed the mackerel, broke the line, and showed who was boss.

Pacific Mackerel aka Chub Mackerel, Blue Mackerel and Greenbacks

At six we packed up and headed over to one of my favorite restaurants along the California coast. The Crab Cooker sits across the street from the pier and I’ve been going to the restaurant for over 40 years. I always make sure to get some chowder, eat too many of the hard bread sticks, and I usually get some shrimp and scallops. For once I was able to park right outside the front door (parking can be a problem) and we headed in. Soon after we were stuffed and heading back to the motel.

The Crab Cooker

Day 2, Thursday, September 10, was a planned reunion with Snookie and her gang at the Balboa Pier. Expectations were high. She had reported  catching bonito, yellowtail, barracuda, numerous halibut, and a variety of other fish the prior week (including seeing an angler land a bonefish).  It did seem a little improbable based upon what we had seen at Newport the prior night but you never know.

We arrived at 8 AM and decided to fish the end area until Snookie arrived. I asked a couple of anglers who were leaving the pier how the action was and they both replied the same thing, good mackerel action from 6 until about 7 and then the bite had shut down (the typical early morning mackerel bite). We were late and by the time we got to the end there weren’t too many anglers. That’s always a bad sign and sure enough those still fishing were lamenting the slow action. They were using Sabiki rigs but not getting many fish.

The end of the Balboa Pier was relatively devoid of anglers

Mike had never caught a bonito and that was his main goal for the trip so he rigged up one of his red colored bonito balls (that he makes), attached one of his bright green feathers (that he gets from Africa), and started casting out. Lo and behold in about fifteen minutes he had a nice-sized bonito. The rest of the anglers casting for bonito, including yours truly, went fishless for bonito in Newport. What was interesting was the number of anglers who came over to check out his bonito gear, both the feather and the ball, and all seemed to think his was the best they had seen.

Mike Granat, his first bonito, and his “Granat Ball and Feather”

Pacific Bonito aka Boneheads, Flashers, Striped Tuna and (my favorite) Mr. Bojangles

I did catch a couple of nice little bass, one a kelp bass and the other a sand bass, but none of the bonehead bonito.

At about 9:30 I spotted Snookie and we headed inshore to fish with her. Unfortunately the weather had tuned hot, real hot. It would reach 98 degrees at the pier that day and we were sweating more than I thought possible.

Snookie

She said she had been at the pier Tuesday and sure enough the action had slowed. The waves had stirred up the water and the baitfish so prevalent the prior week were now largely missing. But, she went on a quest for some live bait. She had been using a variety of baitfish including small Pacific mackerel and Spanish mackerel but they just weren’t biting. She worked hard to fill the bait bucket and did manage some smelt but even the smelt weren’t cooperating (and I only got one).

Fishing was slow, in fact very slow. However, Snookie did manage to land one bonito. I on the other hand could not buy a bonito. I did though rig up a live bait rig and dropped a smelt into a depression between the pilings under the pier. The result was a flattie, a halibut that must have liked dining on smelt. As usual, it looked bigger in the water but upon bringing it to the pier it was obviously a sub-legal fish only about a guesstimated 17 inches long.

KJ and a sub-legal sized California Halibut

I also managed a smallish-sized shovelnose guitarfish while Mike caught a small yellowfin croaker but that was it. The fishing was as cold as the weather was hot. Snookie and her sister were using some kind of “cool” scarves but I think we were all red faced, sweating, uncomfortable, and getting dehydrated.

The Newport Pier sits just a short distance up the Newport Peninsula from Balboa

We fished until 12:15 and that was enough. We wanted to beat the traffic out of Orange County, Snookie needed to go to her choir practice, and everyone was beat. We had enjoyed the company but were obviously disappointed with the fishing.

We then headed south toward Oceanside but did make a short detour to Hogan’s Bait and Tackle in Dana Point. I wanted to pick up some bloodworms and managed to spend a few more bucks after seeing some things that I just couldn’t live without. It’s always good to visit that store and see its knowledgeable staff.

Back on the road, we were soon in Oceanside and checked into the motel. Mike was a little tired out from the heat and wanted to take a nap while I wanted to go fishing.  I decided to head down to the small pier in Oceanside Harbor. I usually manage to catch a few fish at the pier and this day would be much the same (although most were fairly small). I fished from 3:30 until 4:45 and managed 14 fish, 8 kelp bass (on bloodworms), 1 decent-sized spotfin croaker (on bloodworm), 1 salema, 3 smelt and a shinerperch. It wasn’t much to crow about but at least there was some action and I enjoyed the beautiful clouds while suffering through the heat.

The Oceanside Harbor Pier

Spotfin Croaker aka Golden Croaker and Roncador (the snorer)

The most interesting fish I saw was a garibaldi caught by an angler who was using bread to catch some smelt for bait. I didn’t know they liked bread.

There are almost always some birds at the pier

Dumbest move was by a girl in a kayak who decided to paddle over to a float full of sea lions. She actually paddled right up to the float and tried to pet a couple of the beasts. They bellowed at her and she seemed surprised that they might not enjoy her visit.

El Dumbo!

It was a beautiful sky that day

Next up was dinner and we headed over to the Joe’s Crab Shack that sits in the harbor. Burnt food, desultory service, and an unhappy Mr. Jones by the end of the meal.  

After dinner I walked down to Helgren’s Sportfishing to talk to some fishermen who had arrived on the Oceanside 95 Sportfisher while we were eating.  Boats had been pulling in yellowtail, bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna during an almost unheard of season of success. But the hurricane had affected their action too. The boat full of anglers had returned from the 1½ day trip with 4 fish, not exactly a crowd pleasing number. They were hoping the next day would be better.

After dinner Mike was ready for bed. I said we needed some fresh bait so headed down to the Oceanside Pier to catch some mackerel.  Anglers were catching mackerel using glow sticks and hi/lows baited with pieces of mackerel and I copied their rigs and bait. I fished from 8:30 to 10 PM and landed 15 Pacific mackerel and 1 sargo. We now had some fresh bait for the next day.

Day 3, Friday, September 11. Friday morning we planned to meet up with Ed Gonsalves who runs the Oceanside Pier Bait Shop and then do a little fishing. Ed suggested a spot midway out on the pier and his advice was good. Three hours of fishing yielded 13 Pacific Mackerel, (on cut mackerel) 10 Kelp Bass (on bloodworms), 1 Sand Bass (on a bloodworm) and 1 Topsmelt.

Mike at the “spot”

Ruby’s Restaurant sits at the end of the pier

Good sentiment!

The Oceanside Pier is one of my favorite piers

The Oceanside Pier Bait ShopA nice Shovelnose Guitarfish caught by “Bernie”

We had lunch with Ed ad his wife Pam and were soon headed to San Diego. The first stop in San Diego was at Squidco where I bought one more bag of bloodworms and would have gotten some ghost shrimp but they were out. We then checked into our motel. Mike was a little tired so decided on a nap before dinner. I, on the other hand, wanted to go fishing so headed over to the Ocean Beach Pier where action HAD been great. It was now slow. Nevertheless, fishing from 3-4:45 PM produced a plethora of fish: 7 Kelp Bass (most on blood worms), 4 Topsmelt, 2 Salema and 1 Rock Wrasse, the first I have caught at the pier.

You could see the Coronado Islands (Islas Coronados) off in the distance

The left corner of the pier

Out at the end

Salema aka Big Eye Bass and Lima Perch

Rock Wrasse aka Parrot Fish

Dinner was at the Kaiserhof Restaurant in Ocean Beach where we met up with my son Mike. It may be the best German restaurant in California and I’ve been going there for years. Once again they produced an excellent dinner.

I got a chance to visit with my son Mike for a few hours

Day 4, Saturday, September 12. Crystal Pier would be the destination Saturday morning. It had just yielded up a 40+ pound yellowtail a couple of weeks before our trip, had been producing some shortfin corvina, and might be our best chance for some good fish.

We arrived fairly early because we knew parking would be a problem (it always is) but we still had to park two blocks away from the pier. Upon arrival we only found one other angler (and he was a good one). We headed out to the end and settled in for some fishing (which was slow).

Although already hot and sticky, it was a beautiful morning

Mike getting ready

Looking shoreward

I decided to set up a heavy rig on the bottom baited with mackerel and shortly thereafter hooked something strong that headed out like a bat ray. I finally got it stopped and heading into the pier (where I worried about the pilings). Sure enough it was a bat ray that took more work than it should have to get it up onto the pier. The problem was the current moving inshore and pushing the net under the pier as soon as it got into the water. It took a while but finally the fish was netted and pulled up. Then we had a new problem getting it over the boards that stick out a couple of feet.  If I was a little younger I might have hopped over the railing and simply grabbed the net but those days are over. I finally swung the net over the railing and we were able to grab it and bring it in. It wasn’t a huge bat ray but it still was fun.

KJ and a Bat Ray (aka Stingray, Mud Marlin, Flapper, NASCAR and Sea Bird)

The only two other fish I caught was a round stingray and a small mackerel, which I baited up while trying for a shortfin corvina (with no success). Mike caught a Round Stingray.

Mike and his Round Stingray (aka Stinger and Stingaree)

Live bait was needed but I couldn’t even seem to get that. And, it meant I didn’t have the right bait when a school of firecracker-sized yellowtail showed up next to the pier. Five yellowtail were caught, all small ones, but still yellowtail.

One of the local experts, Angel Hernandez, did have the right bait and he caught two yellowtail. We had a long and interesting talk and I am waiting on some pictures he has taken of recent catches of shortfin corvina. He has also hooked several Giant Sea Bass including one that he said might go two hundred pounds.

A small yellowtail caught by Angel Hernandez at Crystal Pier

Of course I also wasn’t in the right spot. I had started out at the end when yellowtail were not being caught. I then moved into the shallows fishing for corvina but none would be caught that day. While I was at the front of the pier the yellowtail were visiting the back of the pier. So it goes.

The pier became a popular spot with people as the day continued 

We had to leave at 11:00 AM to attend my granddaughter’s soccer match but I think Crystal would have been the place to be for both yellowtail and corvina (if I just had a little more time). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the additional time.

Following the soccer match we had to head north, the destination being San Clemente. This time we checked into our motel, had an early dinner, and then headed down to Dana Harbor to fish from the small pier.

It turned out the harbor area by the pier was having a festival— the “Toshiba Tall Ships Festival,” and the shoreline and pier was filled with people. Thankfully most of the activities were finished by 5 PM and we were able to find a parking spot and some room to fish.

The Pilgrim

We fished from 6:40-9:10 PM and the visit yielded the usual bay species: 6 kelp bass, 2 sand Bass, 1 sculpin (California scorpionfish), 1 sargo and 1 good-sized spotfin croaker.

Spotfin Croaker

Day 5, Sunday, September 13. The last morning I would be fishing alone since Mike was visiting his daughter. I was at the pier at 7 AM and joined several other anglers out at the end of the pier who were pulling in some fish.

The early morning at the pier

Once again I tried for bonito and once again I had no success. However, smaller species were abundant. Three and a quarter hours of fishing produced 40 fish: 18 Pacific mackerel, 6 jacksmelt, 5 salema, 5 topsmelt, 3 kelp bass, 2 grunion and 1 sand bass.

Sand Bass aka Barred Sand Bass, Sugar Bass, Johnny Verde Bass and Grumpies (large fish)

Surfers and the train

The pier, the train, and no surfers

Looking shoreward

The San Clemente Pier and one of the prettiest settings for a pier

Unfortunately the sun and heat were once again brutal and I was covered with sweat when I left the pier. Once I picked up Mike the next stop would be back home in Fresno. Surprisingly when Mike and I arrived in Fresno/Clovis the weather had cooled slightly. In fact, it was actually cooler than it had been at the beach.

In summary, the trip was somewhat disappointing, both as to the heat and humidity and the lack of large, exotic species, i.e., yellowtail, shortfin corvina and bonefish. Realistically though, you still have to have some luck to catch those species. You have to be there at the right time with the right techniques. I think we had the techniques and bait covered but the timing was off. Everyone said you should have been here last week. Big tides had moved in and rattled the inshore waters, the baitfish seemed to mostly move offshore, and many of the larger species followed them. I think things were calming by Saturday/Sunday, and fishing would start to improve, but I had to return to Fresno (darn it). You only have so much time and money.

Nevertheless, the 23.75 hours spent fishing did yield a variety of fish: 50 Pacific Mackerel, 36 Kelp Bass, 14 Topsmelt, 8 Salema, 6 Jacksmelt, 5 Sand Bass., 2 Spotfin Croaker, 2 Sargo, 2 Grunion, 1 California Halibut, 1 Shovelnose Guitarfish, 1 Bat Ray, 1 Round Stingray, 1 Sculpin (California Scorpionfish), 1 Rock Wrasse, and 1 Shinerperch

Garibaldi in the island waters; the colors present an almost surreal scene

Derby Day — Saturday, July 18, 2015

“Well, first time that’s happened.” Only once in 14 years had the PFIC/UPSAC Catalina Get Together experienced rain and never during the day of the derby. That would change. What started as a beautiful day saw clouds emerge followed by thunder, lightening and a steady rain from tropical hurricane Dolores. The combination resulted in an abbreviated James Liu Memorial Derby at the 2015 Catalina Get Together.

Hashem Nahid and a little rain (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Although the derby was shortened by about an hour no one seemed to mind. It was just too wet to keep fishing and no one knew when the rain would stop. A couple of times the rain seemed to slack and then here it came again*. Finally things calmed enough for a quick awards ceremony and it was over — although when the rain did eventually stop everyone went back to fishing.

The Derby results: 1st Place — Hashem Nahid; 2nd Place — Rita M;

1st Place — Hashem Nahid (Second photo, showing the perpetual trophy, courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

2nd Place — Rita Magdamo (Second photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

3rd Place — Christina Ballard (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Honorable Mention — Arcadian (Second photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Jr. Division Winner — Kyle Pease  (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

KJ, Kyle, Rita, Arcadian, Christina, and Hashem

Unfortunately it was a very small crowd this year and one of the main questions was if this would be the “last” Get Together? The sentiment was no! Given the fun and good companionship exhibited during the weekend all agreed that they at least would be ready for an event in 2016. Luckily the fishing had been good with the variety including bonito, kelp bass, sheephead, opaleye, garibaldi, halfmoon, sculpin (scorpionfish), grass rockfish, blackperch, blacksmith, rock wrasse, senorita, giant kelpfish, moray eel, ocean whitefish, sand bass, kelp perch and even one horn shark. Some big fish and some small fish, and just enough fish to keep things interesting.

Nevertheless, of note was the absence or near absence of several species that are commonly encountered at the Mole and GPP. We saw only one senorita and one blacksmith and did not see a single Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel or jacksmelt. The water was warmer than usual and the kelp canopy normally found at the Mole was almost missing. Both conditions affect the type of fish found in local waters.

• The average rainfall at Avalon for the month of July is .01 inches. Derby Day saw .33 inches of rain at Avalon including .23 of an inch between 12:40 and 2 PM, the scheduled end of the James Liu Memorial Derby.

The rest of the story:  Thursday — July 16, 2015

Hashem and myself took the first ferry over from Long Beach at 6:15 AM. We wanted a full day of fishing at the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) and we got it. It was the usual mix of fish including an amazing number of small kelp bass.

The Green Pleasure Pier sits in the middle of the harbor surrounded by boats

The Casino

Amazing too was the number of medium to large-size opaleye, amazing both in their number and their unwillingness to take a bait. It wasn’t unexpected since the opaleye at the GPP always seem more wary than those at the Cabrillo Mole aka the Mole. It’s one reason that James Liu finally started fishing a 2-pound fluorocarbon line when fishing at the GPP. We did not have 2-pound fluorocarbon nor did we have any ghost shrimp, my preferred opaleye bait, but we did have frozen peas.

A medium-size opaleye (Picture courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

The opaleye would swim over, take a perfunctory look at the peas, and them swim off. The water was crystal clear and their behavior was easily observed. Nevertheless we did manage a few opaleye as well as the other usual species. Somewhat unexpected was a sand bass, the first I have taken at the GPP.

The Green Pleasure Pier as seen from the beach. (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Green Pleasure Pier — 7/16/2015 — 8:45 AM-3:30 PM

Species—Kelp Bass, Rock Wrasse, Sheephead, Opaleye, Ocean Whitefish, Sand Bass.

During the summer this dock is situated out at the end of the Green Pleasure Pier which reduces, somewhat, the amount of water open to fishing.

Looking toward shore

Boats clogged the harbor

Looking toward the Cabrillo Mole where we would do most of our fishing

The beach as seen from the Green Pleasure Pier (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

A male rock wrasse

Female rock wrasse

Small ocean whitefish

Sand Bass

We knew Rita and Kyle were coming over on the 3:00 PM ferry so we decided to check into the motel and then head out to the Cabrillo Mole. The Mole would be a little different, minus the usual thick canopy of kelp due to the warm water that kills giant kelp. It made fishing a little easier (especially when bringing in bonito) but also meant less of the kelp-loving species such as kelpfish. In years past we have seen giant kelpfish, spotted kelpfish, striped kelpfish, and crevice kelpfish; this year saw one lone giant kelpfish. However, there were still plenty of fish.

A female sheephead beginning the transition into being a male (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Sure enough Rita and Kyle were on the afternoon ferry and we talked to them and agreed to meet up for dinner at Antonio’s. We got in a few hours of fishing before dinner and once again saw a nice variety of fish.

July is a busy time of the year and the harbor sees boats coming and going at all hours

Cabrillo Mole — 7/16/2015 — 4:30-7:30 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Sculpin (Scorpionfish)

California scorpionfish aka sculpin

A beautiful juvenile Garibaldi; the blue spots disappear as it reaches maturity

This young lady was on a fishing trip with her dad and she caught several nice fish including this Kelp (Calico) Bass

Friday — July 17, 2015

Friday and Saturday would be dedicated to fishing the Mole and we were at the Mole early in the morning Friday hoping to see some boiling water and schools of bonito. Greeted by a beautiful sunrise, we would not be disappointed. Fishing in many ways mimicked the 2006-2010 Get Togethers, all of which had seen a plethora of bonito along with numerous other species.

Boats and the Avalon Casino as seen from the Mole

Sunrise at the Mole

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Lovers Cove sits to the right of the Mole

The goal getting up early was to catch some bonito. Mission accomplished! (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Good morning Kyle (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Rita and a little bonito aka bonehead (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Kyle and a second bonito

Hashem and a bonehead

Rita and a nice Kelp (Calico) Bass

Kyle and a Horn Shark

She’s not too sure she wants to touch the bass

Time for a little watermelon break! And, after affixing a piece of watermelon to a hook, it was proven to be a poor bait. (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Bonito aka bonehead aka flasher aka bongo and aka Mr. Bojangles to some PFIC’ers

Action was steady throughout the day with bonito, some large and some small, moving in and out. Most of the fish were the usual species although the total included a grass rockfish, a species fairly uncommon at the Mole.

Grass Rockfish

We stopped at 5:15 PM to get dinner with Rita, Kyle, Arcadian, and Christina (who had arrived on the afternoon ferry).

Cabrillo Mole — 7/17/2015 — 6:30 AM-5:15 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Sculpin (Scorpionfish), Rock Wrasse, Halfmoon, Bonito, Sheephead, Opaleye, Senorita, Kelp Perch, Grass Rockfish, Blacksmith

After dinner Hashem and I headed back out to the Mole. For me it was a search for a moral eel. I had caught one once from a partyboat but never from a pier and what better place than Catalina? It would be an unusual night. I was using two rigs, one a rod equipped with a Sabiki and a float, which was floated out to sea in hopes of attracting a flying fish. The other was a medium-heavy combo loaded with 50-pound line and squid for a moral eel.

The Sabiki would yield no fish. The heavier rig saw pretty steady action. Fishing inshore, near the rocks, I dropped down the squid and had an immediate hit from something big, something that immediately went under the Mole and quickly was hooked onto seaweed or possibly a piling. It was big, it was strong, and I couldn’t even turn it. The heavy line was tangled up with something and I could feel the large fish but the rock/piling/seaweed eventually won the battle and I wasn’t too happy.

However, the next drop produced a moral eel, the elusive species I have been seeking for the past five years or so. So that quest was over — finally. Not 20 minutes later Arcadian who was fishing a short distance away would pull up another moral eel and some kids down the Mole would do the same.

I finally got my moray eel — although a small one! (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Arcadian’s moray eel  (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Nighttime was “bass time” (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Next up was a legal 15-inch kelp bass followed by another legal kelp bass and then a chunk of squid yielded a large blackperch. Blackperch on a big chunk of squid on a 3/0 hook? It never happens but it did. Soon after I pulled in a large opaleye on the same squid. Opaleye at night on squid? Just a little strange. Several additional legal-size bass showed up, as well as a small spiny lobster, before we headed back to the hotel hoping to be fresh for Saturday and the derby.

A small lobster, out of season, too small, and caught on a hook and line; it was returned safely to the water

An early morning view of the harbor and the Green Pleasure Pier (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Cabrillo Mole — 7/17/2015 — 9:00-11:45 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Moray Eel, Blackperch, Opaleye, Halfmoon

Derby Day — “Rainy Saturday”

Saturday was finally Derby Day and hopes, as always, were high. Would we see a yellowtail or a triggerfish like last year? Would we see continued excitement from the bonito? What strange fish might bring something new and interesting to the Derby? And, would the rain, predicted at 20% hold off until another day? As it turned out, the last question would be the most relevant. It did rain but after the rain the fishing would begin anew.

Here comes the rain! (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

People TRIED to stay out of the rain. (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Rita and a bonito

KJ and a bonito

A Giant Kelpfish, a fish that comes in several colors depending upon its habitat

Rita and a good-sized bonito (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

What’s a little rain? (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Hashem and Kyle share some hot chocolate after the rain (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

A golden Garibaldi, California’s state marine (saltwater) fish

Fish were plentiful

Yep, surreal-like

For myself, Saturday yielded the following fish:

Cabrillo Mole — 7/18/2015 — 8 :00 AM-9:00 PM (off and on)
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Sculpin (Scorpionfish), Rock Wrasse, Opaleye, Giant Kelpfish

Between the strange weather, the successful search for an eel, the bonito bite, and the fair number of usual species, it was one more delightful visit to Catalina, one I hope to repeat next year.

The Catalina Ferry getting ready to head back to the mainland

Something for the “Stats Geeks” out there — some statistics regarding the Green Pleasure Pier and the Cabrillo Mole:

I keep records of all my fishing trips and record the fish and approximate size. That’s then broken down into fish per hour and points per hour figures.

Based upon the 2002-2015 Catalina Get Togethers, this year saw the second highest points per hour figure from the Green Pleasure Pier at 44.4. The highest was in 2014 with a 45.9 figure and the third highest was 2003 with a 40.3 figure. The lowest years were 2012 with a 14.4 figure and 2010 with a 14.8 figure.

These figures are comparable to a trip I made in 1977 when I fished the pier three times and averaged 34.2 points per hour. [And there was no Mole in 1977.]

The Cabrillo Mole though was a different story even though bonito were present this year. The points per hour figure for the Mole was only 9.87, the second lowest for 2002-2015. The lowest year was 2006 which saw a 9.00 figure. The highest years were 2011 with a 25.4 figure and 2014 with a 21.7 figure.

However, the Mole is the place to go for variety (I now have 32 different species from the pier) and it has a better chance than the Green Pleasure Pier for pelagic species such as bonito. Almost all of my single day, single pier records for species have been at the Mole.

Sixteen species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, April 26, 2013—Jack Mackerel, Kelp Bass, Blacksmith, Senorita, Kelp Rockfish, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Opaleye, Grass Rockfish, Pacific Mackerel, Treefish, California Scorpionfish, Sheephead, Pacific Sardine, Black Seaperch, Spotted Kelpfish

Fifteen species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, April 27, 2013—Kelp Bass, Pacific Mackerel, Jack Mackerel, Kelp Rockfish, Blacksmith, Treefish, Black Seaperch, Sheephead, Garibaldi, Senorita, Halfmoon, Opaleye, Pacific Sardine, Grass Rockfish, Spotted Kelpfish

Cabrillo Mole, September 19, 2010—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Senorita, Jack Mackerel, Jacksmelt, Opaleye, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Giant Kelpfish, Treefish, Blacksmith, Striped Kelpfish, Rock Wrasse, Black Seaperch, Finescale Triggerfish

Fourteen Species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, July 17, 2015—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, California Scorpionfish, Rock Wrasse, Halfmoon, Pacific Bonito, Sheephead, Opaleye, Senorita, Kelp Perch, Grass Rockfish, Moray Eel, Black Seaperch, Blacksmith + 1 Spiny Lobster

Thirteen species trip:

Avila Pier, August 3, 2013—California Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab, Brown Rockfish, Vermilion Rockfish, Yellowtail Rockfish, Bocaccio, Cabezon, Kelp Greenling, Blue Rockfish, Onespot Fringehead, Barred Surfperch, Jacksmelt

Cabrillo Mole, April 27, 2012—Kelp Bass, Pacific Mackerel, Jack Mackerel, Pacific Sardine, Senorita, Blacksmith, Opaleye, Treefish, Sheephead, Cabezon, California Scorpionfish, Kelp Rockfish, Halfmoon

Cabrillo Mole, April 16, 2011—Blacksmith, Jack Mackerel, Kelp Bass, Halfmoon, Pacific Mackerel, Ocean Whitefish, Senorita, California Scorpionfish, Salema, Treefish, Kelp Rockfish, Brown Rockfish, Pacific Sardine + 2 Spiny Lobster

Cabrillo Mole, April 23. 2010—Kelp Bass, Opaleye, Senorita, California Scorpionfish, Garibaldi, Rock Wrasse, Sheephead, Jacksmelt, Halfmoon, Kelp Rockfish, Treefish, Giant Kelpfish, Spotted Kelpfish

Twelve species trips:

Cabrillo Mole, April 25, 2010—Sheephead, Garibaldi, Kelp Bass, Opaleye, Halfmoon, California Scorpionfish, Kelp Perch, Rock Wrasse, Kelp Rockfish, Senorita, Jacksmelt, Black Seaperch

Cabrillo Mole, April 24, 2009—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Giant Kelpfish, Opaleye, Halfmoon, Spotted Kelpfish, California Scorpionfish, Sheephead, Treefish, Senorita, Jacksmelt, Kelp Perch