Day One — Pismo Beach — When we arrived at our hotel it was too early to check in so we decided to have some lunch. Friends in Fresno had said to be sure to visit the “Splash” restaurant since they had great clam chowder. Since I love clam chowder, that’s where we headed. Luckily, we just beat the crowd (and there’s almost always a line at the door).

The chowder was very good and I enjoyed the pictures on the wall, especially that of the pier.

By the time we left there was a crowd waiting to get in.

After lunch we decided to head down the street to the beach and pier. The pier was closed (which I knew) and under repair.

As usual during the summer months, the beach was crowded with people.

The Pismo Pier will be closed for an extended period of time (although some signs indicated it may be opened in sections as they finish one part and move on to the next).

The birds (mainly sea gulls and pelicans) had the pier to themselves.

We then headed back to our hotel, checked in, and walked around the grounds.

The Spyglass Inn

The bluff next to the hotel was covered with flowers

Off in the distance I could see the Avila Pier

What to do next? How about a short 15-minute drive over to Avila and its piers?

Day One — Port San Luis Pier — The Avila Beach Pier is closed but the second pier, the Port San Luis Pier, is just a mile down the road from Avila Beach. It would be a short visit but give me chance to fish.

One of my favorite spots is behind the fresh fish market just past the Sportfishing office.

The pier had quite a few people on it that day.

The pier for Cal State San Luis Obispo sits just a short distance down the shore from the Port San Luis Pier.

As for the fishing, an hour and a half fishing using my typical hi/lo rig produced 5 large jacksmelt, 4 Pacific mackerel, 2 nice-sized walleye surfperch, one small cabezon and way too many shinerperch. I also made a couple of new friends. A man and his wife had been fishing since 6:30 in the morning. They were using bobbers and had only caught a couple of fish. I gave most of the fish I caught to them and they were VERY pleased and grateful. I showed them a couple of techniques and by the time I left they too were catching some fish.

I didn’t take any pictures of the fish excepting this colorful cabezon.

Day One — Pismo Beach — After our short fishing trip, where I made sure to let Pat catch two of the mackerel that I hooked, we headed back to Pismo where we relaxed by our hotel before going out to dinner. Once again friends in Fresno had recommended a restaurant, Mo’s, if we liked BBQ. Of course I do and that’s where we headed. Mo’s isn’t fancy but it had great ribs (I tried the three variety platter) and was stuffed when we left.

We arrived right after a group of firefighters, so we had a wait.

We headed back to the hotel for a pretty sunset.

Day Two — Morro Bay — The next morning we decided to head over to Morro Bay for breakfast. My choice was the Blue Sky Bistro where I had dined previously. Again, more food than I needed.

You can either eat inside or eat outside overloooking the bay and Morro Rock

Morro Rock is always impressive. After breakfast we strolled the Embarcadero where i had the chance to check out small viewing platforms/fishing piers while Pat did some shopping.

We wound up down at Anchor Park and its small pier where two people were fishing.

This lady and her husband were visiting from Las Vegas (and enjoying the cool 72 degree weather) but had only managed one mackerel in their time at the pier.

Looking down the Embarcadero you could see the South T-Pier where I planned to fish later in the day.

Since the tide was low, I decided to head over to Cayucos and its pier first before returning to the South T-Pier.

Day Two — Cayucos — It was the middle of the day and I didn’t expect too much from the pier. However, the pier was crowded so I figured something must be biting.

I decided to head out to the end first to see what was going on. There were quite a few anglers but unfortunately most were catching only one thing — anchovies.

The anchovies explained why there were so many birds in the water.

Given the anchovies, I too put on a Sabiki and began catching them 1-4 at a time. I figured why not get some fresh bait? I also put on a halibut rig and threw out a live anchovy for bait. Unfortunately, I never had a bite.

Zane and JB

I did spot a couple of young anglers out at the end who looked like they knew what they were doing. They were fishing for sharks but hadn’t had any luck. Only problem they had was the number of tourists crowding the end looking at the birds, seals, sea lions, dolphins and whales. I asked them if they knew about PFIC and it turned out they both did. The taller was Zane and he’s a member of PFIC. The shorter was JB who, as it turned out, I had met before. He had attended one of the Kids Fishing Derbies at the Avila Beach Pier at few years ago and I had met him there when he was a little younger. As said, it looked like they knew what they were doing. Good job guys. After catching a couple of dozen anchovies and nothing else, I decided to move inshore and try for some perch.

The beach was busy as usual. As at the end of the pier, there were plenty of birds on the water. I was joined by a couple of harbor seals who would dive for anchovies when they weren’t paying me company.

Day Two — Morro Bay —After a short hour of fishing at Cayucos, and a couple of dozen anchovies, I decided to head back to Morro Bay and the T-Pier..

A beautiful day but I only fished the T-Pier for an hour due to my wife wanting to head back to Pismo. One hour using the hi/lo baited with pieces of shrimp produced two grass rockfish, one copper rockfish, and one small perch. I did toss out a Sabiki to see if there were any jacksmelt or mackerel but didn’t have a hit.

Day Two — Pismo Beach — Headed back to Pismo to spend some time with my wife and then decided to try the hotel restaurant for dinner since it was one of the highest ranking restaurants in Pismo Beach (to my surprise).

We decided to eat outside given the very pleasant weather. After a delicious dinner we walked the grounds.

Day Two — Port San Luis — Pat was tired but I still had some time left for some fishing so I headed back over to the Port San Luis Pier.

This time I headed out to the end since it was starting to get dark and there are some lights at the end. I decided to first try a Sabiki for some mackerel but it turned out the waters at the end were saturated with small bocaccio. After quickly getting a couple of dozen of those restricted fish, I switched over to a hi/low baited with shrimp and/or small pieces of mackerel. 1 3/4 hours produced 6 white croaker, 2 perch, 1 grass rockfish and way too many of the small bocaccio.

Day Three — Pismo Beach — I woke up early and since my wife was still sleeping decided to head down to the beach I had spotted from the bluffs.

Given the time in the morning, the fog still hadn’t burned off.

I took many, many pictures; here are a few.

Heading back up the bluff I encountered the first of what would be many small rabbits along the bluff area.

It turned out there were many, many rabbits in the bluff in front of the hotel. Here are a few.

We had an excellent breakfast at the hotel and then decided to visit Montana del Oro S.P. It is located between Pismo Beach and Morro Bay.

Day Three — Montana del Oro State Park

The first beach you come to has some interesting formations.

At the top of the hill just inside the park there is a hike that is about two miles long (back and forth) out to the cliff areas and some beautiful views. Much of the area reminded me of the Sea Lion Cove area near Point Arena. There are also a LOT of areas that  look VERY FISHY!

The walk back is through dry vegitation.

A birdie greeted us at our car.

Our next stop would be back in Fresno. We left Montana del Oro and Morro Bay where it was a cool 72 degrees. About 40 minutes later we were in Atascadero where it was 90 degrees. Another hour and 15 minutes and we were at the I-5 junction n Kettleman City where it was 104 degrees. Thus the Central Valley in the summertime and a reason why so many like to head over to the coast.

Jacksmelt

Species: Atherinopsis californiensis (Girard, 1854); from the Greek words ather (a spike or arrow) and ops (like), and californiensis (in reference to the geographic area).

Alternate Names: Smelt, California smelt, horse smelt, blue smelt, silverside, pescado del rey, Peixe rey and Pesce rey. Called pejerrey mocho in Mexico.

Identification: Smelt-like shape and very similar to the topsmelt. They have two dorsal fins; the anal fin begins below the first dorsal fin. Their coloring is grayish-green above with a bluish tinge, silver below. A metallic band tinged with blue and edged with bright blue extends the length of the body. The cheek has a yellowish blotch.

Jacksmelt caught by Mike Granat at the Port View Park PIer in Oakland

Size: To 17 1/2 inches. In southern California, anglers catch both jacksmelt and topsmelt and most of the fish are small. Occasionally a few larger fish do appear, with almost all fish over 12 inches being jacksmelt. In northern California, the majority of smelt appear to be over 12 inches in length. The “official” California record was a fish weighing 1 lb 8 oz; it was caught near San Nicholas Island in 1998.  

Range: From Bahia Magdalena, southern Baja California, and the Gulf of California, to Yaquina Bay, Oregon. Uncommon north of California.

Habitat: Bays and shallow oceanfront water, especially near rocky areas like jetties where there is a good current to sweep food near the fish.

Jacksmelt caught by “Supersmelt” in Newport Bay

Piers: Jacksmelt are caught at virtually every pier in California. Larger jacksmelt are especially abundant at piers in bays, and even more so at bay piers adjacent to rocky points. Best bets: Oceanside Pier, Newport Pier, Huntington Beach Pier, Redondo Beach Pier, Hermosa Beach Pier, Gaviota Pier, Pismo Beach Pier, Port San Luis Pier, Santa Cruz Wharf, Pillar Point Harbor Pier, San Francisco Municipal Pier, Berkeley Pier, Elephant Rock Pier, Fort Baker Pier, Lawson Landing Pier (Tomales Bay), Tides Wharf (Bodega Bay), Commercial Street Dock (Eureka) and the “B” Street Pier (Crescent City).

Shoreline: Sometimes taken by inshore anglers fishing near rocks or jetties.

Boats: Sometimes taken by boaters, especially those fishing Morro Bay and San Francisco Bay.

Thomas Orosco and a mess of jacksmelt from the Berkeley Pier

Bait and Tackle: Two main outfits are used. First is a simple snag line made with several small hooks, either left bare or to which colored yarn or cloth has been attached (like a Lucky Joe rigging). This is commonly used in southern California and the angler simply jigs the leader up and down trying to attract and snag the fish. In northern California, a leader is usually made up with six to eight small hooks spaced every six inches apart. A float or large bobber is attached above the hooks. Each hook is baited with a very small piece of pile worm, bloodworm or shrimp and the outfit is allowed to drift with the current. The result is often 3-6 fish caught at one time. Caution — In San Francisco Bay these  smelt rigs are limited to three hooks.

Food Value: A tasty fish when pan-fried although there are a lot of bones and usually quite a few worms in the flesh.

Comments: For their size jacksmelt put up a terrific fight. Many anglers have been startled to have a jacksmelt hit a bait at full throttle and come to realize that a fairly small fish has put up such a terrific battle.

A jacksmelt from the Port San Luis Pier

A jacksmelt from the Elephant Rock Pier

If you catch one jacksmelt you are almost assured of catching more — Jacksmelt at the Candlestick Pier in San Francisco in 2008

]]> http://kenjonesfishing.com/2016/11/jacksmelt/feed/ 0 http://kenjonesfishing.com/2016/10/queenfish/ http://kenjonesfishing.com/2016/10/queenfish/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2016 01:09:17 +0000 kenjones http://kenjonesfishing.com/?p=12908 Croakers—Family Sciaeidae

Queenfish from the Ventura Pier in 2011

Species: Seriphus politus (Ayres, 1860); from the Greek word seriph (a kind of locust, an island near Greece, or a kind of wormwood—take your pick. Evidently, the scientist who gave the fish its scientific name, a Dr. Ayres, never specified why he used this name.), the Latin words us (word for an ending), polit  (smooth or polished), and us  (same ending word).

Alternate Names: Commonly called herring in SoCal; also herring croaker and brownie or brown bait. For some unexplained reason called sea trout in the Ventura area. Early 20th century names included kingfish, tomcod and sea trout. Called corvineta reina in Mexico.

Identification: Queenfish have a long slender body, a large mouth with a projecting upper jaw, and small eyes. Their two dorsal fins are widely separated which distinguishes them from other croakers. Their coloring is metallic; silver-blue on the back, a silver or whitish belly, and dusky fins.

Queenfish from the Ocean Beach Pier in 2007

Size: To 12 inches, although most caught off piers are less than 8 inches in length. An 11-inch queenie weighed a little over a half pound.

Range: West of the Uncle Sam Bank, Baja California, and the Gulf of California to Burrard Inlet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Queenfish are uncommon north of Cayucos and rare north of Monterey.

Habitat: Common in shallow-water sandy areas, both oceanfront and in bays, especially around piers. Often found in densely packed schools, sometimes along with white croaker. Most commonly found at depths from 4 to 27 feet happily munching on free-swimming crustacea, small crabs, and fish.

Queenfish from the Port San Luis Pier in 2014

Piers: Common at most southern California piers. Best bets: Imperial Beach Pier, Ocean Beach Pier, Crystal Pier, Oceanside Pier, Seal Beach Pier (I think it’s the best), Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, Santa Monica Pier, Malibu Pier and Ventura Pier. Abundant inshore from late spring to the beginning of winter.  Dense schools of queenfish are often found in the shady areas under piers. I have also caught a few queenfish at both the Cayucos Pier and Monterey Wharf No. 2.

Shoreline: An occasional catch by shore anglers in southern California.

Boats: Not a common boat species but some are taken in southern California bays.

Queenfish from the Hermosa Beach Pier in 2008

Bait and Tackle: The best bet is to either use a Sabiki/Lucky Lura-type leader (size 6-8 hooks), or to simply tie four size 8 hooks directly to your line spacing them every six inches with the bottommost hook 18 inches above the sinker. Drop your line to the bottom and reel in slowly until you find the depth at which the fish are biting. Once you find the fish, drop the leader down and slowly work it up and down. When the schools are thick you may not even need bait—the fish will strike the bare hooks. Other times you may need to use bait such as a small strip of anchovy or squid. Schools can be kept around your line by occasionally tossing in a few pieces of stale breadcrumbs or a few small pieces of anchovy chum. Schools often move into deeper water at night so adjust your spot on the pier accordingly.

Food Value: Queenfish are good tasting little panfish but only the larger specimens have enough meat on them to use as food fish. Pan-frying is the common method of cooking.

Comments: This small fish is another that had a Navy vessel named after it.  The USS Queenfish (SS-393) was a Balao-class diesel-electric submarine built in Kittery, Maine. Launched on November 30, 1943, it was commissioned on March 11, 1944.  After training in Hawaii she began a distinguished career that included duty in the Luzon Strait, the Formosa Straits, and waters adjacent to the China coast.  She sank many ships and engaged in rescue operations of Allied soldiers. She was at Midway, preparing for another patrol, when the war ended. The Queenfish was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (US), and received 6 battle stars for World War II service.  Later she served as Flagship Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet and was homeported at Pearl Harbor before later transfer to San Diego. She was struck from the Navy List in March 1963 and sunk as a target by the Swordfish (SSN-579), in August 1963.

Queenfish themselves are attractive little fish that are fun to catch even if they’re not exactly a sporting catch. Small queenfish can be used at piers as bait for halibut or any other large fish. Queenfish were numerically ranked first in an early Fish and Game survey of fish caught from southern California piers and jetties.

 

 Rubberlip Seaperch from the Monterey Coast Guard Pier

Species: Rhacochilus toxotes (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek words rhacochilus (rag lip) and toxotes (pertaining to the East Indian archer fish, because of a presumed resemblance). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Embiotocinae.

Alternate Names: Buttermouth perch, porgee, sprat, or liverlip. In the 19th century these were called sprat at Santa Cruz, and alfione at Soquel. Called mojarra labios de hule or perca labios de hule in Mexico.

Identification: Typical perch-shape with a deep and heavy body. Their coloring is brown or brassy with thick, usually white or pink lips.

Rubberlip seaperch from the Port San Luis Pier

Size: Rubberlip seaperch are the largest species of the surfperch/seaperch family; they reach 18.5 inches in length. Most caught from piers are less than 13 inches long. The California record fish weighed 5 lb 0 oz and was taken at Monterey Bay, Monterey Co. in June 2009. The previous record, a 4 lb 4 oz fish, was taken in 1995 at the Monterey Dunes.   

Range: Cabo Thurloe, southern Baja California to Russian Gulch Beach, Mendocino County. Most commonly found in the Monterey Bay area.

Habitat: Shallow-water rocky areas, kelp beds and bays. Scientists report that rubberlips primarily feed at night on thin-shelled invertebrates. Are the perch able to spot the tasty morsels with their super-keen eyesight? No, rubberlips appear to use their sensitive lips (remember, some fish have taste buds on their lips) to detect their nightly dinner.

Rubberlip seaperch from the Morro Bay North T-Pier

Piers: A primarily southern and central California perch, common at bay and oceanfront piers, at least those located near rocky areas, reefs or kelp beds. Best bets: Ocean Beach Pier, Paradise Cove Pier, Stearns Wharf, Goleta Pier, Gaviota Pier, Monterey Coast Guard Pier, Monterey Wharf No. 2, Capitola Wharf, Santa Cruz Wharf, San Francisco Municipal Pier and Fort Baker Pier.

Shoreline: A favorite catch by rocky shore anglers in southern and central California.

Boats: An inshore species sometimes taken by boaters fishing in bays, especially San Francisco Bay.

Rubberlip seaperch from the Elephant Rock Pier in Tiburon

Bait and Tackle: Rubberlip seaperch are usually taken on a high/low leader and size 6 or 4 hooks baited with fresh mussels, live sea worms, or small pieces of shrimp. Those with the proper know how use plastic grubs (usually root beer or oil colored) and they are the ones who often bag the largest fish. Small 1/12 or 1/8 oz. chrome, chrome with blue, or chrome with green Krocodiles have also proven to be very effective.

Picture below — rubberlip seaperch from the Capitola Wharf (1997)

Food Value: Since they are one of the largest perch, specimens often contain quite a bit of meat. Although their flesh has a mild taste, most gourmets rate it only fair in taste. They are at their best during the non-spawning season and generally are pan-fried in butter.

Picture below — Minnow Magnet and a rubberlip seaperch caught at Monterey

Comments: One of my favorite quotes comes from Probably More Than You Want To Know About The Fishes Of The Pacific Coast by Milton Love (director of the UCSB Love Lab). In regard to rubberlip perch he says: “What is really cool about these fish is their ability to separate small invertebrates from all the mung they suck in, without having a tongue to help. (Surprise! Fish don’t have tongues. The structure that looks like a one is actually a support for their gill arches.) Ths trick is equivalent to your putting a bunch of miniature marshmallows, broken glass, fingernail clippings and cubic zirconiums in your mouth, then separating and swallowing only the marshmallows, all without using your tongue or fingernails. Good trick, yes?” This helps explain why the big perch are so difficult to hook. Oh, and if you haven’t yet bought Mr. Love’s book, do it now.

Rubberlip seaperch (and Ken Jones) from the Gaviota Pier

A nice perch from the Belmont Pier, 1998

 Rubberlip Seaperch, San Francisco Municipal Pier, 1999