Many if not most cities, big and small, also had “Rod and Gun” clubs. Many of these dated back to the ‘20s and the Bay Area alone had several dozen “Rod and Gun” and  “Sportsmen’s” clubs (not counting the “Striped Bass” and “Surf Fishing clubs”). Most of these are now history.

One of the largest remaining “Rod and Gun” clubs in California, with over 1200 members, is the Marin Rod and Gun Club, which was founded in 1926 (and called the Marvelous Marin Rod and Gun Club from 1927 until the mid ‘30s).

The  stated goals at inception were the conservation, preservation and propagation of fish and game. It has remained true to its original purpose and is as active today in conservation and environmental projects as it was over 90 years ago.

The entrance to the pier

Luckily for anglers, the club has maintained and even improved at times what is now a real rarity—a private pier from which club members (and their guests) can fish. Good thing! Of course being a private instead of a “public” pier also means you need a California fishing license when fishing from the pier (and the rule is enforced).

Maintenance of the pier is a never ending project

Environment. The pier is 2,300-foot long, sits on Point San Quentin, is adjacent to the western end of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and pokes out into the water of San Francisco Bay. Heading west on the bridge the first exit right takes you to the club, go left and you’ll be headed to San Quentin Prison (but do not stop for a friendly visit).

Given that the bridge sees nearly 80,000 cars a day traversing its expensive lanes, it is probably one of the most viewed piers in the Bay Area. Most of the people sitting in their cars probably have little knowledge of the pier’s usage or its interesting history. On the other hand, drivers who are “pier rats” may see the pier and simply think—“how do I fish that pier?” That’s certainly what I thought for years.

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

As for the pier’s waters, it is mostly shallow although the pier’s length allows those at the end to fish in somewhat deeper channels. Inshore, a short distance north of the pier, sees eelgrass beds. At three points out from the pier, also on the north side, sit a series of submerged reefs containing oyster shells, part of a plan to reestablish native oysters to the area. Both projects are cooperative projects between the club and various agencies and are designed to help the health of the bay. If they also help the fishing in the area that’s a plus for the project.

Events are held throughout the year and when they are the pier can be crowded

Being a private pier means members are expected to keep the pier clean—and it shows since the pier is cleaner than most public piers. Club members have also thought of several useful amenities. One is the hoop nets located every hundred feet or so along the pier. When you hook a big fish, especially a big bat ray you need a net to bring it up onto the pier.

Hoop nets are lined against the pier to help anglers bring large fish up onto the pier

Another GREAT addition to the pier is the three-sided windbreaks on the pier. They allow a person to fish is relative peace and quiet on those days when the bone-chillin’ winds come howling in through the Golden Gate and whip the bay into a froth.

A windbreakl

Near the pier’s entrance sit several old shopping carts and these too are a special amenity. Given the length of the pier, they are a godsend for those who do not have their own personal pier carts to use for the rods, reels, tackle boxes, coolers, and assorted goodies that “pier rats” bring to a pier.

The Fish.

Striped Bass—Striped bass are and have been the most sought after fish at the pier since its inception. In fact, the pier was often referred to as the “striped bass pier” back before most of us were born.

The Marin Rod and Gun Club is the proud owner of the largest striped bass pier in the world.

—Petaluma Argus-Courier, January 12, 1940

 This picture of a striped bass hangs in the clubhouse

Those days saw a different world. Stripers were seen as the “common man’s fish” and HUGE striped bass derbies were held throughout the San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta region. In fact, the club itself sponsored a “Striped Bass Carnival” that was held at McNear’s Beach in 1934 and 1935 (since the Pt. San Quentin property and pier was not acquired by the club until June 1936). It attracted thousands of anglers to the event and was wildly heralded throughout the region.

Pretty Girls Will Assist Bass Carnival In Marin

Who wouldn’t be a striped bass and get acquainted with all the Marin county aquatic queens? The most pulchritudinous maids of Marvelous Marin are to be participants in the first annual Striped Bass Carnival, to be held at McNear’s Beach, near San Rafael, Sunday, April 15, and even the “stripers,” generally chary of human companionship at the end of a fishing line, must be looking forward to the event. And such an event as it will be! Devotees of the rod and reel from all parts of northern California are joining to make the carnival an outstanding success. The event originally conceived by members of the Marin Rod and Gun Club, has the sponsorship of every sportsman’s club of the San Francisco bay area and will be replete with interesting features. There will be casting and trolling contests, a spectacular motorboat and yacht parade, a bathing beauty contest featuring the most beautiful girls of the bay area, comedy features galore, marksmanship contests and scores of other features to make the day a memorable one.

—The Petaluma Argus-Courier. April 7, 1934

Over 10,000 people attended the event, members of the state fish and game commission were the guests of honor, and afterward it was declared a “Great Success.”

Stripers were king and at the time there seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of the fish.

Stripers taken by Preston in August 2013

Newspaper accounts regarding the pier talked of 40 bass in one day (August 1, 1949), 120 stripers in three days (May 1951), fishermen averaging 40 fish a day and catching over 600 fish in a few weeks (May 1951), nearly 1,000 stripers taken in 30 days and 40 fish in one hour (October 1957).

As for size, literally thousands of 10-20 pound striped bass have been taken over the years. Two of the largest stripers were a 34-pound, 48-inch fish taken in May of 1959 and another 34-pound fish taken in September of 1975.

A striper taken in August 2015

Of course times have changed, striped bass no longer receive support from the Fish and Wildlife Department (they’re a non-native species), and there are far less stripers around today than in those days. Nevertheless, striped bass are still the main fish pursued by anglers at the pier.

A small striper taken in 2017

Flatfish— Several flatfish can be caught from the pier and luckily it is pretty much a year round sport. One favored species is most prevalent during the winter and spring months and a second most common during the summer to fall months.

Starry flounder were once one of the most common fish at the pier and when the striped bass were missing anglers concentrated on the flounder.

Newspaper account in the San Rafael Independent Journal chronicled many of the catches including thousands of flounder up to six pounds being taken from the pier (April 1952), flounder being taken in good numbers (March 1953), good-sized flounder being taken at the pier (March 1954), many fine catches of flounder to three and four pounds; best run of flounders in the past five years (January 1956), flounders up to three and four pounds, and plenty of smaller ones caught close to shore (January 1958), exceptional flounder fishing with hundreds being caught each day up to five pounds (April 1958)—and these are just a few of the reports.

As for size, the largest recorded was a 9-pound flounder taken in April of 1949.

However, just as the entire Bay Area has seen a steep decline in the number of starry flounder during the past few decades, so too has this pier. They are still caught, primarily from late November to April, but rarely in the big numbers once seen.

A second flatfish, favored by all, is California halibut. Surprisingly, this is a species rarely caught at the pier until the past twenty years.

Small California halibut caught in August 2015

Halibut are not considered a “resident” Bay Area species by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Instead they are seen as a more southerly species that traveled north during warm-water El Nino years and have managed to live and populate during those years. Just as halibut have become a favored species for the Sportfishing boats, so too have the hallies shown up at Bay Area piers including this pier.

Halibut, both smaller illegal-size fish and larger fish, seem to show up from about May until September and when caught (if large enough) are considered a prize catch. Fish exceeding 15 pounds have been caught from the pier.

The third flatfish occasionally seen is diamond turbot, a pretty little fish rarely exceeding 12 inches in length that will often nibble on a small hooks baited with worms.

Brian Linebarger with a diamond turbot taken in 2017

Jacksmelt—Jacksmelt are numerically probably the number one fish taken from the pier. They’re not that big but put up a spirited fight (especially on light tackle) and often provide some sport when other, more favored sport fish seem to have deserted the pier’s waters.

 Nice jacksmelt caught in 2016

Jacksmelt taken in 2016

Perch— Perch are fairly common at the pier but more often than not are caught as an incidental catch by those fishing for other fish (although a couple of club members specialize in the perch and they know how to “get them.”

This was not always the case; there was a time when big numbers of perch were caught at the pier. One newspaper account reported that thousands of flounder and redtail perch were being taken from the pier (April 1952), another report just a month later said hundreds of redtail perch had been landed (May 1952). Flounder and redtail perch fishing was good with redtails to two pounds in weight (February 1953) while March and May saw similar reports.

November 1954 saw a report saying that “the perch and pogies are in” seemingly overlooking the fact that the “pogies” being reported were perch. January 1956 saw reports of fine catches while “plenty of perch” were being caught (April 1956). January 1958 also saw “fine catches” of perch. In December 1970 one article reported the catch of 32 perch averaging 1 ½ pound in a single day. Such were the reports.

As for large perch, a rubberlip perch weighing 3 pounds was reported caught in March 1977 while a slightly smaller fish weighing 2 pound 13 ½ ounce was caught in March 1976.

However, as with the bass and flounder, the numbers have decreased since those days. But perch are fun to catch and you only need a light rod and reel rigged with 6-8 pound test line.

Most of the perch you will see at the pier will be either the larger seaperch—blackperch, pileperch, rubberlip perch, white perch, and striped perch (a few), or surfperch—the smaller walleye and silver perch or the larger redtail and calico surfperch.

A blackperch taken in August 2013

Most common of all perch, and a good fish to catch for live bait are the small shinerperch.

What must be remembered when discussing perch is that San Francisco Bay sees a perch closure from April 1 to July 31, a time when only shinerperch may be taken. But, as said, the winter and spring months (through March) are the prime time for many of the species. In addition, while years ago people would fill buckets and sacks with perch, today the limit is five perch in San Francisco and San Pablo Bay. For shinerperch the limit is 20.

Sharays—The Elasmobranchi species, sharks and rays, are probably the second most common fish caught from the pier, especially during the spring to fall months.

Leopard shark taken in August 2015

Species vary with leopard sharks and brown smoothhounds leading the shark parade and bat rays (mud marlin) leading the parade for rays. All are common and the “leppies” and “mud marlin” are the fish most often providing the “big fish” fights on the pier.

A brown smoothhound shark taken in August 2015

Intruding into the mix will be a few skate, including big skate, and a fish rarely seen in the bay until a few years ago—shovelnose sharks (guitarfish).

A small bat ray (mud marlin) taken in 2017

Shovelnose guitarfish taken in 2016

Miscellaneous Fish—Although the pier will rarely see the number of species encountered at oceanfront piers, or even see the number caught at Bay Area piers sitting closer to the Golden Gate, it does see a few different species caught each year. Some are saltwater fish that may journey further up the bay when salinity levels increase during summer and fall months; some may be anadromus fish that can travel between freshwater and saltwater.

Saltwater fish have included such fish as lingcod, various sculpin, small rockfish and herring.

Anadromus species include salmon and steelhead. Salmon, most often smaller salmon, have been caught in the early spring months when traveling along the Marin shoreline on their way to saltwater. In the fall, larger salmon take the underwater Marin highway on their way back up through San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay before entering the Carquinez Strait and eventually, the Sacramento or San Joaquin river systems prior to spawning.

Salmon were reported from the pier in March of 1949 and 1954; September reports took place in 1941 and 1949; and a lone December report was made in 1964. The largest fish was a 21-pound salmon taken in September 1941 and an 18-pound salmon taken in December 1964. Undoubtedly more have been caught that didn’t make the news.

Steelhead too make an occasional though less frequent appearance and all were winter-time fish. Steelhead weighing three pounds each were reported in February 1953, January 1956 and January 1958, while a steelhead (weight unknown) was reported in February 1974. Again, there were probably many more fish taken but unreported over the years.

Likely caught, but never reported, are shad that also pass through local waters on their way up to the Sacramento River.

Fishing Tips.

Striped Bass—Most of the stripers taken by anglers at the pier will be caught using the typical leaders—high/low leaders or Carolina-type leaders. In addition, a third special approach is often used by those in the know when using the Carolina rigging.

For the high/low rig simply attach a sinker at the bottom of your line with a snap-swivel (using a sinker simply heavy enough to hold on the bottom). Next attach two short dropper leaders with hooks to the line, one about 18 inches up from the sinker and then a second another 18 inches higher. Hooks can be size 2 to about 2/0 and high/lows are good when using dead bait—anchovies, sardines, etc., or live bait like pile worms, bloodworms, grass shrimp or ghost shrimp.

For the Carolina rigging run the line through an egg sinker (with a hole in the middle) and a small plastic bead before attaching the line to a barrel swivel. To the swivel attach a 36-40 inch leader with a live bait hook (if using live bait). The Carolina rig is best when using live bait, i.e., a small smelt or shinerperch, or when using artificial lures.

A special technique used by members of the “Bass Brigade”—club regulars who fish the pier on a regular basis, is “trolling the pier.” It’s a technique I’ve seen used for halibut in southern California for twenty years or so but it may actually have originated here at the pier for striped bass almost 70 years ago. The first reference to the technique was seen in an August 1952 San Rafael Independent Journal article that said eight stripers had been taken on the pier on bait and trolling. The next reference was in July of 1957 when an article said “a few nice fish were taken Saturday, including an 8-1/2-pounder trolling by walking the pier, which, incidentally, is a uniquely Marin way of taking stripers.” Many references to the technique and its success have shown up over the years.

An angler “trolling” the pier

As the name implies, you walk along the pier with a bait or artificial lure. You keep the bait/lure in motion a foot to two feet above the bottom and are ready for a strike at all times. Bass often like to hang around structure, i.e., pier pilings, and are often in the depressions between the pilings.

As for which lures to use? Many of the same lures used in trolling in boats can be used on the pier. One of the first newspaper stories talked about anglers using Hair Raisers when trolling at the pier. Today more anglers will use plastics, especially swim bait-type lures, i.e, (Big Hammer,  Fish Traps, Berkeley Gulp Minnows or Berkeley Sand Worms). Check with the regulars since they know what’s been working best.

Striped bass taken in August 2017

Flatfish—Starry Flounder. Most starry flounder are caught with live bait—pile worms, ghost shrimp or grass shrimp although pieces of anchovy or sardine will also work (just not as well). Hook size is usually 4 or 2.

For years the standard rigging used in the Bay Area for flounder was a plastic “fish-finder” rigging (same as used for sturgeon) through which the line was run. The line is attached to a barrel swivel and then a leader is attached to the swivel. The sinker is attached via a snap-swivel that is attached to the plastic.

Once baited, the rigging is cast out and the reel is set on a very light drag, or no drag with the clicker on. If a fish picks up the bait, the line can be pulled out without the fish feeling any pressure. Thus the flounder has time to play with and mouth the bait, an important trait when fishing for fish that give a light bite. Flounder prefer to mouth the bait before striking. Give ‘em some line, wait a couple of seconds, then strike.

These plastic rigs are (were) easily purchased at most local tackle shops. The alternative is usually a Carolina-like rigging. The difference is that the plastic rigging works better with a variety of bottom hugging sinkers while the Carolina rigging is usually used with an egg sinker that will drift along the bottom with the current.

Generally these sliding bait rigging work better than a high/low leader although they too are used. Flounder are very picky and if they feel any resistance will often drop the bait.

Flatfish—California Halibut. Halibut are ambush predators that like to lie on the bottom and watch for a reasonable-size baitfish to come swimming along. As soon as that happens the halibut darts off the bottom and grabs the bait. Dead bait simply thrown out and sitting motionless on the bottom rarely interests Mr. and Mrs. Halibut.

Live bait is one option and can be fished using Carolina-type rigging. Run your line through an egg sinker (with a hole in the middle) and a small plastic bead before attaching the line to a barrel swivel. To the swivel attach a 36-40 inch leader with a live bait hook.

Or, you can simply use one of the plastic fish-finer rigs mentioned above. Some anglers prefer using the plastic when using a somewhat heavier sinker. In either case the live bait swimming above the bottom should attract a halibut if they are around.

The key of course is to find some live bait. Some anglers may drive to San Francisco or Berkeley Marina to pick up live bait and then try to keep it alive in buckets using an aerator. Another approach is to catch live bait at the pier and generally that means small perch like walleyes, silvers or shinerperch. Small smelt can also be used.

A small halibut taken by Mikayla Melero in 2016 (and safely returned to the water)

A specialty at the pier is “trolling the pier,” as discussed for striped bass, and the technique  can also be deadly for the halibut.  It can be used with live bait when using the Carolina-egg sinker rigging.

“Trolling” on the pier can also be used with lures, especially swim bait-type lures like Big Hammer, Fish Traps, Berkeley Gulp Minnows or Berkeley Sand Worms. The latest favorite lures used for halibut in SoCal, albeit somewhat expensive lures, are Lucky Craft lures, especially the Flash Minnow design in MS Anchovy or Metallic Sardine color.  I’m not sure if they’ve been tried here but well worth a try.

Set up a Carolina rig and attach the lure to the leader. Hook the swim bait through its nose and then walk it along the pier (typically 2-3 feet above the bottom). Halibut like to lay in the depressions between the pilings and when the bait/lure comes swimming along above it they will rush up to grab the food. Using this approach you always have the rod in your hand, will know when the halibut hits, and hopefully will respond accordingly.

Jacksmelt—Jacksmelt usually are found three to six feet under the surface of the water so that is where you want to place your bait. The most common rigging is a torpedo sinker placed on the bottom of your line (1/2 ounce or one-ounce depending on your float), with three size 8 or 6 hooks placed about every 12-18 inches above the sinker. A float of some type (a piece of styrofoam, a balloon, or a bobber) is attached a couple of feet above the top hook. The float should keep the bait and hooks near the surface.  Baits are usually pile worm, small pieces of shrimp, or pieces of baitfish and you simply need to keep an eye on when the float is pulled under the water. Caution — some people like to use the Sabiki-type bait rigs for smelt. If you do, remember to remove three of the hooks (they usually have six) since the limit inside the bay is three hooks.

A jacksmelt and a happy angler

The jacksmelt will range from about 12 to 16 inches or so and for their size put up a spirited fight. Jacksmelt are caught year round.

A jacksmelt taken in 2012

Perch—The seaperch—blackperch (called pogies by most), whiteperch, rubberlip perch, and striped perch typically are found on the bottom and a simple hi/lo rigging works best. Put a one-two ounce torpedo sinker on the bottom and using dropper loops tie on two size 6 or 4 hooks above the sinker, one about a foot from the bottom and the second a foot or so further up. Prime bait will be live ghost shrimp, pile worms, bloodworms, or grass shrimp but you may have a hard time finding live bait. Next up is small pieces of market shrimp or mussels (and fresh mussels are best). Strips of squid, pieces of clam, or even small pieces of anchovies may bring in a few perch but they are far inferior baits. The larger perch also will hit on small crabs (1/2-inch or so), which you may find by looking under shoreline rocks.

The surfperch—walleyes and silvers, are usually at mid-depth and the same hi/lo rigging but with size 8 or 6 hooks will work. Best bait for these is pile worms and bloodworms but they will hit almost any bait; the key is small hooks and finding the school because usually if you find one walleye or silver you will find more.

Shinerperch take similar bait and riggings with some people dropping the hook size down to 10 or 8. The shiners are too small to eat but do make good bait for striped bass.

All of the perch like to hang around the pilings and a good technique is to drop the line on the side of the pier from which the tide is running and let it drift under the pier near a piling.

The larger perch, especially rubberlip perch will also often hit small artificial lures. Small Kastmaster spoons (1/12 or 1/8 oz. size in chrome or chrome with blue or green) will work while many people like rubber grubs or Berkeley “Gulp Sand Worms” in camo, root beer or oil colors.

Best technique with the spoons is generally jigging them up and down just off the bottom. For the grubs and fake worms, cast out and retrieve the lure slowly back to the pier. give the lure a slow retrieve.

As a general rule the blackperch will be found in the innermost section of the pier just past the entrance building as will most of the seaperch. Given the blackperch affinity for eelgrass a cast out toward the inshore eelgrass beds should prove productive. The surfperch, pileperch, whiteperch and shinerperch will venture farther out to deeper waters and may be found almost anywhere on the pier.

Winter months sometimes sees large schools of pileperch move into the area while spring is often the best time for the other seaperch. Summer months seem most productive for the surfperch.

Sharays—Sharks and rays are reliable species much of the year and, as said, provide most of the “big” fish for pier catches. However, most of the big fish are not that big. Large leopard sharks, some approaching five feet in length, and large bat rays, some approaching a hundred pounds in weight, are occasionally seen but the majority of the sharays will be smaller fish, most 5-20 pounds in weight. You do need heavier tackle—rod, reel and line, with 30-50 pound test line probably being sufficient, but for the sharays a little heavier than a little lighter is probably good advice. The typical high/low or Carolina riggings can be used but move up the hook size; size 2 to 6/0 hooks are common with size dependent upon the bait being used.

Leopard shark taken in August 2013

The sharks generally like an oily piece of fish for bait—sardine, herring, mackerel, or anchovy although they will also hit jacksmelt (whole or pieces); if fish is unavailable try squid. With the rays the preference on bait is switched. Squid is liked the best followed by the oily fish. Live bait is rarely used but a small smelt or perch will take some sharks, especially leopard sharks. An additional trick used by some, especially if using a Carolina rig or the plastic fish-finder rigs is to use two hooks in tandem at the end of the leader., double hooking a whole sardine or squid  A bait tick is to use a whole squid with a sardine placed inside its body.

A small brown smoothhound taken in 2016

For all of these play them out before bringing them to the pier, they can be strong and the hard part if when you are ready to net them. A strong fish that is not played out will give an additional run when spotting the pier and you do not want it wrapping the line around the piling.

 Hans Jones and a small bat ray — 2017

A shovelnose guitarfish taken in 2015

Sturgeon—The plastic “fish-finder” rigging used for flounder also works well for sturgeon The main line is run through a plastic sleeve then attached by way of a snap-swivel or swivel to a leader. The sinker is attached to the snap on the side of the plastic sleeve. Once baited, the rigging is cast out and the reel is set on a very light drag, or no drag with the clicker on. If a fish picks up the bait, the line can be pulled out without the fish feeling any pressure.

Sturgeon require heavier line (typically 30 pound or heavier test nylon coated wire), larger hooks (2/0 to 6/0) and bigger baits. Several grass shrimp, a couple of pile worms, one or two large mud shrimp, or a fresh piece of herring should do the trick.

Do remember if seeking out sturgeon that you need a sturgeon card in addition to your regular license. Also remember that the sturgeon must be between 40 and 60 inches, (fork length) to keep.

Measuring a leopard shark, 2014

Nope, too small. Time for a quick picture and then back into the water.

E-Mail Messages

Date: December 6, 1997; To: Ken Jones; From: Keith Korsgal; Subject: S.F. Bay Fishing

Fished Friday, Dec 5 at the Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier. Lots of bullheads, a few stripers and the perch and flounder are starting to pick up. Anchovies are the bait for the stripers, with pile worms and grass shrimp are doing well for the perch and flounders. Make sure to dress warm and be prepared for wet weather.

Keith, Can a non-club member visit the pier for a fee or do they need to be a member, and if they do, how much does it cost to join the club? Thanks, Ken Jones

Ken, Regarding the Rod and Gun club pier. A non-member can go as a member’s guest. To join the club costs $135 initiation fee and then $35 a year after that. There is no longer a shooting range available, so the only facilities available are the fishing pier, and the club house which is open from 12 noon until 6 p.m. They have drinks, sodas, soup and chili at very reasonable prices.  Keith

Keith, Sounds interesting. I may be down over the new year and if so I will drop you a message. It would be interesting to try a new pier. Best wishes, Ken

Date: March 9, 1998; To: Ken Jones; From: Keith; Subject:  Marin Rod and Gun Club

Ken, The Rod and Gun club pier has been pretty good lately. Lots of stripers up to 30 lbs., quite a few sanddabs, and even an occasional sturgeon.

Date: Mar 31, 1998; To: Ken Jones; From: Keith &Jackie; Subject: SF Bay area Piers

Ken, Here are short reports on the following Piers: Marin Rod and Gun Club:  Lots of small stripers, a few large ones and lots of flounders and sanddabs. Most fishing is best two hours before the high tide to two hours after. Bait used is anchovies and sardines for stripers, pile worms and grass shrimp (if you can get them) for the flounders and sanddabs.

Date: October 5, 1998; To: Ken Jones; From: Keith & Jackie ; Subject: New Pier

Ken,  The fishing at the Rod and Gun club has been busy.  A lot of small stripers on up to 27″, lots of smelt, and a few rays.

Date: January 14, 1999; To: Keith Korsgal; From: Ken Jones; Subject: Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier

Keith, Hope you’re enjoying the new year and catching some fish. About this time of the year used to be the time when the big piling perch would be hanging around the Red Rock Pier. Do you find the same holds true at the Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier? Seems like it would although they’re on the opposite ends of the bridge. Of course, there used to be a lot of sunken boats and other perch-attracting objects by the Red Rock Pier. Best wishes and hoping you’re catching a lot of fish, Ken

Ken, The perch fishing at the Rod and Gun club is pretty good.  The pilings all have a heavy growth of barnacles and other things, and the perch bite really well on grass shrimp, pile worms, and small strips of anchovies.  I like to fish with an ultra light pole with 6# line and use crappie jigs.

The fishing is best right under the pier.  There used to be some of the pier boards with hinges so you could open them and fish straight down, but some people weren’t closing them when they were finished, and the club closed them.

Members with small boats go to the pilings just 30 yards off the end of the pier, and catch lots of big perch, especially when the tide is moving well, usually right after the top of the tide. Hope this helps.  Keith

Keith, Thanks for the reply. I assumed it was a good perch area but it is always dangerous to assume anything when talking about fishing. Best wishes, Ken

Date: June 15, 2008; To: PFIC Message Board; From: Ken Jones; Subject: Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier

Yesterday I got an early Father’s Day present, the chance to fish on a new pier, or at least a new one for me, the Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier. I arrived late, the tides had changed, and action had slowed by my arrival, but I managed several nice-sized jacksmelt. But that’s all. Still, I saw a good-sized leopard shark landed along with several more jacksmelt and was told some under-sized halibut had been landed during the morning tide.

It’s a long pier and one of the nice things about it is that it is rarely crowded which allows the regulars the chance to troll their bait (or lure) along the pier without tangling other lines. Apparently that’s been the success recipe for most of the recent halibut and though I tried some trollin’ of my own the fish gave me a big snub. As usual live bait is preferred but it was unavailable and uncatchable yesterday.

But now I’ve fished from 128 California piers. However, since the specie list from those piers is 127, I need to go out and catch a new ‘un. Still looking for a green sturgeon or a moray eel from a pier.

A leopard shark taken in 2016

Potpourri

Author’s Note No. 1. Unfortunately I’ve only had the pleasure of visiting the club and its pier for about ten years. My first visit took place in June of 2008 when I was invited to the club to receive a “Randy Fry Award” from the Recreational Fish Alliance (RFA).

The award was for volunteer work I had done while serving on (1) the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) North Coast Project (as a member of the Regional Stakeholder Group); (2) my service as a member of the California Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp Committee (BDSFESC); and (3) my service as   president of United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC).

The award ceremony was held at the club where I met up with two friends: Jim Martin, the Regional Director for RFA, and Jim Edgar a fellow member of the Bay-Delta Stamp Committee.

Jim Edgar facing the camera in the center, Jim Martin to the right

Jim Edgar was also a long-time club member and owner of the large Western Sports Shop in San Rafael. Jim invited me to visit the pier and do a little fishing and I took him up on the offer. I didn’t catch much—three large jacksmelt, but was very impressed by both the pier and the friendly members in the clubhouse.

Several years later, in 2012, UPSAC as part of its Kids Fishing Derby program asked and was granted permission to hold a derby at the pier. However, the club already had its own successful  “Kids Day on the Pier” event. Why have two events? Thus UPSAC became a partner with the club on its annual derby and has done so since 2013. The club is the main sponsor and event organizer but UPSAC has been fully involved both with organization, loaner rods and tackle, prizes and people to help at the event. It’s turned out to be a great alliance.

One final aspect to the story was when I was invited to join the club in 2017. I now consider myself a proud member of the club.

Author Note No. 2. From its beginning years the club has been at the forefront of conservation efforts in many areas. One of the most recent examples has been its efforts to help oysters once again be a viable species in the area.

San Francisco Bay Shell Game For Oysters — Scientists building reefs to allow the return of the natives

Biologists dumped a dozen boatloads of oyster shells into the shallow waters off Point San Quentin over the weekend, hoping the castoffs will seed the comeback of native oysters that once flourished in San Francisco Bay.

Twenty volunteers did much of the heavy lifting near the wooden pier of the Marin Rod and Gun Club, which provided a convenient jumping-off point for what sponsors say is the largest native-oyster restoration effort in California.

Oysters that once blanketed the bay largely disappeared after the Gold Rush and urban settlement brought overharvesting, pollution and habitat loss. Now that bay restoration has helped restore water quality, ecologists want to expand the few oyster populations that managed to hold on.

Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. donated 24 pallet-loads, about 55 cubic yards, of oyster shells for the project. About 30 cubic yards were dumped Saturday and Sunday, the rest being saved for next spring.

Forming 2-foot piles on the bay floor, the shells make just enough of a solid, calcium-rich foundation to anchor living shellfish reefs in the bay’s otherwise unholy muck.

Oyster larvae typically die in a couple of weeks if they can’t find suitable bottom substrate, or cultch, upon which to attach and form their own shell. Other oyster shells are an ideal surface — even though the donated shells in the restoration project are from a different variety, the Pacific oyster, or Crassostrea gigas, not the West Coast’s native Olympia variety, Ostrea conchaphila. There aren’t enough native shells available for the project.

 Even if the restoration plan works, the tiny bay oysters will be too few to harvest. And because of copper and other heavy-metal contaminants in the estuary, the oysters that grow will be metallic-tasting and potentially unhealthy for humans.

Still, biologists financed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which contributed a $50,000 grant for the current phase of the work, say oysters are vital for the health of the bay.

“The goal is to build up these remaining populations to the point where they can sustain themselves,” said Summer Morlock, a marine specialist with the agency. “It would be wonderful to imagine the day when we can have an oyster harvest. But that isn’t really the goal.”

The project is still very much in the small-scale, experimental phase. Biologists at the conservation group Save the Bay are also working on oyster-restoration projects at different sites around the bay. Restoration spots were picked based on where native oysters can still be found — and where landowners are willing to allow access from shore.

On Sunday, Bill Craig, a Marin Rod and Gun Club volunteer, used his small motorboat to ferry out the last few sacks of oyster shells, along with scientists Rena Obernolte and Larry Floyd, both employees of MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc., a Petaluma company under contract to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The donated shells had undergone a long drying-out period at the Point Reyes oyster farm to keep any oceangoing invasive species from being imported into the bay. Volunteers bagged the shells in black mesh and stacked them like hay bales on wood pallets.

 They were loaded by hand into the boat and hauled out under the pier. Wearing wetsuits, the scientists jumped into the chest-deep water to guide the shells to their resting place.

A few early-morning anglers watched from the pier, along with project manager Robert “Bud” Abbott, a MACTEC senior principal biologist. Abbott said he hopes to eventually build oyster beds over wide expanses of the bay floor.

 “What we want to do is acres,” he said. “But we need to be sure we are doing it right. Before we can do acres, we have to do the research. There’s no textbook for how to go about this kind of thing.”

Each 2- or 3-inch oyster can filter several liters of water an hour. As their shells pile up, the growing reefs become habitat for other bay creatures, such as fish seeking shelter from predators or a spot to lay eggs.

The oysters’ filtration helps keep the water clear of phytoplankton and sediments, which may help sunlight make it through for the benefit of vegetation — such as native eelgrass, the focus of a separate restoration project under way nearby the half-mile-long Marin fishing pier.

Over time, the featureless mudflats could become thriving oyster meadows, the reefs forming a series of water breaks that retard sediment buildup and support a complex ecosystem — lunch stops, perhaps, for migrating juvenile salmon on their way to the sea.

“Oysters really can help build the food chain,” Morlock said.

The project faces many unknowns, including such threats as water pollution and invasive water snails, which have a rasplike tongue that can bore through oyster shells. Scientists plan to return to the experiment monthly to check how many oysters are taking up residence.

—Carl T. Hall, San Francisco Chronicle, August 14, 2006

Author Note No. 3. As mentioned there was a time when Rod & Gun Clubs, Sportsmen’s Clubs, and other fishing clubs existed in most towns.

As example, lists in 1937 and 1938 included the following (alphabetically):

Rod & Gun Clubs—Alameda Rod & Gun Club, Fort Mason Rod & Gun Club, Livermore-Pleasanton Rod & Gun Club, Pacific Gas and Electric Rod & Gun Club, Rodeo Rod & Gun Club, Salinas Rod & Gun Club, San Bruno Rod & Gun Club, Santa Cruz Rod & Gun Club, Southern Pacific Rod & Gun Club

Sportsmen’s Club—Berkeley Junior Sportsmen’s Club, Foothill Sportsmen’s Club (Oakland),  Hayward Sportsmen’s Club, Ingleside Sportsmen’s Club (SF), Los Gatos Sportsmen’s Club,  Newark Sportsmen’s Club, Redwood City Sportsmen’s Club, San Francisco Sportsmen’s Club, San Leandro Sportsmen’s Club, San Pablo Avenue Sportsmen’s Club (Albany), Washington Township Sportsmen’s Club (Centerville)

Others—Chevrolet Striped Bass Club (Oakland), Napa County Fish and Game Association, Oakland Striped Bass Club, Richmond Fish and Game Protective Association, San Francisco Surf Fishing Club, San Francisco Striped Bass Club

History—A second article, one devoted to the history of the pier will soon be posted.

Marin Rod and Gun Club Pier

Hours: the pier is open sunrise to sunset.

Facilities:  Small windbreaks are scattered along the pier and can be turned around as needed. A fleet of several old grocery carts are stationed near the front of the pier to help carry equipment out onto the pier.

Management: Marin Rod and Gun Club

The woman who snapped the picture of her son and his friend swimming near a shadowy figure that resembles a shark said they did not notice the animal until they were on their way home.

The two boys didn’t realize they were so close to the sea animal until they got back in a parents car and looked through the digital camera.

A California mother wants to know whether the ominous figure looming behind her son and his friend in a viral photo was in fact a shark or merely a harmless dolphin. “It’s surprising that no one has been able to tell definitively what it is,” she told the Daily News. “It was just an insane photo. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”The woman, who asked to not be identified, said no one noticed the animal until they were in the car on their drive back home from the Manhattan Beach visit Friday. While perusing the photos, they saw what looked like either a shark or dolphin just under a breaking wave near the kids who were holding surfboards. The picture went viral soon after she posted it to Facebook and Instagram. But she did not expect news outlets to present the photo as if it were definitively a shark — when the jury is still out. “I’m overwhelmed to be honest,” she said. “I just hope it calms down. … This wasn’t shared to promote fear — awareness is fine but not fear.”

 White Pointer/Getty Images/StockPhoto

Great white sharks are reportedly not uncommon near Manhattan Beach. Some people wonder if the fearsome predator was actually in the photo or if it were a more friendly sea creature.

— Michael Welsh, New York Daily News

Most people interviewed regarding the story felt the picture is that of a dolphin.
_________________________________________________________________________________

However, the story reminded me of a recent revision I had made to my Pier Fishing In California article on the Manhattan Beach Pier —

In October of 2013 on one of my trips to Los Angeles I visited, and fished, the Manhattan Beach Pier. Soon after, I reported my visit on PFIC and was surprised that another PFIC angler had been at the pier and seen me that day. Amidst the post and reply (see below) it turned out that he had hooked a great white shark just a few minutes before my arrival. It stimulated an interesting discussion and brought back memories of an earlier thread and articles about the great whites at Manhattan Beach.

Date: October 21, 2013

To: Pier Fishing in California Message Board

From: Ken Jones

Subject: Manhattan Beach Pier Report — 10/16/2013

Manhattan Beach Pier — 11:30-12:30 — A few fish were being caught here, some mackerel and lizardfish. The snack shop worker said there had been an afternoon mackerel bite recently. Dumb divers were too close to the pier and I got into a long discussion with a local about why the city did not regulate the rules. Fish: two Pacific Mackerel, one Lizardfish, one Topsmelt, and one Speckled Sanddab

Posted by vmarquez

Were u to the right next to the sink wearing a Catalina shirt? That day we had a great white hit our bait at 11 am fought for 14 minutes.

 Posted by csmerril

I wouldn’t have posted that, if you knew it was a GW, it is the law to cut the line right away…

Posted by vmarquez

It’s ok, it took 14 mins to realize it was a great white plus we were with the biologist that works at Manhattan Beach and he wanted to make sure it was tagged before we released. It wasn’t but he cut the line anyways… plus by the way its illegal to remove them from the water not hook them. How r we supposed to stop them from eating our bait plus they fight like bat rays so u really can’t tell till u get them close enough.

Posted by Ken Jones

I was by the sink and I think I did have the Catalina shirt on that day. I wound up arguing Manhattan Beach regulations with the manager/biologist of the Roundhouse for about 15 minutes. We began arguing about regulations to keep people away from the pier (based upon the diver) and it evolved into an argument about surfers being next to the the pier and lifeguards asking anglers not to fish inshore when surfers are in that area. I’m going to try to find out if (1) there are regulations telling people to stay a certain distance from the pier and (2) if there are those regulations, why the lifeguards do not enforce the rules. I was told that surfers rule, most lifeguards are also surfers, and the rules would never be enforced.

Posted by vmarquez

Yea, I heard u guys arguing; he’s the biologist. Manhattan is always full of swimmers. We’ve been having good luck w/ mackerel and thresher sharks and we get to see great whites swim by; don’t usually take the bait though.

Posted by Ken Jones

I don’t think you did anything wrong. It often takes a while to figure out what you have on your line and in this case you did cut the line.

Posted by makairaa 

There is a reef just off the end of the pier that used to hold bass, halibut, and occasionally yellowtail and [white] seabass. I just wouldn’t dive there because of the number of great whites hooked there in the last 2 years.

Posted by Ken Jones

The divers and surfers don’t seem too worried about the great whites.

Posted by makairaa 

Most small white sharks are fish eaters, so the surfers don’t have much to worry about, besides the fact we could spend hours debating the IQ of many surfers. Surfing next to a pier where you can see people fishing right where they are surfing does not sound too smart to me. The spearfisherman on the other hand are in the water with a bleeding fish where there are 6 to 8 foot dangerous sharks. It’s their choice, but to me it looks like Darwin in action.

Posted by polishfromthedeep  

I bring a gun occasionally when I dive for lobster, shoot fish all the time, and bleed them on my hip. I’m still here and enjoy a much more intimate experience with mother ocean than anybody ON the pier.  You can call it Darwinism or whatever you want, but I call it totally worth it. Worth every bit of “danger.”

Posted by makairaa   

It’s not the shooting of fish while diving that I have a problem with. Its doing it while diving at Manhattan Beach Pier where at least 8 great whites that I am aware of have been caught in the last 2 years. On a side note, be careful about taking lobsters while possessing a spear. Some wardens consider that a hooked object because of the barb and cite people for it.

The earlier PFIC thread  dated to 2001 and was started by one of the sites strongest members—Mola Joe.

Date: June 5, 2001

To: Pier Fishing in California Message Board

From: Mola Joe

Subject: White sharks from a pier

I ran across this photo from a few years back that ran on the front page of our local newspaper. If I remember right, two whites were landed out of several hookups over a two or three week period. The sharks were hooked off Manhattan Pier and then the angler moved to the beach to fight and land them. I believe both sharks were released alive. No official weight, but just babies by white shark standards, maybe 200 to 250 pounds. The following year I also remember seeing something about another landed from this pier also. I heard that after the first two, these guys started chumming for them but were told to stop by the local lifeguards. I kind of see their point. It would really hurt the local economy to have some yahoo from Kansas wading in the water and come out with only one leg. Anyway, things have now changed as white sharks are off limits to fishermen.

Posted by gotem

Our buddy the Great White Shark is still on the protected species list, and rightfully so, but don’t let the status of them fool you, they ARE making a comeback. We will only see and hear of more ‘accidental catches’ and ‘mistaken identity’ attacks within this next generation. Count on it.

Posted by shorepounder 

Hey MJ, I was there for one of the catches. I was riding my bike on the strand and decided to walk the Manhattan Pier. Well as I get close to the end there’s this guy hooked up to something big. After I watched him for a while I thought he just had a big ray on and left the pier to continue my bike ride. As I was coming back around an hour or so later here’s that guy still fighting his fish. So I decided to watch him fight it some more. After a while the fish starts heading towards the beach and goes to just behind the breakers. Then it surfaces and yikes it’s a great white around 8 feet. The lifeguard started yelling at everyone to get out of the water and then everyone around started going nuts. Soon there were news crews, crowds, etc. The guy who caught it was a long time regular if I remember right and he looked familiar to me. Two total were landed and I heard the same thing about him being told not to chum anymore. The other thing is that I thought the second shark that was landed was tossed off the end of the pier… if so I doubt it lived after fighting that long, being beached, put into a lifeguard truck, and then dropped off a pier. I hope I’m wrong about it being dropped off the pier.

Posted by Snookie 

I happened to save the article about the two great whites off Manhattan Beach Pier. It was Thursday, October 29, 1987. The names of the fishermen that caught them were: David Bird, who assembles telescopes part time and Mike Walker, an unemployed construction worker. One of the sharks was 6 feet, 10 inches and the other was 7 feet, 10 inches. The smaller one weighed about 150 pounds and the other weighed about 250 pounds. The fishermen were fishing for bonito and mackerel from the end of the pier to a point 350 yards offshore. The smaller shark took 90 minutes to land. The bigger shark took more than two hours and ended up a quarter mile down the beach. No, they did not release these two sharks. They sold them for $150 to a wholesale fish market in San Pedro after they cleaned both fish and found the stomachs empty. These two sharks were still just babies. Manhattan Beach seems to be an area of birthing for the great white as well as the tiger shark. Later there was a baby tiger shark caught in the surf by a surf fisherman. No, not a leopard shark—a TIGER Shark.

Posted by shorepounder 

Hi Snookie, I guess this has happened a couple of times, because the one I saw caught and the other that I only heard about being caught later the same week occurred in the early 90′s. I’ve always been told that whites use the Santa Monica Bay as a nursery… seems true.  Snookie, do you have the dates of the article by any chance?

Posted by Snookie 

Dear Shorepounder, The article was in the L.A. Times, October 29, 1987, part II, Page 12, titled, JAWS AND JAWS II PROVE BIG CATCH OF THE DAY AT MANHATTAN BEACH PIER by James Rainey, Times Staff Writer. I have collected shark info since the late 50′s, but apparently I missed anything about the ones you know about. Ones the size of the ones mentioned are babies and still on a small fish diet. Their mamas are a different matter though.

Well, that meant I needed to search out the articles and found two from the Los Angeles Times, one from 1987 and one from 1992:

Manhattan Beach Has the ‘Jaws’ Jitters After 2 Great Whites Surface

Landing two great white sharks near the Manhattan Beach Pier was a thrill for fishermen David Bird and Mike Walker, but it created oceans of angst in a community where many residents seem to spend nearly as much time in the water as they do on land.

Lifeguards said word spread quickly of the capture last Friday of the two sharks–one 6 feet, 10 inches long, the other 7 feet, 10 inches–and many fearful beachgoers pledged to avoid the water.

Marine experts, however, said swimmers have nothing to fear from the fish, although they acknowledged that it is unusual to find sharks that large so close to shore.

Bird and Walker, both pier regulars, began casting for bonito and mackerel about dawn. After they caught an ample supply, Walker, 34, of Manhattan Beach baited his line with mackerel and cast out again from the end of the pier.

“I could tell it was something very large,” he said of the tug on his line, “but I thought it would just be a bonito shark.”

Ninety minutes later, at about 11 a.m., the two fishermen had to walk off the pier and onto the beach before dragging a 150-pound shark onto the sand. They immediately recognized the razor teeth and large head of the bonito shark’s more infamous cousin.

Minutes later, Bird, a 24-year-old from Torrance, returned to the pier and felt a strong pull on his own line. He fought for more than two hours and ended up a quarter-mile down the beach before landing the second great white shark, which was at least 100 pounds heavier than Walker’s.

The two friends cleaned both fish and found the stomachs empty. Bird then trucked the sharks to San Pedro, where they brought $150 at a wholesale fish market.

“It’s an anomaly in the sense that we don’t usually find animals that size caught from a pier,” said Ralph Collier of Canoga Park, president of a group known as the Shark Research Committee. “Unfortunately, none of us really knows very much about the life history of these animals.”

Collier said that an attack on humans is highly unlikely in Southern California. In the last 60 years, there has not been a single documented great white shark attack on the coast south of Point Conception, he said. Since 1975, there have been two attacks at the point, which is just north of Santa Barbara, and two more at San Miguel Island. None were fatal.

“Because a shark is caught offshore does not mean it is venturing into the bathing areas,” Collier said. “Human beings are not natural food to sharks, otherwise we would have daily reports of people being consumed by sharks.”

Great white sharks usually do not begin to eat seals and other mammals until they reach 12 feet or more in length, according to Donald Nelson, a biology professor at California State University, Long Beach. The sharks grow as large as 18 feet long and can weigh 4,000 pounds.

Attacks by the big sharks have been more common in Northern California, where great whites venture closer to shore. The last reported attack was off Tunitas Beach on Aug. 15, when a shark attacked a surfboard, injuring the hand of its owner.

Although many beachgoers were alarmed by the Manhattan Beach catch, some took it in stride, lifeguard Tom Hargett said. “They’re not worried about ‘Jaws,’ they’re more worried about the pollution,” he said, referring to recent sewage spills that closed the beach.

Walker, an unemployed construction worker, and Bird, who assembles telescopes part-time, were back on the pier fishing on Wednesday. “I’m real excited about it still,” Bird said. “I’d like to catchn another one.”

—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1987

Hooking of 3 Great White Sharks Off Pier Stirs Debate: Some swimmers and lifeguards in Manhattan Beach are concerned that sportfishermen are luring creatures that might pose a threat to humans.

The recent catch of three great white sharks off the Manhattan Beach Pier has hooked anglers and lifeguards in a debate about whether sportfishermen should be allowed to bait waters near popular swimming spots to attract the creatures.

Swimmers were unharmed in all three instances, and marine biologists say the sharks were probably too small to be considered a threat to humans. But some lifeguards and local swimmers believe that by dropping “chum,” or cut-up fish, into the water to lure sharks to their hooks, fishermen may be endangering swimmers and surfers.We have never had a conflict between swimmers and sharks, but we don’t want to create one,” Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Steve Saylors said Thursday.

The controversy was sparked on Aug. 31 when sportfisherman Mike Walker, a 39-year-old Manhattan Beach resident, hooked his first of two great white sharks in a week. Walker, who says he fishes shark for fun rather than for food, landed the shark on the sand just long enough to take its measurements–6 feet, 11 inches–before releasing the animal into the waves. “The lifeguard was fit to be tied,” one of his fishing buddies, Richard Bird, 65, of Torrance, said Thursday. “He couldn’t believe (Walker) turned him loose in the surf.”

On Sept. 3, Walker landed his second great white shark–this one slightly more than seven feet long. This time, the lifeguard on duty prevented him from releasing it. Instead, he asked Walker to reel it onto the sand and load it onto the back of a lifeguard truck.

The shark was then driven to the end of the pier and dumped into the ocean. It landed on its back and sank, prompting Walker and others to speculate that it had died.

Three days later, another fisherman caught a great white shark measuring 6 feet, 6 inches. The angler, whose identity was not known, killed the shark and cut it into filets, Manhattan Beach police said.

Los Angeles County lifeguards and some swimmers say they are particularly concerned because the fishermen use chum deliberately to attract sharks into the area.

“I think that’s crazy in a public swimming area,” said Catherine Yates, a 21-year-old swimmer. “It’s just asking for trouble.” Saylors said many lifeguards agree: “A lot of lifeguards would like to see it prevented for safety reasons, but we don’t have any demonstrated problem we can deal with at this point.”

After the first shark was captured, lifeguards asked Manhattan Beach police to check whether the city has any ordinances preventing fishermen from throwing chum near swimming areas. As it turns out, there is nothing in city or state law preventing the practice, according to law enforcement officials.

         “There’s no law on the books saying you can’t catch sharks,” said Manhattan Beach Police Lt. John Hensley. “We can’t do anything about it. It’s not illegal.”

Lifeguards have also sent police a memo asserting that they have some discretionary authority to regulate the activities of fishermen when it may endanger beach-goers. “On heavily crowded beach days, it is possible that a fish hooked off the pier will have to be landed on the pier or released (a safe distance from shore),”  the memo said. “We feel this is in the best interest of marine life and the bathing public.”

Hensley said police plan to meet with lifeguards to discuss the matter.

Walker, meanwhile, remains puzzled by the controversy.

The 39-year-old Manhattan Beach man said he’s been fishing for shark off the pier for years, and that he doesn’t understand why lifeguards are suddenly worried about it being a hazard. He insisted the sharks never go near the swimmers and denied throwing large amounts of bait into the water.

When he fishes for shark, he said, he usually cuts up one mackerel every hour, throwing the head and tail into the water and using a chunk of its meat as bait. “The sharks will be out here, but they’re not going to go onshore,” Walker said. Bird’s 29-year-old son, David, agreed: “It’s sportfishing and I don’t think they should prevent us from fishing for them. What would solve this whole thing is if the lifeguards would study (sharks) and understand the ones we fish for are really harmless.”

Marine biologists, who point out they know of no humans attacked by a great white shark in Santa Monica Bay, are more cautious in their assessment. Great whites under 10 feet in length eat bottom-feeding animals like small fish and crabs, they say. Only the adults, which can reach 21-feet in length and weigh 4,000 pounds, have been known to attack humans, they say. Most of the attacks have occurred in Northern California where seals and sea lions—the staple of adult great whites—breed.

“Small great whites) won’t rush up to somebody and bite them and kill them,” said Jeffrey Landesman, a marine biologist for Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro. “But there is a chance that the small white shark might mistake a foot or something for a small fish. Although it has never happened before, you can’t say it wouldn’t happen.”

Agreeing is David Ainley, a marine biologist at Point Reyes Bird Observatory in San Francisco who is organizing an international symposium on the animals to be held next March: “Baby white sharks don’t pose a threat in that they feed on fish. Probably the people fishing are endangering white sharks more than they are (endangering) humans.”

Ainley said he believes El Nino, the warm-water current that upsets the ecological balance of local waters once every seven or eight years, may be responsible for the recent spate of shark captures off Manhattan Beach Pier. “El Nino disrupts the food web and forces predators—birds, seals and sharks—to find localized food sources,” Ainley said. “One of the characteristics of El Nino is that a lot of predators are forced close to shore to look for food.”

—Kim Kowsky, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1992

 Both of those articles show that great whites have been visiting the area for many years. Further research showed that they seem to be becoming even more common (although there is no way to know how many sighting are of the same fish). Checks on the Pacific Coast Shark News websites revealed the following Manhattan Beach reports for 2012 and 2013. 

 2012: July 9, September 9, and November 8

 http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news_2012.htm

2013: July 9, July 10, August 18, August 24, August 27, August 28, September 5, September 23, September 25, October 3 (2), October 10, October 14, October 15, October 16, October 25, October 26, November 2, November 7, November 8, November 9, November 16 (2), November 20, November 21, November 24, November 30

http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

Great White shark rescued off Manhattan Beach Pier

Eric Martin and Valerie Hill, co-directors of Manhattan Beach’s Roundhouse Aquarium, left work on Monday at around 8:30 p.m. after a long day—summer camp in the morning and a board meeting in the evening. Walking down the pier, they noticed a fisherman with a heavily bent fishing pole. He must have caught an extremely large fish, they thought. “Someone got a bat ray,” Martin told Hill, as they walked up the pier. While he disliked seeing them get caught, it wasn’t illegal. He didn’t plan on interfering. That’s until he faintly heard someone say “great white.” His ears perked. “Let me see what this guy has,” Martin told Hill, as he strolled toward the fisherman. Martin leaned over to get a glimpse at the catch. Holy crap, he thought, that’s a great white shark.

            In fact, what the man had on his line was the fifth great white shark caught on the Manhattan Beach pier since 1980, Martin said. The shark—about five to seven-feet long and more than 100 pounds—was a baby, probably not more than a year-and-a-half old, Martin said. Martin determined the shark was female. “If it had been killed it would’ve been a tragedy anyways because there’re not a lot of fully mature great white sharks up and down the Pacific Coast,” he said. Plus, he said, it was beautiful. “They aren’t as dangerous as people think.”

The fisherman needed to cut the line. Instead, the fisherman was dropping a large, round net into the ocean. The line, Martin noticed, was assembled for shark fishing—a steel leader connected to a circle hook. “You have to cut the line,” Martin told him. “You cannot kill a great white shark. That’s the law.” The man allegedly refused. Martin explained that great white sharks were federally protected, and threatened to call the police. “If you don’t let me cut this line right away, you will go to jail and you will get a fine,” Martin recalled saying. The fisherman didn’t budge, Martin said. “I don’t think he understood the urgency,” Hill said.

Martin squeezed his way closer to the line, but was pushed out by three of the fisherman’s friends, he said. When Martin realized the fisherman didn’t speak English, he recruited a husband and wife couple fishing on the pier to translate. Martin explained that great white sharks must be swimming to breathe. If the shark’s head got caught in the net, it wouldn’t be able to pump water through its gills, and would end up dying and sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Hill, watching the drama unfold, had to react. It was her first time ever seeing a great white shark—she wanted to document the moment. But the two parties remained arguing. She pulled out her iPhone. “Do I hit camera? Or police? Camera or police?” Hill recalled thinking. She called the police. “If it turns into a physical fight, and he gets punched, there’s nothing I can do about it,” Hill said, explaining her decision.

The man translating for Martin had a knife in his tackle box, which he handed to Martin. Within five minutes, Martin managed to cut the line, against the fisherman’s will. “He’s going to be mad at me, but I just saved his butt,” Martin said. “If you hook onto something big, the person’s adrenaline rolls. You want to catch it,” Martin said, adding that fishermen like taking pictures to prove and share their catches. “It could be an ego thing.” While Martin managed to cut the line, the hook remained in the shark’s mouth. Without the line, however, the shark could easily free herself from the hook. “She can cut that line like a piece of cake,” Martin said.

What followed the rescue was a learning experience for bystanders, Martin said. “We had other people coming up to us and asking us questions,” Martin said. “Is it common for this (to happen)? Is it safe? Why does a shark have to stay swimming? How long does it take for shark to actually start being mature to have babies?” Hill was happy to turn the sighting and rescue into a teaching experience. “Our goal is to educate as many people as possible about the ocean, the animals, and human interactions, both good and bad,” she said.

—Alan Tchekmedyian, easyreadernews.com, July 11, 2012

Great White Shark In Manhattan Beach Caught, Then Swam Right Under Swimmer 

It’s perhaps the scariest thing that can happen in the water. A great white shark swam right under a swimmer at a Southern California beach Tuesday.

The shark, estimated to be about 8 to 9 feet, was initially caught by an angler who was fishing for bat rays on the Manhattan Beach Pier, Patch reports. The area is very popular as a swimming and surfing spot.        

When the fisherman realized he had accidentally hooked the state-protected species, he called over Eric Martin, director of the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium. Unlike the Manhattan Beach fisherman in July who reportedly wanted to keep the great white that he caught (prompting calls to the police), this angler willingly cut the big guy loose.

But before he did, Martin was able to snap the above photo of the shark with his mouth wide above. Then, in an amazing close call, the shark swam right under an unaware swimmer. The swimmer—who was not harmed—was about 6 feet tall, which is how Martin gauged the size of the shark.

Martin told CBS that now that great whites are federally protected, there have been more sightings in Southern California.

And even though some people get really scared, others “feel really blessed” when they see one, Martin told local online news site, Easy Reader. “This is a special thing,” he commented.

Just last month, a great white was also spotted at Venice Beach and another was spotted at Leadbetter Point, a popular surfing spot in Santa Barbara.

Despite the reported uptick in sightings, a recent estimate found that there are less than 350 adult great white sharks left off the west coast, partly due to sharks dying in fishermen’s nets. In an effort to save these sharks, nonprofits Oceana, Center for Biological Diversity and Shark Stewards sent a letter last month requesting that west coast great whites be listed as endangered species.

—Kathleen Miles, The Huffington Post, September 6, 2012

Great whites spotted at Manhattan Beach

Lifeguards today are keeping a close watch on Manhattan Beach after several sharks, believed to be great whites, appeared near the shoreline on Tuesday, prompting rescuers to briefly clear the water of some young swimmers.

Authorities say the sightings of what appeared to be baby whites measuring between four and seven feet in length is reportedly a series of events. On July 9, El Porto Beach, located near the beaches of Dockweiler and Manhattan Beach, was closed after a young great white was spotted near its coastline.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium quickly dispatched researchers to Manhattan Beach in an effort to learn more about the behavioral patterns of the juvenile sharks. “Their goal is to actually get them on the boat or pull them into a net and then tag them so they can do research,” lifeguard captain Kyle Daniels told CBS Los Angeles. “August is a great time to try to research them because they often come into closer waters to eat shoreline fish.”

With Labor Day expected to draw a huge crowd to Manhattan Beach to celebrate the traditional end of summer, officials stress the importance of exercising safety precautions while swimming, wading, snorkeling and surfing in the area.

“We have fully staffed lifeguard towers through Labor Day weekend and we’re encouraging everybody to swim near lifeguards,” Daniels told the local news reporting station. “We will continue to advise if we see more sharks and let people know that there are sharks in the area, but not to be too afraid.”

—Sharon Bush, Examiner.com, August 28, 2013

3 juvenile great whites sharks sighted ‘extremely close to shoreline’ off Manhattan Beach

Three juvenile great white sharks, ranging from 4 to 7 feet, were spotted off the coast in Manhattan Beach late Tuesday morning.

“There have been consistent shark sightings through the middle of July to now in the Manhattan Beach area,” said Kyle Daniels, captain lifeguard for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Nothing actually really happened.”

According to Ken Peterson, a researcher at Monterey Bay Aquarium, the sharks were “extremely close to the shoreline”—about 20 yards offshore—which he says shouldn’t pose any harm to beachgoers under lifeguard supervision as “they’re just out there with the other fish.”

However, the proximity was too close for the team of marine biologists and researchers, who had intended to tag the sharks as part of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Project White Shark, a study started in 2002 to research and exhibit great whites caught off the California coast.

The collaborating team from Cal State Long Beach’s Sharklab, led by Dr. Chris Lowe, took to the coast on a fishing boat from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to capture, tag and release juvenile whites. They commissioned a helicopter to assist in spotting the sharks, Peterson said.

According to Dr. Lowe, the team spotted the three juveniles between 10 and 11:30 a.m. but was unable to wrap a net around them. “The net has to drop to a certain depth,” Peterson explained. In a process called “pursing,” the sharks should be scooped out of the water using the net and put on a holding place until they are tagged and released, he said.

The team has tagged 100 animals since 2002, Peterson said, and has obtained “great data” about the animal’s migration habits and its use of the habitat. “There’s a lot of brand new information that’s coming out of this research,” he said. Daniels said he has noticed a trend of sharks sighted closer to the shoreline, but it’s not necessarily a cause for concern.

“We’ve been monitoring and they’ve been getting to the swimmers,” he said. “No one’s been hurt. We’re keeping a closer eye on it, and most people have been seeing them all summer.”

—EasyReaderNews, August 28, 2013 

Great white shark sightings thrilling, but also a good sign for species —Recent increase in shark sightings near Manhattan Beach is exciting for spectators and for researchers.

When Jay Dohner heard there were several great white sharks off Manhattan Beach last Sunday, he did what few surfers would do. He grabbed a camera, mounted his paddleboard and set off in search of the apex predators.

It wasn’t long before his helmet-mounted camera was recording three great whites—each between 8 and 10 feet long—circling underneath his paddleboard and just a few yards from a group of oblivious surfers.

“The sharks didn’t seem to be paying me any attention. They looked like they were looking for fish, so I felt I could stand there safely and watch them,” Dohner, 38, said of the roughly five-minute encounter when it began last weekend.

That feeling didn’t last for long.  “There are two different things in your head,” he said. “”Wow, that’s beautiful,’ and ‘We should get out of here.’”

He isn’t the only thrill-seeker to actively seek out and film the sharks, which have recently been spotted more frequently near the El Porto waters off Manhattan Beach, an area popular with surfers and paddleboarders. Others have posted their close encounters on YouTube, but researchers and wildlife officials are calling for restraint, warning that the sharks will attack if they feel threatened.

Many of the great whites appear to be juveniles learning to feed and fend for themselves, said Chris Lowe, a marine biology professor and leader of the research Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach.

Researchers are still trying to determine why the young sharks have been drawn to the El Porto area—perhaps warmer temperatures or a larger feeding pool. Through tagging and other monitoring methods, researchers hope to have more of an answer by next year.

But one thing is clear: Experts have noticed an increase in shark sightings off beaches in Manhattan, Redondo and Ventura over the last few years. That may be alarming for some, but it’s a welcome development for wildlife researchers who say it’s a sign of a healthy rebound for marine life after California legislators prohibited the use of gill nets for fishing in 1990.

On March 1, white sharks earned some protection while state officials decide whether to list them under the California Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered. During that review period, the sharks cannot be legally hunted, captured or killed, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

No violations have been reported so far this year, according to Dan Sforza, assistant chief of the southern district offices for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

 —Alicia Banks, Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2013

It seems to me little doubt that great whites, at least juvenile great whites, are common to these waters during the summer months (and later). What’s not clear is the location of the adults (that are dangerous). The biologists seem to suggest that there is limited risk from the juvenile sharks but it seems logical to me that there must be some adults around if the juveniles are in the area. Given the seemingly minimal fear by many of the local swimmers and surfers, I imagine it’s just a matter of time before someone is attacked and suffers injuries—or worse.

A swell shark from the Cayucos Pier

Species: Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Garman, 1880); from the Greek words cephalo  (with a head) and scyllium  (like a dog or monster) and the Latin ventr  (referring to the belly).

Alternate Names: Catshark, puffer shark and balloon shark. Called tiburón inflado, pejegato globo or gato hinchado in Mexico.

Identification: Swell sharks have a broad flat head with a rounded snout, and sharp, pointed little teeth. Their first dorsal is back of the middle of body and directly above pelvic fins; second dorsal above anal fin. Their skin is rough and appears flabby while coloring is yellowish-brown to creamy, with black or brownish spots and saddles; sometimes with white spots. When caught, the swell shark may inflate its belly with air or water until its circumference nearly triples in size. However, young swell sharks are not able to duplicate this neat little trick. So see, sometimes it pays to be an adult.

Size: To a little over three feet in length.

Range:  Acapulco, Mexico and the Gulf of California to Monterey Bay; most common in southern California.

Habitat:  Usually found near kelp beds or rocky areas that contain some kelp; likes to spend the daytime hours holed up in crevices or caves. A nocturnal feeder, they emerge at night to search for food—mainly small fish. But they seem a little lazy. Although sometimes they suck other fish into their mouth (as would a normal feeding fish), some reportedly simply open their mouths and wait for the smaller fish to swim in. It’s called yawning and perhaps explains why swell sharks have less than an athletic looking body (afterall, how much energy can be expanded in yawning for your food?). The next question becomes how often do you think bait is going to swim into their mouths, especially dead bait? Perhaps this is one reason that they are not more commonly caught.

Piers: Rarely a common species although good numbers are reported from the Avila Pier, Port San Luis Pier, and the Cayucos Pier. Best Bets: Ocean Beach Pier, Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon), Hermosa Beach Pier, Santa Monica Pier, Goleta Pier, Gaviota Pier, Avila Pier, Port San Luis Pier and Cayucos Pier.

Shoreline: Occasionally taken by central California anglers fishing near kelp.

Boats: Rarely taken by boaters although kayakers who can fish fairly shallow waters and kelp beds catch a few.

Bait and Tackle: Most swell sharks that are caught from piers are around two feet in length, so medium tackle with a size 2 to 2/0 hook should work fine. Small fish, crabs, and shrimp, seem to be the best bait.

Food Value: It is reported that eating a swell shark is not so swell! The flesh is slightly toxic and causes stomach cramps and nausea as well as acting as a cheap aperient (result: diarrhea) and emetic (result: vomiting). Unless you’re really into the masochistic routine I would avoid puffer stew. Nevertheless, I can see all those sadistic little eyes lighting up. Wouldn’t it be cute to give Henry some puffer steaks for his dinner? Let’s see how long it is before he heads to the head. Dompfa Bro and a swell shark from Goleta Pier

Of course there’s always the story that’s told in the fascinating book Cod, by Mark Kurlansky. He mentions the unusual methods used by a people (Icelanders) seemingly on the verge of starvation: “They ate what the island produced, which was mainly every conceivable part of a cod-fish and a lamb. They roasted cod skin and kept cod bones until they had decomposed enough to be soft and edible. They also ate roasted sheeps’ heads, particularly praising the eyeballs. Another specialty was hákarl, the flesh of a huge Greenland shark, hunted for the commercial value of its liver oil. The flesh, which contains cyanic acid, a lethal poison, was rendered edible by leaving it buried in the groud until it rotted.” Apparently æstur hákarl (Icelandic for fermented shark) with its ammonia-rich smell and taste is still enjoyed by some of the locals.

Leaving aside this strange diet, and the question of how they discovered these enriching techniques, it makes you kind of wonder if a swell shark could be made edible by burying it in the ground for a few weeks. Anyone want to give rotted swell shark a try? Perhaps the “Iron Chefs” could do a show using æstur hákarl as the featured ingredient?

Swell sharks — Goleta Pier

Comments: An unpleasant and mistaken belief in some areas, especially the central coast, is that returning a swell shark to the ocean after capture ruins the fishing. It’s a rather stupid idea, and wrong, yet you’ll often find misshapen dying or dead swell sharks littering the piers. Since you don’t want to eat swellies (see above), and since they DO NOT hurt the fishing, please return them to the water.  Of course that may not be as easy as it sounds! A puffed up shark returned to the water may simply float away to be attacked by… whatever. Best is to net them and bring them to the top of the pier as quickly as possible. Then, as carefully as possible (since they do have sharp teeth), remove the hook. Try to then keep their mouth shut while returning them to the net and lowering them back down to the water. If successful, they will have gulped as little air as possible and still be able to swim away.

Dead, discarded young swell sharks at the Avila Pier—what a waste!

The issue of burping a swell shark became an interesting thread on the Pier Fishing In California Message Board.

Date: June 28, 2005
To: PFIC Message Board
From: pierhead
Subject: How do you ‘burp’ a swell shark …

Yesterday at Gaviota I observed a young man walking off the pier with a swell shark that he had just caught. I asked if he was going to keep it as they are not fit for food. He replied that he was going to release it closer to the shore. I reminded him that it was important to get it back in the water before it filled with air. Next thing I know he had dropped it in a trash can. I retrieved it but by then it had doubled in size. Remembering that EddieE had successfully burped them I thought I could do the same … no such luck … they have teeth and no way was I going to put my hand in there like Eddie did. I tried massaging it like burping a baby but that didn’t work either. Finally I held it over the rail by the tail and it expelled quite a lot of air … just as I dropped it (no net around) it gulped more air and swelled up again. As it floated away on its back I tried to enlist some nearby boaters to assist but by then it was too close to the breakers for them to approach.
I’m frustrated … any suggestions?

Posted by scooterfish

Maybe… I know someone had mentioned something about “pliers down the throat,” which sounded a bit primitive, but maybe the right tool, such as a smooth-ended tube (turkey baster without the bulb maybe?) would work…
Scooterfish
ps- never even seen a swell shark in person, so this is purely conjecture…

Posted by eelmaster

Turkey Baster sound feasible. Squeeze the bulb first then insert and release the bulb? Worth a shot. Either that or Rolaids.
Monte, Support the UPSAC

Posted by pierhead

Here is what you are facing… tried to insert a small pole handle but the shark clamped down on it like a pit bull on steroids! Unless the mouth were propped open somehow it would cut through the turkey baster in no time at all. Don’t tell me we are going to have to construct some sort of dental tool just to start the procedure … there has got to be a better way. I considered the procedure used to deflate air bladders on rockfish … but I don’t think we are dealing with an air bladder here. Guess I’ll just have to do some research on swell shark anatomy.
Pierhead, Proud Supporter of UPSAC

Posted by malibooger

Several layperson’s-level websites describe the swell shark as sucking water or air into its stomach- since it can suck up water as well it seems the upper GI is probably where it is going. I haven’t hit the stores here yet, but when I used to hang out at the kitchen supply store on south Willamette St. in Eugene, OR, they had a selection of stainless-steel turkey basters. I always thought they were overkill until now- maybe you could find one of those. The websites mentioned above (just Google ‘swell shark’ and look for sites ending in .edu) say that the sharks will deflate themselves when they no longer feel threatened.
The real question is, what kind of a**hole tosses a live fish in a trash can?

Posted by pierhead

What kind of person would toss a… live fish in a trashcan? Me. When I was just starting to fish 50+ years ago it was common to leave your catch on the deck all day so passerby’s could oogle, gawk and offer congratulations. All sharks were immediately dispatched by multiple stabbings… the more the macho … sure to draw a crowd interested in your proficiency with a knife and fearlessness in combat with a “killer” shark. In my 30′s I returned from a day’s fishing off the barge at Redondo with a huge gunnysack of mackerel … which had rotted by the time I got home … they ended up in the garbage can as well. It wasn’t until after I first logged onto to this board (1997) that I started practicing consistent catch and release. And the truth is, there is still a bit of that attitude in all of us … thankfully through exposure here most of us have evolved to CPR (Catch, Photo, Release). Better to display your catch on PFIC than on the deck. After the advent of digital photography with it’s instant (and repeatable previews) the practice of CPR took off. Next to a net I think a camera is our most important accessory. I saw a young man catch his first fish this past weekend and he started to cry when his father insisted he put it back. I explained to him he gets more credit for releasing fish he isn’t going to eat than keeping them and offered to take his picture and email it. Seemed to satisfy him.

Posted by Salty Nick

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? Are they able to deflate themselves on their own, or is it necessary to “pop” them somehow? (I know nothing about them, being too far north to catch any). Salty.

Posted by pierhead

My experience is that they expel any water when you bring them up but if you handle them roughly on deck they will start gulping air. I’m thinking that inducing a ‘tonic state’ by putting it on its back might cause it to relax enough to burp … If it is put back swollen they flop over on their backs and can’t right themselves … and I don’t believe they can breathe either and so end up dead.

Posted by Seabass_Seeker

I’ve heard of them being burped, but as to the process I have no clue. Whenever we caught one at Goleta we just put it in the net full of air and let it swim away. Figured if the shark had a defense mechanism, which allows it to engulf air/water, it should have a natural way to expel the stuff.

Posted by cayucosjack

They will eventually expel the air. It’s just a matter of time but the problem comes on an incoming tide or big swells that push it onto the beach before it can deflate. The more you touch them and handle them the more they puff. The last 2 that I burped I used my boga grip. Just stick it down the throat a little and push the air out. You don’t have to get it all out. If the skin is somewhat lose they usually can swim away fine after a few moments. Sometimes all sorts of other stuff comes out especially if they had puffed up with water during the fight. Smaller ones I’ve been able to burp by pinching their throats a little so it stays open and pushing. Sounds cruel (especially pliers) but those little guys are tough and I’m sure they’d gladly deal with a sore throat over a beaching any day. I’ve caught about a dozen in the last few trips at Cayucos and haven’t had to burp one yet. It’s all about keeping stress levels low in the fish during the fight, landing and release. And I’ve officially debunked the theory that they release a toxin in the water that scares away other fish (I’ve been told this many times by old timers that try to make me throw my catch away or “at least release it way down there away from our poles”). There has been lots of other action each trip so there…

Posted by pierhead

Ahhh … that explains his trashing the fish…just before he dumped it he stopped to show it to several guys. Later those same guys told me swell sharks poisoned the water to keep other fish away. I bet they convinced him not to put it back. BTW … several articles I read this morning said the skin and flesh is toxic and can result in severe gastric distress if eaten. Perhaps that’s where the myth comes from.

Posted by kaveman

I catch at least one almost every trip to Goleta, I’ve tried massaging which sometimes works (one even burped out a smelt when I was massaging them). When that doesn’t I try something down the throat but sometimes they just wont burp, poor little fellas, hope this thread leads to a good consistent way to get rid of the air before they are released

Posted by gsxr750

Hold it up to your shoulder, with it’s head by your neck, and pat it on the back… oh, wait, that’s a baby… sorry

Posted by pierhead

Right … and babies don’t have teeth!

Posted by pierhead

Throw him over your shoulder. Pat on back… wipe off blood from neck. Continuing patting. Wipe off more blood. Hold compress tightly to neck to stop bleeding. Call paramedics.

********************************************************************************************************

Date: November 4, 2007

To: PFIC Message Board
From: yakattack

Subject: Goleta

Me and my son hit Goleta Friday night, about 7:30 to midnight…   About 10:45 the college kids nailed a swell shark and thought it was a leopard; once it was identified it went back in (he wanted a leopard shark skin, something about class credit). From 11 to 11:15 another 5 swellies came over the rail (I got one too) but that was the extent of the shark action, and the crab trap yielded larger spiders but still nothing of real interest.  Saturday night, I showed up about 7pm, sans six year old and crab trap. The spanish mack were running heavy so I filled up a bucket with them, waiting for the other guys to start getting clicker runs before I switched over to shark fishing. Unfortunately, very little happened in the shark arena, with three more swellies coming over the rail… At about 10pm one of the gang brought a 4-foot soupfin to the surface but it was farmed while they were trying to gaff it. The company was good both nights, the bait was happenin’ but the shark were elsewhere.
Question: Rumor has it that the swellies are poisonous, also that once released, when they expel the air/water they use to blow up, they regurgitate a semipoisonous (definately noxious) mass of stuff which drives other fish away. I really would like clarification on the second point as sop on the pier right now is to kill the sharks, leaving them on the pier to die so they won’t affect the night’s fishing and I’d like to avoid this if possible, education is the key. When someone is feeling spry enough, we’ll walk the shark to the shallow water for release but that doesn’t happen very often.

Posted by Ken Jones

Release them gently back into the sea. They are not in any way noxious to the water and do not drive other fish away. It is true though that if you eat them the flesh will cause stomach cramps and nausea—to you. Unfortunately the belief you mention is an urban legend that refuses to die

Posted by yakattack

Thanks Ken, I had a feeling it might be something like that… I will endeavor to kill the myth re: the swellies and get them released back into the water when caught. I’m much more comfortable with that for lots of reasons, including the smell!

****************************************************************************************************************

Date: February 28, 2009
To: Ken Jones
From: fishboy
Subject: Swell Sharks

Just saw your revised swell shark article. You mentioned that small swell sharks are not able to puff up like the adults. Was just wondering where you found this bit of information. My understanding from those working at the miniature UCSB aquarium/touch-tank is that even with newly hatched swell sharks under a foot long, gulping air is a problem. While I am not sure if they are able to gulp in enough air to create a distended stomach like the adults, it is something they try to avoid, and if one of the small swell sharks does gulp air, they need to burp it. Which leads me to another interesting thing that you may consider adding to your article. They prevent these small swell sharks from gulping air by holding their mouth closed when they are out of water. Because swell sharks are actually gulping air/water, holding their mouth shut prevents them from doing this. I have been using this technique fairly successfully with the swell sharks we catch off of Goleta Pier as well. After we pull a swell shark to the surface, we try to keep it in the water until we can get our crab net ready. As soon as we net the shark and pull it out of the water, we pull it up as fast as we can and grab the mouth and hold it shut. This gives us all the time we need to untangle the lines from the net and remove the shark. Then allow the mouth to open for only as long as we need to remove the hook, and then again lower it as fast as we can in the net to get it back under water. Before learning this trick, we had numerous incidents where released swell sharks had gulped so much air that they were unable to submerge themselves and were left floating belly up, but since learning this technique almost 100% of the swell sharks we release have been able to swim down to the bottom. Roy

Hi Roy,

In Probably More Than You Want To Know About The Fishes Of The Pacific Coast, Milton Love says “Curiously, small swell sharks, which you would think would benefit from the ability, don’t seem to be able to puff up.” That’s my source on the info but I find your note of great interest.

]]> http://kenjonesfishing.com/2011/12/swell-shark-%e2%80%94-aint-so-swell/feed/ 0 http://kenjonesfishing.com/2011/10/great-whites-makos-%e2%80%94/ http://kenjonesfishing.com/2011/10/great-whites-makos-%e2%80%94/#comments Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:01:54 +0000 kenjones http://kenjonesfishing.com/?p=2188  Stories like the following seem to crop up every few years, especially at piers in Santa Monica Bay such as Hermosa Beach Pier and the Manhattan Beach Pier. Great whites are illegal, makos are legal, and too many fisherman don’t make the effort to learn the differences.

Great white shark isn’t a great catch

By Ed Zieralski, San Diego Union-Tribune, June 10, 2003

A Los Angeles fisherman who caught a 1-to 2-year-old great white shark from the Hermosa Pier will be cited by the State Department of Fish and Game for killing a protected species.

Abraham Ulloa, a general contractor from Los Angeles, posed with the estimated 61/2 -foot white shark on the pier June 7 along with two Hermosa Beach lifeguards.The photo appeared with a story in the Easy Reader, a Hermosa Beach newspaper, and even though the caption identified the catch as a “200-pound mako,” the story and headline identified it as a “great white shark.”

The story described Ulloa’s two-hour battle with the shark on 40-pound test line and heavier leader and how two fishing buddies helped haul the fish up with grappling gaffs.

Abraham Ulloa and his shark

Outraged by the story and photo, sport and commercial fishermen called Fish and Game officials and media. Many criticized the Hermosa Beach lifeguards for their involvement.” We received a lot of tips from the public on this,” said Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the DFG. Lauren Gangle,notified her supervisors at California DFG. She works as a Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission regional supervisor and is graduate student in marine biology. Mrs. Gangle collects data from commercial fisherman without their fear of any report of mismanagement. Ms. Gangl was present in Hermosa Beach at time of the capture of the Great White and contacted Ms. Wilson to report data. “Lauren gave me data and then I decided to proceed with violation proceedings.”

Department of Fish and Game warden Rebecca Hartman investigated and traced Ulloa to his home in Los Angeles. Ulloa told her his family had eaten some of the fish, and he had distributed portions to friends. But he still had the fins and jaws of the shark. Hartman didn’t cite Ulloa because he claimed he thought it was a mako shark. She confiscated the fins and jaws and took them to a marine biologist for identification.”At that young age, the teeth are somewhat like a mako’s, but the great white has serrated bottom teeth,” Lowe said. “And its uppers are more triangular than a mako’s.”

Hartman plans to cite Ulloa even though he professed ignorance. “It’s a violation even though he claims he didn’t know what it was,” Hartman said. “The law is set up to protect the animal. If you don’t know what it is, don’t take it. In this case, this individual took a great white shark, a predator that keeps sea lions in check and fills a certain niche in the ocean.”

Ulloa could not be reached for comment. He faces a misdemeanor charge, a fine of $1,000 and/or six months in county jail. Hartman said the Hermosa Beach lifeguards in the picture with Ulloa won’t be charged because they arrived after the shark was killed. They played no role in the killing of the fish, she said. Lifeguards Charlie Piccaro and Bill “Shark” Harkins’ only “crime” is they posed with Ulloa over a dead protected great white shark.

Lowe said Southern California is a nursery for great whites, and he estimates six to eight young great whites are caught each year by sport and commercial fishermen between Dana Point and Ventura.*** He said it’s important that laws stay in place to protect them. “The best guess is that great white sharks take 12 to 18 years to mature and give birth,” he said. “And when they do give birth, it’s only to one or two pups at a time. These fish have a life span of humans.” *** I think the number has gone up since then.

•••••••••••••••••••• Great White Shark ••••••••••••••••••••

Species: Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758); from the Greek carcharodon (rough and tooth), and carcharias (the ancient Greek name for the species). Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii, Superorder Galea, Order Lamniformes, Family Lamnidae—Mackerel sharks.

Alternate Names: It has many names throughout the world. Most common are great white and man-eater. Others include great white death, white pointer, Mango-ururoa (New Zealand), and Grand requin blanc (France). Called Tiburón blanco in Mexico.

Identification: Large, powerful body with the 1^st dorsal fin over rear of of pectoral fin; 2^nd dorsal fin begins in front of anal fin. Dark metallic-gray, slate-blue, brownish or blackish above, lighter on side, white below. Sometimes has a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin or on the underside of the pectoral fin near the tip. The teeth are very large and triangular, with serrated, saw-tooth edges.

Size: Although reported to 36 feet, and over 4,000 pounds in weight, most are under 21 feet in length. In California reported to nearly 20 feet in length.

Range: From Gulf of California to Gulf of Alaska.

Habitat: Inshore and offshore areas, especially near seal or sea lion rookeries.

Piers: White sharks have been taken at several piers including those at Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach and Goleta. A great white was reported hooked and lost at the Pacifica Pier in 1991.  Almost all were young pups under six feet in length although the one that decided to visit Pacifica grabbed a hooked salmon of ten pounds or so and was estimated at 12 feet in length and 700 pounds. The carcass of a small, four-foot-long baby white floated by the Point Arena Pier in March of 1997 until grabbed by a couple of the local local youth.

Bait and Tackle: None, illegal to take

Food Value: None, illegal to take.

Comments: Among the swimmers killed by great whites in California was one who decided to swim with the sea lions next to the Avila Beach Pier. It was a bad idea.

Great quote by Quint in “Jaws” — Sometimes that shark, he looks right into ya, right into your eyes. Y’know, the thing about a shark, he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes after ya, he doesn’t seem to be livin’ until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white, and then – aww, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin’, the ocean turns red, and in spite of all the poundin’ and the hollerin’, they all come in and rip ya to pieces…

 •••••••••••••••••••• Shortfin Mako ••••••••••••••••••••

Species: Isurus oxyrinchus (Rafinesque, 1810); from the Greek word isurus (equal and tail) and the Greek word oxyinchus (sharp snout). Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii, Superorder Galea, Order Lamniformes, Family Lamnidae—Mackerel sharks.

Alternate Names: Mako is the work used by the Maori in New Zealand to describe sharks, but this is another shark with many names. In California it’s often called bonito shark, mackerel shark, or simply mako. Also called blue pointer, bue dynamite paloma, spriglio, sharp-nosed shark, pointed-nose shark, and snapper shark (Australia). Called Tiburón marrajo, in Mexico.

Identification: Body more slender than great white. A long, conical-shaped snout with the 1^st dorsal fin beginning or slightly behind the rear corner of the long pectoral fin; 2^nd dorsal fin small, beginning slightly ahead of the anal fin. A prominent keel on the sides of the caudal peduncle extending from the tail to a point above the pelvic fins. Dark gray or metallic-blue above and on the sides (fading to gray after death), white below. Has a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin. Fang-like, non-serrated teeth.

Size: To 13 feet and over 1,530 pounds; a mako caught by commercial fishermen in Massachusetts in 1997 weighed 1,530 pounds—after being gutted. Most makos seen in California are 6-8 feet long.

Range: Gulf of California to Columbia River, Oregon but rare north of Point Conception.

Habitat: Epipelagic, aka sunlit or euphotic zone, the top layer of the ocean zones. Typically found in the open ocean, from the surface down to 492 feet, but will also occasionally venture inshore. Eats pelagic schooling species such as mackerel and sardines but also will eat squid, other sharks, dolphin, and even billfish; mako are considered apex predators.

Piers: Uncommonly seen at piers but several have been reported from Santa Monica Bay piers—Hermosa Beach Pier, Manhattan Beach Pier, Venice Pier and the Santa Monica Pier.  Makos have also been reported from the San Clemente Pier and Belmont Pier.

Bait and Tackle: Taken on live bait, especially live mackerel. Will also hit trolled mackerel and lures. Usually taken in deeper water with hooks size 6/0-10/0. Makos are the fastest swimming sharks reaching a sustained swimming speed exceeding 22 mph and spurts of nearly 50 mph. They are considered a top sportfish often leaping like a billfish when hooked.

Food Value:  Good eating. According to Raymond Cannon in his excellent book How to Fish the Pacific Coast, “thousands of pounds of bonito shark were sold during the meat scarcity in city markets and served in restaurants as ‘swordfish’ and ‘sea bass’ at fresh-fish prices.”

Comments: Richard Ellis in his excellent book, The Book of Sharks, writes, “The mako is the quintessential shark. It is probably the most graceful of all sharks, the most beautifully proportioned, the fastest, the most strikingly colored, the most spectacular game fish, and one of the meanest-looking animals on earth.”