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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Spyglass Inn

The bluff next to the hotel was covered with flowers

Off in the distance I could see the Avila Pier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We headed back to the hotel for a pretty sunset.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zane and JB

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day Three — Montana del Oro State Park

The first beach you come to has some interesting formations.

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

The walk back is through dry vegitation.

A birdie greeted us at our car.

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

Monkeyface eel from the Morro Bay T-Pier

Species: Cebidichthys violaceus  (Girard, 1854); from the Greek cebidichthys (two words meaning Sapajou—a kind of monkey, and fish); and the Latin word violaceus  (meaning violet).

Alternate Names: Monkeyface prickleback, blenny eel, monkeyface blenny. Called abrojo cara de mono in Mexico.

Identification: Typical eel shape. Adult fish have a lumpy ridge on the top of the head. Dorsal fin is about half spines and half soft rays. Uniform dull black, olive or gray with 2 darker bars radiating downward from the eye.  Some fish have been noted with orange spots on the body or orange at the edge of the fins.

Monkeyface eel — Monterey Coast Guard Pier, 2006

Size: Length to 30 inches. Most caught from piers are 12-24 inches long. The California record was a 6 lb 1 oz fish taken at Pescadero in 2005.

Range: Bahia San Quintin Bay, northern Baja California to southern Oregon; rare south of Point Conception.

Habitat: Intertidal to 80 feet deep; common in shallow rocky areas.

Piers: Generally found at piers in rocky areas or where debris has accumulated at the base of the pier. Best bets: Monterey Coast Guard Pier (the best), Princeton Harbor Pier, Fort Point Pier, San Francisco Municipal Pier, Angel Island Pier and Elephant Rock Pier.

Shoreline: A favorite species for anglers fishing rocky areas and jettys from Point Conception to San Francisco (especially poke polers). Favored areas include Shell Beach (near Pismo Beach), rocks and jetties near the Golden Gate, rocks between Stinson Beach and Muir Beach, rocks between Bodega Bay and Dillon Beach, and rocks north of Crescent City.

Monkeyface eel taken by Pinoy at the Monterey Coast Guard Pier in 2005

Boats: An inshore species rarely take from boats.

Bait and Tackle: Medium tackle; size 4-2 hooks; cut bait (squid), shrimp, pile worms or fresh mussels. The eel’s most common food is crustaceans and algae.

Food Value: Excellent eating.

Comments: Very hard to catch from a pier. Will strike bait and then immediately head back to its rocky lair. Anglers must strike quickly and then keep the pressure on the fish to force it away from the rocks. More commonly caught by “poke poling” in rocky areas along the shoreline.

Pinoy’s wife getting ready to prepare some monkeyface eel for dinner.

An interesting look at a monkeyface’s face!

Another monkeyface head on! — Caught by “Turtle”

Kirk Lombard and the state record monkeyface eel

How about eating the monkeyface eels?

Here’s an interesting article on how well they are respected as food in the Bay Area.

Monkeyface eel becoming a star on dinner platters —
restaurants Homely fish is a star on dinner platters

SFGate — Carey Sweet, February 29, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO — As chef Mateo Granados sets the platter on the table at his Mateo’s Cocina Latina in Healdsburg, the “oohs” and “aahs” roll forth. Plus here and there, “yikes.” It’s difficult not to react to the star ingredient of this supper. It’s monkeyface eel, and as Granados serves it whole, the 3-pound creature stares up at the people who are about to consume it.

Imagine the big bulging eyes of Marty Feldman, the bloated collagen lips of performance artist Amanda Lepore, and a lumpy rhino ridge on the head that ends in a blunt bulldog nose. Granados presents it with its downturned mouth propped open, the better to view its tiny spiky teeth. Then he fillets it, and within seconds, the flesh is separated from the nearly 2-foot long body for diners to dig into.

This is one of the more dramatic preparations for the eel, which suddenly has been showing up in restaurants in the North Bay and San Francisco, prized for its delicate yet meaty texture and its clean whitefish flavor. Diners who have discovered it are reserving the limited-catch species in advance, and when guests see it listed on Mateo’s specials chalkboard, it sells out.

Monkeyface eel is not actually an eel, but a fish, from the rock prickleback family. It has two small fins hanging like floppy ears near its head, and a dorsal fin down its back, yet it barely swims, preferring to lurk instead close to shore in rocky reefs and tidal pools along the Pacific coast from Baja California to Oregon.

And as Granados and his curious customers have learned, it is a piscatorial pleasure, roasted in aromatic herbs and smothered in citrus segments with warmed olive oil, Preston black olives, capers and Middleton Farm baby broccoli alongside crispy Tommy Boy’s potato skins.

Kenny Belov was the first to offer monkeyface last summer, at his Fish restaurant in Sausalito, where he sends it out in paella, or sliced and broiled with salt, pepper and olive oil as an appetizer. In November, Nojo chef-owner Greg Dunmore got hooked, putting it on the menu at his San Francisco restaurant.

In December, Granados unveiled his first recipe, dressed in a fusion style of French, Asian and Spanish preparations that he changes nearly every time he serves it.
Beyond tasting good – Dunmore compares the taste to Thai snapper, with none of the chewy oiliness often found in unagi – the chefs say they appreciate that monkeyface offers an excellent local alternative to other overfished species like monkfish or imported mahi mahi, which are both on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sustainable Seafood Watch Guide as fish to avoid eating.

“They’re so delicate and mild, they accept all sauces and preparations,” Belov said. Customers snap up Belov’s stock of as many as 10 a day, and even buy the creatures whole from his retail shop at $14.99 a pound. “People love it, they ask a lot of questions, and it’s fun for our staff to tell the monkeyface story,” he says.

Dunmore finds that no one minds the strange name, either. “It’s hard to keep it in the house when guests find out we have it,” he says, noting that he goes through up to 15 orders in an evening. He skins it, fillets it and tempura-fries it, then serves it with a light broth of dashi, soy, mirin and a flourish of his momiji oroshi (shaved carrot and daikon), or barbecues it with ginger and lays it atop crispy rice cake.

For Granados’ kitchen, more is better with the versatile fish. A recent preparation found it grilled, then roasted standing up so both sides could cook evenly. The chef buried it in black hedgehog mushrooms, local Dungeness crab in Meyer lemon cream sauce, Sonoma County vegetables and a crisp knob of Redwood Empire Farm fennel tempura. The family-style meals, served with sides, generally feed four for $125.

The decidedly homely critters are relatively easy to catch, according to monkeyface eel expert angler Kirk Lombard. He holds the California record for the largest monkeyface ever caught (6.1 pounds), and sells to Sausalito’s TwoXSea, a seafood distributing company also owned by Belov.

Lombard uses a method called poke poling, rigging up a long bamboo pole with a short wire leader and a small baited hook on the end, and poking it into rock crevices to find the fish. It may seem like an odd pastime, Lombard admitted, but part of his motivation is to develop the market for underutilized species and help combat the extinction of others. Commercial fishery of monkeyface eels is insignificant, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Lombard says he believes he is the only angler in California catching them for profit via his Sea Forager business.

“You can’t catch a large number, so no one makes money,” he said. “I can get maybe 14 a day, and that’s ridiculous. Most people may get three.”

So far, the only challenge Bay Area chefs have had selling the kooky-looking catch is trying not to look at each fish as a personality. Dunmore finds himself apologizing to each creature before he slices. “Sorry, buddy.”

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One day a question appeared on the Pier Fishing In California (pierfishing.com) Message Board from astralography, “Any thoughts or tips on cleaning and preparing them [monkeyface eels] for the dining experience?” It was answered by Songslinger one of the board’s oldest members and an expert on many types of fishing:

“The taste is strong and not for everybody. If you like catfish, you will like monkeyface eels. If not…

I make two cuts. Start at the collar right behind the head and go down to the bone, then pull the knife all the way to the tail, but stop before you finish the cut–this makes it really easy to remove the skin. Flip it over and repeat. You will have two filet “belts” that peel away from the fish. Don’t worry if it looks like you missed some bones in the middle of the filet. They are just tendons and they will vanish when the flesh relaxes.

An easy and tasty marinade can be made with chopped garlic and a sweet white wine like Gewurztraminer. Let it sit for an hour.

I think it makes a great fish sandwich. Sour dough roll and melted cheddar cheese. Amazing. But you can scampi it or even fry the hell out of it if you like grease. As fish’n'chips, it is quite distinctive, too. Japanese sweet potatoes will give it a nice edge.”

Species: Damalichthys vacca (Girard, 1855); from the Greek root words racos (ragged) and cheilos (lips) and the Latin word vacca  (like a cow). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Embiotocinae.

Alternate Names: Splittail perch, forktail perch, dusky perch, white perch, silver perch, piler perch, and porgy. In Mexico called mojarra muellera or perca.

Identification: Pile perch are distinguished by the black spot on the cheek, the very deeply forked tail, and the very tall, first soft rays on the dorsal fin that are about twice the height of the last spines. Color is dark brassy-brown, fading to silver on sides and belly; often has yellow pelvic fins. Pile perch have one dusky, vertical bar across the side at about the high point of the soft dorsal. The posterior position of the bar and the deeply forked caudal fin (tail) distinguish it from sargo.

Pileperch (and Hashem) from the Cabrillo Pier in San Pedro

Size: To 17 1/4 inches; most caught from piers are 10-14 inches. The California record fish weighed 1 lb 15 oz and was taken at Long Beach in 2007.

Range: Isla Guadalupe (and possibly Bahia Playa Maria), central Baja California to southern British Columbia. Unverified report to Port Wrangell, Alaska.

Pileperch from the Elephant Rock Pier

Habitat: Shallow-water, rocky-areas, and around piers and docks, both oceanfront and in bays. Typically they are a bottom dwelling species, called “benthic grazing carnivores” by some. Others classify them as “commuter” fish that move between different habitats in search of prey. All agree they are primarily day feeders seeking out large, hard-shelled invertebrates that they are able to crush with their well developed, fused pharyngeal tooth plates. Since other perch do not share this ability, some scientists feel pile perch should be placed in a separate genus —Danalichthys. Foods include crabs, brittle stars, sand dollars, barnacles, bean clams, (whole) mussels, limpets, dove shells, California cones, Norris top shells, and chitons.

Pileperch (and Redfish aka Robert Gardner) from the Cabrillo Mole in Avalon

Piers: Pile perch are taken at virtually every pier in California but the largest numbers are taken at Bay Area piers. Best bets: Santa Monica Pier, Stearns Wharf, Goleta Pier, North T-Pier and South T-Pier in Morro Bay, San Francisco Municipal Pier, Berkeley Pier, Point Pinole Pier and McNear Beach Pier.

Shoreline: A favored species for shore anglers fishing in bays throughout the state.

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

Pileperch from the Goleta Pier

Bait and Tackle: Pile perch can be exasperatingly difficult to catch. The large perch will often be seen placidly swimming in clear view around the mussel-covered pilings while refusing to partake of the offerings of the gods up above—anglers whose mojo is evidently on empty. Damalichthys vacca do seem a little easier to catch when in their dense schools are a’spawning. Perhaps their pea-sized brains are distracted and normal caution takes a back seat to other thoughts? The most common setup is to use a high/low leader with number 6 or 4 hooks, light line, and a light sinker. Best bait in southern California seems to be fresh mussels, rock crabs or bloodworms. In the Bay Area, grass shrimp, rock crabs, pile worms or fresh mussels are best. In Humboldt Bay, frozen tube worms or crab backs are most commonly used. Usually pile perch are nestled up next to the pilings; fish accordingly. Check out the shoreline by the pier at low tide and grab some local live bait—small crabs, mussels, worms, snails or clams; these will usually make the best bait.

Food Value: Although large sized and yielding some usable meat, the flesh is only fair in taste.

Pileperch from the North T-Pier in Morro Bay

Comments: Many years ago, at Newport Pier, I watched an old-timer show one way to catch the perch. Pile perch were doing their typical trick d’tease: big fish showing a leg but refusing to bite. The old-timer tried out a trick of his own. He took out a mass of recently pried loose mussels, at least a dozen in the clump, and in and around this mussel-mass he wound a leader that had several number 8 hooks attached. Then he attached the leader to a handline and carefully dropped it down next to the pilings. This new mini-piling soon attracted the fish and he was able to catch several of the large pile perch. Sporting? I’m not sure, but it sure was effective. Since then, I’ve seen variations of this technique at both the Santa Monica Pier and at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara and heard stories of its use at the Goleta Pier.

Pileperch (and CayucosJack) from the North T-Pier in Morro Bay

Many thanks to Robert O’H for the help with the pictures.