Odium
09-22-2008, 11:01 AM
5:55 AM
Arrived at Balboa Pier. (I hate Google Maps directions to piers etc). Unpacked and walked out to the end of the pier. It was still really dark and it looked like there was only 5 people at the end of the pier. As we got closer to Ruby's we saw more people packed in at the end of the Pier. Walked in a clock wise circle and found a bunch of rail space on the right side of Ruby's
6:10
Lines hit the water.
GF's Rod: Sabiki Size 10
Bro's #1: Double Carolina, Size 6's. Soaking.
Bro's #2: Double Carolina, Size 6's. In Hand.
My #1: Double Carolina, Size 6's. Soaking.
My #2: Double Carolina, Size 12's. In Hand.
Got some quick nibbles, a few bites, a few fish. But it got really slow.
7-10:00
A guy at the end of the pier was using size 3 sabiki and picking up a ton of sardines. He'd quickly toss them into a bucket with a fish tank air circulator thing attached. He and a friend were catching short hali's and mackeral at a decent pace off the live bait.
10:30
I'm using this really dinky rod (Sorry, I do not remember the brand. All of our rods are 20-30 years old, my dad used to use them back in the day) to hook up some smelt for my GF's mom. Rod in hand, talking to my brother, BENDO!!! I pull up to set the hook and then I hear SNAP! Next thing I see is my rod just broke 4 inches above the reel and it was trailing down my line into the water. Stunned, I stand there for like 2 seconds thinking, "Did this really just happen"? I regain my senses and I start trying to reel back in my line as best as I can. I recovered the rod, but lost the fish.
11:00ish
This guy to our right catches a short hali. My GF asks what kinda fish it is. I replied, It is a short halibut, it's not 22 inches. As soon as I said the short part, he tossed the hali in a white plastic bag and hid it under some of his gear. I was quite annoyed and wished I had the number for some wardens.
11:30
The bite is still slow. We probably only have like 8 fish in the bucket. We are thinking about packing up. I tell the GF, okay lets just blow some bait over the next 30 minutes, if it's still slow. We'll bail.
11;45
Small school of mackerel drop in on the pier. Mac attack goes on for about 20 minutes. My Brother, my GF, and I are quite happy.
12:30
Bite slows down, but we are catching fish every 5-10 minutes.
1:30
"30 more minutes, we'll leave at 2." Another school (or maybe the same school as before) of mackerel hit the pier again. We are running with 4 rods now. Our lines do not stay in the water for more than 45 seconds before getting hit. For the next 45 minutes. We are running a shuffle operation of: Cast, unhook someone else's fish, reel fish, rebait, repeat repeat repeat.
3:00
Bite slows down again. Then we start hearing people say, "It's a boil, it's a boil." I poke my head up and look around. About 200 feet out from the pier, there is a school of sardines boiling the water. A few minutes later a few people show up with jigs, crowd in and start casting through the boil. None of them got any hits. They weren't the most courteous guys, but they moved on pretty quick.
3:30
The bite is back to a fish every 5 minutes or so.
I steal my brother's first rod and stick a size 12 sabiki on it. I bait it up with tiny pieces of mack and start trying to pick up smelts again. No luck on smelt. But I am picking up small macks. I decide to start casting out a bit to see if i can hit more fish. After about 20 casts, I find a sweet spot. Every 3rd to 5th cast. I would land on the fish and bring in like 2-5 small macks at once.
4:30
"30 Minutes, I swear"
My bro and I gave away just about all of our bait, just to prove it to my GF. All we have left are like 3 shrimp and 2 squid. 10 minutes later, Massive Mack attack. My brother and I, start cutting super economy sized strips of squid (1/4 inch by 1/2 an inch strips) for our hooks. Even with the hook being so obvious, the mack are still hitting like crazy. The shuffle rotation starts up again.
4:45
My brother gets a little too earnest with his cast and gets caught on a horizontal pylon under the pier. COuldn't get loose, had to cut the line and set up again.
5ish
Bite is still Wide Open. To my amazement, I am still landing a ton sizable mackerel on my size 12 Sabiki. Then I'm casting my line out as normal, just as I am about to swing my line for the forward swing, I get snagged up on something. I'm thinking CRAP!! Did I get stuck on the pylon too? I lean over the rail and I spot this wicked looking tangle of fishing lines stuck under the pier. I take a few tugs but I see 3 of my sabiki hooks stuck in the tangle. I cut the line and retire that rod.
5:20ish
I'm using an old Ugly Stick Tiger rod. Bite is still wide open, lines are not staying in the water for more than a minute before getting hit. I'm still in the same spot as before. I'm being very mindful of my casting. I get two quick hits, I set the hook, and start reeling. As the line start coming closer to the pier and coming out of the water, one mack falls off and then the other. My line swings back and forth in the air. . . . into the tangle under the pier. I let off a string of cursing. I cut my line after unsuccessfully untangling my line.
5:45
"One more fish and we can go" Thats what both my brother and I say. The girlfriend rolls her eyes.
Bite finally slows down. We run out of squid and start using shrimp. 5 minutes and three casts later, I land a pretty fat mackeral. As i land the fish, I say "Finally going home!" My brother looks at me and says "I still havent caught my last fish." A few minutes later, my brother lands his last mackerel.
The guy we gave our bait to commented, "Finally going home huh? Hahaha that's what you guys were saying for the last three or four hours.
He also mentioned he fishes the pier every weekend, and this is the first time in a long long long while since the mackerel were wide open like today.
Broke a rod and lost some tackle today, but a VERY good day of fishing.
Arrived at Balboa Pier. (I hate Google Maps directions to piers etc). Unpacked and walked out to the end of the pier. It was still really dark and it looked like there was only 5 people at the end of the pier. As we got closer to Ruby's we saw more people packed in at the end of the Pier. Walked in a clock wise circle and found a bunch of rail space on the right side of Ruby's
6:10
Lines hit the water.
GF's Rod: Sabiki Size 10
Bro's #1: Double Carolina, Size 6's. Soaking.
Bro's #2: Double Carolina, Size 6's. In Hand.
My #1: Double Carolina, Size 6's. Soaking.
My #2: Double Carolina, Size 12's. In Hand.
Got some quick nibbles, a few bites, a few fish. But it got really slow.
7-10:00
A guy at the end of the pier was using size 3 sabiki and picking up a ton of sardines. He'd quickly toss them into a bucket with a fish tank air circulator thing attached. He and a friend were catching short hali's and mackeral at a decent pace off the live bait.
10:30
I'm using this really dinky rod (Sorry, I do not remember the brand. All of our rods are 20-30 years old, my dad used to use them back in the day) to hook up some smelt for my GF's mom. Rod in hand, talking to my brother, BENDO!!! I pull up to set the hook and then I hear SNAP! Next thing I see is my rod just broke 4 inches above the reel and it was trailing down my line into the water. Stunned, I stand there for like 2 seconds thinking, "Did this really just happen"? I regain my senses and I start trying to reel back in my line as best as I can. I recovered the rod, but lost the fish.
11:00ish
This guy to our right catches a short hali. My GF asks what kinda fish it is. I replied, It is a short halibut, it's not 22 inches. As soon as I said the short part, he tossed the hali in a white plastic bag and hid it under some of his gear. I was quite annoyed and wished I had the number for some wardens.
11:30
The bite is still slow. We probably only have like 8 fish in the bucket. We are thinking about packing up. I tell the GF, okay lets just blow some bait over the next 30 minutes, if it's still slow. We'll bail.
11;45
Small school of mackerel drop in on the pier. Mac attack goes on for about 20 minutes. My Brother, my GF, and I are quite happy.
12:30
Bite slows down, but we are catching fish every 5-10 minutes.
1:30
"30 more minutes, we'll leave at 2." Another school (or maybe the same school as before) of mackerel hit the pier again. We are running with 4 rods now. Our lines do not stay in the water for more than 45 seconds before getting hit. For the next 45 minutes. We are running a shuffle operation of: Cast, unhook someone else's fish, reel fish, rebait, repeat repeat repeat.
3:00
Bite slows down again. Then we start hearing people say, "It's a boil, it's a boil." I poke my head up and look around. About 200 feet out from the pier, there is a school of sardines boiling the water. A few minutes later a few people show up with jigs, crowd in and start casting through the boil. None of them got any hits. They weren't the most courteous guys, but they moved on pretty quick.
3:30
The bite is back to a fish every 5 minutes or so.
I steal my brother's first rod and stick a size 12 sabiki on it. I bait it up with tiny pieces of mack and start trying to pick up smelts again. No luck on smelt. But I am picking up small macks. I decide to start casting out a bit to see if i can hit more fish. After about 20 casts, I find a sweet spot. Every 3rd to 5th cast. I would land on the fish and bring in like 2-5 small macks at once.
4:30
"30 Minutes, I swear"
My bro and I gave away just about all of our bait, just to prove it to my GF. All we have left are like 3 shrimp and 2 squid. 10 minutes later, Massive Mack attack. My brother and I, start cutting super economy sized strips of squid (1/4 inch by 1/2 an inch strips) for our hooks. Even with the hook being so obvious, the mack are still hitting like crazy. The shuffle rotation starts up again.
4:45
My brother gets a little too earnest with his cast and gets caught on a horizontal pylon under the pier. COuldn't get loose, had to cut the line and set up again.
5ish
Bite is still Wide Open. To my amazement, I am still landing a ton sizable mackerel on my size 12 Sabiki. Then I'm casting my line out as normal, just as I am about to swing my line for the forward swing, I get snagged up on something. I'm thinking CRAP!! Did I get stuck on the pylon too? I lean over the rail and I spot this wicked looking tangle of fishing lines stuck under the pier. I take a few tugs but I see 3 of my sabiki hooks stuck in the tangle. I cut the line and retire that rod.
5:20ish
I'm using an old Ugly Stick Tiger rod. Bite is still wide open, lines are not staying in the water for more than a minute before getting hit. I'm still in the same spot as before. I'm being very mindful of my casting. I get two quick hits, I set the hook, and start reeling. As the line start coming closer to the pier and coming out of the water, one mack falls off and then the other. My line swings back and forth in the air. . . . into the tangle under the pier. I let off a string of cursing. I cut my line after unsuccessfully untangling my line.
5:45
"One more fish and we can go" Thats what both my brother and I say. The girlfriend rolls her eyes.
Bite finally slows down. We run out of squid and start using shrimp. 5 minutes and three casts later, I land a pretty fat mackeral. As i land the fish, I say "Finally going home!" My brother looks at me and says "I still havent caught my last fish." A few minutes later, my brother lands his last mackerel.
The guy we gave our bait to commented, "Finally going home huh? Hahaha that's what you guys were saying for the last three or four hours.
He also mentioned he fishes the pier every weekend, and this is the first time in a long long long while since the mackerel were wide open like today.
Broke a rod and lost some tackle today, but a VERY good day of fishing.