Balboa Pier for a fix - 7/18/09

[SPIKEANUT]

Arrived at Balboa pier about 11am. Traffic down Newport was a nightmare this weekend, looks like the swimmers are in full bloom. Glad the pier wasn't as crowded as Newport. Had 5 rigs between my buddy and I. 2 were set with Sabiki rigs for some bait fish. 2 were set with some drop shots / 2-3 hooks each - squid strips. And one was my jig stick just to keep busy. Anyways, long story short, the only thing that were hitting were mackerels and smelt on the sabiki's. No action on any other rig. My jig stick had a couple nibbles, but nothing that would stick. Walked around the pier a few times and looked like the same story all around. Mac's are back..but in a very scarce number.

One thing that was interesting, a guy fishing with squid ended up pulling in a 3-4 lb Lobster. That thing was huge! Lucky guy got some free dinner today. Other than that, still slow on the pier.

[ddrahn]

Lucky guy that DFG didn't catch him (if he kept the lobster). Out of season and illegal to catch by fishing line.

[Natural Lefty]

Plus you are supposed to buy some sort of 10 dollar Lobster Card first, to keep track of all those Lobsters you catch (as though we really catch that many hooping from piers). I think I will stick with hooping for Crabs at this point.

[KevinJALax]

Yeah, i noticed it too in newport pier. Not a lot of macs being caught. However, i did see a handful of spotfin croaker, and some zebra perch.

[doyoufishmuch]

Can you hoop for lobster off of a jetty?

[Fish Dog]

Can you hoop for lobster off of a jetty?

Yes, in season, with a lobster punch card and fishing license, within size and possession limits. Someone should have called this guy in to CalTip.