Natural Lefty
11-07-2009, 02:54 PM
This report won't be quite as long as usual, since the fishing was slow, and I didn't meet any crazy people, supereccentric people, or supertalkative friendly people this time, nor was I abducted by aliens or some such unusual event.
My wife is always telling me (from Taiwan where she still is) to go to Oceanside Harbor "because it is free" (true) and "the fishing is always good (not really). I took her advice yesterday, and got there around 3:45 p.m. I was partly driven by curiosity about the Opaleye bite, since I really had the Opaleye catching technique down this summer. For the first 15 minutes, I checked out the fishing situation. Looking for Opaleye only revealed 1 single one, but good size, plus several off-limits Garibaldi along the shoreline rocks. Thus, I checked out the Sportfishing Pier next. When I got there, a fisherman on the left corner had a Spotfin Croaker he had just caught. He held it up, and asked "Anyone want it?" This was going to be even easier than I thought, I thought. "Sure, I'll take it," I replied. The next thing I knew, I was carrying a 10 inch Spotfin Croaker back to the car. At that point, I figured the fishing would be pretty good, but I was wrong.
After that, I tried from the rocks for awhile with leftover worms and mussel, but nothing bit, even in the spot where I had seen the Opaleye. I guess they are a warmer month phenomenon in that spot. I have no idea why they are not around in the colder months. My wife and I went to Santa Barbara last December, and the place was thick with good size Opaleye, although we had trouble getting them to bite. I guess the Opaleye in Oceanside go to some other part of the harbor in the winter, or else they go to Santa Barbara. :Confused:
Since that wasn't working, I decided to fish the pier. At least there was a generous fisherman there. I started getting light bites on mussel right away, but they seemed like small fish and didn't stick on the hook. Since the sun was about to go down, and the tide was already really low, I decided to head to the handy-dandy floating docks to pick some fresh mussels. I was able to get quite a few from the cement posts which don't go up and down with the water. The mussels on these are only exposed when the water is low, so I concentrated on these, and found there were a lot of them available. At least I was "catching" something.
Back at the pier, I finally caught a 6-7 inch Walleye Surfperch on a jig and nigthcrawler piece combo around 5 p.m. It wasn't very big, but it looked like it would go well with the croaker, so I kept it. I used to catch a lot of Walleye Surfperch at this pier, but not in recent years for some reason. At least I got one of them this time. Closer to 6, I caught a small, 6 inch Kelp Bass (Calico) on a jig and mussel combo. It was so dark by then, that I had to see it close up to identify it. Then I quickly put it back in the water. That was it as far as my catching. The guy who gave me the croaker did also catch a Jacksmelt which he also gave to me. I am keeping it for Crab bait. Then, as he left, he gave me his box of squid. All the other fisherpeople seemed to be locals, who kept talking amongst themselves. Also, I was the only adult male present who wasn't a human smokestack, which helped keep me a ways away from the others. But this one fellow certainly was generous.
A while after the bass, I was jigging my jig and mussel on the end of the pier, listening to a short blond-haired woman ranting about how a friend of the guy she was talking to had stolen something from her, when I got a hit and had something on for a moment. It felt like a nice size fish, but it wasn't on for long before the hook came out. That was my last bite. I tried a Sabiki Rig, and nothing ever even bit it. Perhaps the low tide had something to do with the poor fishing. But at least, I wound up with dinner for one (Croaker and Surfperch), and lots of leftover bait (Mussels, Squid and Jacksmelt).
The only fish I actually caught, though, were the one Walleye Surfperch on a worm (kept), and one undersize Kelp Bass (released).
My wife is always telling me (from Taiwan where she still is) to go to Oceanside Harbor "because it is free" (true) and "the fishing is always good (not really). I took her advice yesterday, and got there around 3:45 p.m. I was partly driven by curiosity about the Opaleye bite, since I really had the Opaleye catching technique down this summer. For the first 15 minutes, I checked out the fishing situation. Looking for Opaleye only revealed 1 single one, but good size, plus several off-limits Garibaldi along the shoreline rocks. Thus, I checked out the Sportfishing Pier next. When I got there, a fisherman on the left corner had a Spotfin Croaker he had just caught. He held it up, and asked "Anyone want it?" This was going to be even easier than I thought, I thought. "Sure, I'll take it," I replied. The next thing I knew, I was carrying a 10 inch Spotfin Croaker back to the car. At that point, I figured the fishing would be pretty good, but I was wrong.
After that, I tried from the rocks for awhile with leftover worms and mussel, but nothing bit, even in the spot where I had seen the Opaleye. I guess they are a warmer month phenomenon in that spot. I have no idea why they are not around in the colder months. My wife and I went to Santa Barbara last December, and the place was thick with good size Opaleye, although we had trouble getting them to bite. I guess the Opaleye in Oceanside go to some other part of the harbor in the winter, or else they go to Santa Barbara. :Confused:
Since that wasn't working, I decided to fish the pier. At least there was a generous fisherman there. I started getting light bites on mussel right away, but they seemed like small fish and didn't stick on the hook. Since the sun was about to go down, and the tide was already really low, I decided to head to the handy-dandy floating docks to pick some fresh mussels. I was able to get quite a few from the cement posts which don't go up and down with the water. The mussels on these are only exposed when the water is low, so I concentrated on these, and found there were a lot of them available. At least I was "catching" something.
Back at the pier, I finally caught a 6-7 inch Walleye Surfperch on a jig and nigthcrawler piece combo around 5 p.m. It wasn't very big, but it looked like it would go well with the croaker, so I kept it. I used to catch a lot of Walleye Surfperch at this pier, but not in recent years for some reason. At least I got one of them this time. Closer to 6, I caught a small, 6 inch Kelp Bass (Calico) on a jig and mussel combo. It was so dark by then, that I had to see it close up to identify it. Then I quickly put it back in the water. That was it as far as my catching. The guy who gave me the croaker did also catch a Jacksmelt which he also gave to me. I am keeping it for Crab bait. Then, as he left, he gave me his box of squid. All the other fisherpeople seemed to be locals, who kept talking amongst themselves. Also, I was the only adult male present who wasn't a human smokestack, which helped keep me a ways away from the others. But this one fellow certainly was generous.
A while after the bass, I was jigging my jig and mussel on the end of the pier, listening to a short blond-haired woman ranting about how a friend of the guy she was talking to had stolen something from her, when I got a hit and had something on for a moment. It felt like a nice size fish, but it wasn't on for long before the hook came out. That was my last bite. I tried a Sabiki Rig, and nothing ever even bit it. Perhaps the low tide had something to do with the poor fishing. But at least, I wound up with dinner for one (Croaker and Surfperch), and lots of leftover bait (Mussels, Squid and Jacksmelt).
The only fish I actually caught, though, were the one Walleye Surfperch on a worm (kept), and one undersize Kelp Bass (released).