Natural Lefty
12-05-2009, 11:43 AM
I headed out to Dana Harbor yesterday afternoon, since I have had decent success there in past Decembers. I think it turned out to be a pretty good choice.
By the time I started fishing, it was 3:30 p.m. already. The tide was really, really low, and I could see a sandbar on the harbor side of the west jetty, unlike the last time I was there. I first headed over there, and fished for about 1/2 hour with mussels on a jig, later adding some split shot in order to cast farther, but still, zero bites were had on my bait there. I asked a guy walking a dog about the smaller sand bar, and he confirmed that the entire place had been dredged last winter. Perhaps the reduced habitat explains the lack of fish there at present.
Next, I tried my Opaleye spot near the kiddie ship. With the low water, and so many kids nearby on the ship, it was awkward feeling, and once again, there were no bites and no fish seen, not even an Opaleye, although I wasn't there long. I got the impression that the Opaleye had departed for the winter, just as in Oceanside Harbor.
Thus, I went over to the Dana Harbor Fishing Pier. There were just 3 people fishing there when I got there. I recognized two of them as the father and son team whom I observed cleaning about 10 good sized Spotfin Croaker and a Sand Bass the last time I went to Dana Harbor. Apparently, they specialize in fishing this pier. This time, they had a bag with 3 good size Spotfins in it, not as good as last time, but still a pretty nice catch. I started fishing, and meanwhile, observed their technique. They were using 3 long rods, casting out as far as they could from the end of the pier, with bloodworms/lugworms for bait. They used sliding weights, about a 2 foot leader, and about a size 12 worm hook. Soon after I got there, I saw the pole closest to the son get a light bite. I told him, but he said, "I think that's just the wind." A moment later "the wind" turned into a Halibut. I think it was around 15-16 inches, although the son estimated 18 inches. They took a picture of it with a cell phone camera, then released it.
A while later (while I still wasn't getting any bites), the son's pole kept jiggling constantly for about 1/2 minute. Eventually, the son picked up the pole and set the hook, and sure enough, a fish had been sitting there with the hook in its mouth. It was another good size Spotfin Croaker, about 12 inches long and well-fed. To my surprise, they offered it to me, so I gladly accepted it. A few minutes later, I saw one of my poles bend over. It had mussel for bait, straight down from the left side of the pier (just beyond the boat dock). It turned out to be a 7 inch Sand Bass. Oh well, I was happy to get the skunk off. I dropped it back in the water to hopefully grow up, and tried to catch something more desirable. I continued to use one pole with only a 1/32 ounce jighead for weight, and mussel for bait. With the other pole, I tried to more or less copy the father/son team's technique, casting out with a sliding weight, but I was using mussels for bait since I don't have whatever they are calling them ocean worms, and I had two hooks on different length leaders.
By this time, it was getting dark. I got fairly consistent nibbles on the Croaker line I was casting out, but nothing very solid. Meanwhile, another pier regular showed up, also using the ocean worms for bait, with small hooks and a large split shot type weight. He was telling me that he and his family have been having good success there with the worms, especially. As it was already dark and a bit chilly, I was getting ready to give up and head home, but decided to try one of my leftover nightcrawlers over where I caught the Bass (which is my usual fishing spot there). I dropped it in, lifted, and felt weight on the line, but it didn't stick. I repeated the process, but this time set the hook, and brought up a decent size 7-8 inch Walleye Surfperch. A moment later, I caught another one. There was a dad with his two sons on the pier also at this time, and they were getting excited seeing the fish caught. They tried my spot, but they had big weights and squid on for bait, which the perch didn't go for. After two fish plus several more bites, they stopped biting there. On a hunch, I went over to the end of the pier in the middle, and sure enough, it was immediate bites there. I caught 2 more Walleye Surperch there, and lost what appeared to be a Queenfish, no big deal. Then, they stopped biting there. Meanwhile, the pier regular had given the kids some lugworms/bloodworms for bait, but they still weren't catching any. I figured this roving band of ravenous perch were on the move left to right, so I headed to the right side of the pier, and sure enough, immediately had a fish on, but this one also came off. After that, they apparently moved out of range. It was a really strange thing to observe. It reminded me of when a school of stocker trout swims by and you can see people hooking fish in sequence.
After that, even the Croakers, etc, farther out stopped biting, so I packed up my stuff and left. By that time, it was around 7:30. The pier regular told me I did miss a couple of good bites while I was perch fishing, so there went my chance to catch a Croaker, but I was happy with my Walleye Surfperch. If only I could have turned those Walleye Surfperch into just plain Walleyes, I would have been positively gleeful. :Smile: Nonetheless, this was the most Walleye Surfperch I had caught in a few years. The regular did catch a smaller Croaker, a small Sand Bass and a small Kelp Bass, plus a small fish which I believe to be a longjaw Goby; I caught a couple of them there once and "ID"ed them on the internet. He let the other fish go, even the Croaker, and used the Goby for bait, just casting it out with the hook still in it. Something I love about saltwater fishing in California is that this area is a hotspot of biodiversity. There are so many types of critters out there that it is remarkable. The Gobies are just one example of that.
One other unusual thing that I noticed was that the father and son's poles were all rigged left-handed, the way I do mine. Poles don't come that way; you have to reverse the handle. The son appeared to be right-handed, but perhaps the father was left handed and trained his son to fish that way. My wife is also right-handed basically, but somewhat handy with both hands, and she prefers to use the left-handed poles. It just makes me wonder. Eunice didn't come with me because she has been limping for some unknown reason (as has my cat) although she is improving (as is my cat). Maybe my cat loves her mommy so much that she limps out of sympathy, or vice versa.
Here's the catch: A 7 inch Sand Bass on mussel, safely released;
Four 7-8 inch Walleye Surfperch on Nightcrawler pieces, kept.
Also, I brought home an approximately 12 inch Spotfin Croaker given to me, caught on Bloodworms.
By the time I started fishing, it was 3:30 p.m. already. The tide was really, really low, and I could see a sandbar on the harbor side of the west jetty, unlike the last time I was there. I first headed over there, and fished for about 1/2 hour with mussels on a jig, later adding some split shot in order to cast farther, but still, zero bites were had on my bait there. I asked a guy walking a dog about the smaller sand bar, and he confirmed that the entire place had been dredged last winter. Perhaps the reduced habitat explains the lack of fish there at present.
Next, I tried my Opaleye spot near the kiddie ship. With the low water, and so many kids nearby on the ship, it was awkward feeling, and once again, there were no bites and no fish seen, not even an Opaleye, although I wasn't there long. I got the impression that the Opaleye had departed for the winter, just as in Oceanside Harbor.
Thus, I went over to the Dana Harbor Fishing Pier. There were just 3 people fishing there when I got there. I recognized two of them as the father and son team whom I observed cleaning about 10 good sized Spotfin Croaker and a Sand Bass the last time I went to Dana Harbor. Apparently, they specialize in fishing this pier. This time, they had a bag with 3 good size Spotfins in it, not as good as last time, but still a pretty nice catch. I started fishing, and meanwhile, observed their technique. They were using 3 long rods, casting out as far as they could from the end of the pier, with bloodworms/lugworms for bait. They used sliding weights, about a 2 foot leader, and about a size 12 worm hook. Soon after I got there, I saw the pole closest to the son get a light bite. I told him, but he said, "I think that's just the wind." A moment later "the wind" turned into a Halibut. I think it was around 15-16 inches, although the son estimated 18 inches. They took a picture of it with a cell phone camera, then released it.
A while later (while I still wasn't getting any bites), the son's pole kept jiggling constantly for about 1/2 minute. Eventually, the son picked up the pole and set the hook, and sure enough, a fish had been sitting there with the hook in its mouth. It was another good size Spotfin Croaker, about 12 inches long and well-fed. To my surprise, they offered it to me, so I gladly accepted it. A few minutes later, I saw one of my poles bend over. It had mussel for bait, straight down from the left side of the pier (just beyond the boat dock). It turned out to be a 7 inch Sand Bass. Oh well, I was happy to get the skunk off. I dropped it back in the water to hopefully grow up, and tried to catch something more desirable. I continued to use one pole with only a 1/32 ounce jighead for weight, and mussel for bait. With the other pole, I tried to more or less copy the father/son team's technique, casting out with a sliding weight, but I was using mussels for bait since I don't have whatever they are calling them ocean worms, and I had two hooks on different length leaders.
By this time, it was getting dark. I got fairly consistent nibbles on the Croaker line I was casting out, but nothing very solid. Meanwhile, another pier regular showed up, also using the ocean worms for bait, with small hooks and a large split shot type weight. He was telling me that he and his family have been having good success there with the worms, especially. As it was already dark and a bit chilly, I was getting ready to give up and head home, but decided to try one of my leftover nightcrawlers over where I caught the Bass (which is my usual fishing spot there). I dropped it in, lifted, and felt weight on the line, but it didn't stick. I repeated the process, but this time set the hook, and brought up a decent size 7-8 inch Walleye Surfperch. A moment later, I caught another one. There was a dad with his two sons on the pier also at this time, and they were getting excited seeing the fish caught. They tried my spot, but they had big weights and squid on for bait, which the perch didn't go for. After two fish plus several more bites, they stopped biting there. On a hunch, I went over to the end of the pier in the middle, and sure enough, it was immediate bites there. I caught 2 more Walleye Surperch there, and lost what appeared to be a Queenfish, no big deal. Then, they stopped biting there. Meanwhile, the pier regular had given the kids some lugworms/bloodworms for bait, but they still weren't catching any. I figured this roving band of ravenous perch were on the move left to right, so I headed to the right side of the pier, and sure enough, immediately had a fish on, but this one also came off. After that, they apparently moved out of range. It was a really strange thing to observe. It reminded me of when a school of stocker trout swims by and you can see people hooking fish in sequence.
After that, even the Croakers, etc, farther out stopped biting, so I packed up my stuff and left. By that time, it was around 7:30. The pier regular told me I did miss a couple of good bites while I was perch fishing, so there went my chance to catch a Croaker, but I was happy with my Walleye Surfperch. If only I could have turned those Walleye Surfperch into just plain Walleyes, I would have been positively gleeful. :Smile: Nonetheless, this was the most Walleye Surfperch I had caught in a few years. The regular did catch a smaller Croaker, a small Sand Bass and a small Kelp Bass, plus a small fish which I believe to be a longjaw Goby; I caught a couple of them there once and "ID"ed them on the internet. He let the other fish go, even the Croaker, and used the Goby for bait, just casting it out with the hook still in it. Something I love about saltwater fishing in California is that this area is a hotspot of biodiversity. There are so many types of critters out there that it is remarkable. The Gobies are just one example of that.
One other unusual thing that I noticed was that the father and son's poles were all rigged left-handed, the way I do mine. Poles don't come that way; you have to reverse the handle. The son appeared to be right-handed, but perhaps the father was left handed and trained his son to fish that way. My wife is also right-handed basically, but somewhat handy with both hands, and she prefers to use the left-handed poles. It just makes me wonder. Eunice didn't come with me because she has been limping for some unknown reason (as has my cat) although she is improving (as is my cat). Maybe my cat loves her mommy so much that she limps out of sympathy, or vice versa.
Here's the catch: A 7 inch Sand Bass on mussel, safely released;
Four 7-8 inch Walleye Surfperch on Nightcrawler pieces, kept.
Also, I brought home an approximately 12 inch Spotfin Croaker given to me, caught on Bloodworms.