Gmoney
07-16-2007, 03:41 PM
thanks to everyone that provided the great advice for my cabrillo trip this last weekend.
First of all, I cant say enough about the quality of people and service and Pauls bait and tackle....met some great customers as well as the gentleman behind the counter that helped me out. very very cool. this is the way i remember tackle stores growing up in sacramento...very personal and friendly. It is the opposite of any turners or sport chalet setting. I will drive the extra few miles into SP to shop at this shop for sure.
only got one day of fishing in (Saturday) but had a great time. As advised, i picked up some ghost shrimp and mussels but they didnt have the gulp camo worms...no worries as i was just messing around for the first time. Once i figured out where the dock was i got set up just before 6 am and through out a carolina set up with the GS and then a surf rig with the mussels. Only got to fish until 8:00 as i had to get back to the girl scout meeting. I did manage 5 small fish (1 that looked like a mack but a lil different and i have no idea what the others were - all different).
I went back to the pier around 12 - and again got a few small guys before switching to a blue/chrome KROC. on my second cast as the lure got closer to the pier i could see three dark shadows bust up from the bottom with the first shadow being the taker....my first halibut - wahooooo
what a blast - fun fight on the trout rig.
i didnt measure the fish but it was right around the 22"....could have been 20 - 24" but he got to see another day.
all in all a great first pier session.
sorry no pix...i did take lots of pix with the cell phone but apparently i have to hit "save" after i take the picture...DOH!
on another note, I was amazed at the amount of people throwing really small fish into buckets. I have no idea about the types of fish and size limits but these things were no bigger than 8" guaranteed.
I also saw a couple of short halibuts come out...trying to be polite i said to the guy next who was very excited about his first halibut, "great hali another year or so and that thing will be a keeper...." the guy looked at me, smiled, said yep, then immediately ran and put the thing in his trunk to get it off the dock.
this was as i was picking up to leave....i wanted to call the DFG but it almost appears that it is OK for all these people there to do what they want....and i wanted to stay out of trouble with them. I also understand that these people may really have been trying to catch their survival meals which is why i didn't call.
So i have three questions after my first trip.
1. Is this type of fishing activity common for pier fishing in the area or did i just happen to be there at the right time to see it??
2. When "releasing" fish from a pier, how do you do it. I have to admit that i just dropped them off the edge back into the water and they appeared to be fine. But it was very uncomfortable for me as I usually "set" fish back into the water when i release them.
3. Any ideas on a "salt water cheat sheet" that is easy to carry that shows the kind of fish native to the area??....a freshwater cheat sheet would be cool as well i guess.
Thanks again to everyone and their guidance
First of all, I cant say enough about the quality of people and service and Pauls bait and tackle....met some great customers as well as the gentleman behind the counter that helped me out. very very cool. this is the way i remember tackle stores growing up in sacramento...very personal and friendly. It is the opposite of any turners or sport chalet setting. I will drive the extra few miles into SP to shop at this shop for sure.
only got one day of fishing in (Saturday) but had a great time. As advised, i picked up some ghost shrimp and mussels but they didnt have the gulp camo worms...no worries as i was just messing around for the first time. Once i figured out where the dock was i got set up just before 6 am and through out a carolina set up with the GS and then a surf rig with the mussels. Only got to fish until 8:00 as i had to get back to the girl scout meeting. I did manage 5 small fish (1 that looked like a mack but a lil different and i have no idea what the others were - all different).
I went back to the pier around 12 - and again got a few small guys before switching to a blue/chrome KROC. on my second cast as the lure got closer to the pier i could see three dark shadows bust up from the bottom with the first shadow being the taker....my first halibut - wahooooo
what a blast - fun fight on the trout rig.
i didnt measure the fish but it was right around the 22"....could have been 20 - 24" but he got to see another day.
all in all a great first pier session.
sorry no pix...i did take lots of pix with the cell phone but apparently i have to hit "save" after i take the picture...DOH!
on another note, I was amazed at the amount of people throwing really small fish into buckets. I have no idea about the types of fish and size limits but these things were no bigger than 8" guaranteed.
I also saw a couple of short halibuts come out...trying to be polite i said to the guy next who was very excited about his first halibut, "great hali another year or so and that thing will be a keeper...." the guy looked at me, smiled, said yep, then immediately ran and put the thing in his trunk to get it off the dock.
this was as i was picking up to leave....i wanted to call the DFG but it almost appears that it is OK for all these people there to do what they want....and i wanted to stay out of trouble with them. I also understand that these people may really have been trying to catch their survival meals which is why i didn't call.
So i have three questions after my first trip.
1. Is this type of fishing activity common for pier fishing in the area or did i just happen to be there at the right time to see it??
2. When "releasing" fish from a pier, how do you do it. I have to admit that i just dropped them off the edge back into the water and they appeared to be fine. But it was very uncomfortable for me as I usually "set" fish back into the water when i release them.
3. Any ideas on a "salt water cheat sheet" that is easy to carry that shows the kind of fish native to the area??....a freshwater cheat sheet would be cool as well i guess.
Thanks again to everyone and their guidance