Balboa Pier/NPH & City Park lake

[legacy1]

RayO and I started off the day at the Balboa Pier at 6:15a.m. Two large schools of anchovies hanging around the pier provided the live bait for the day. First hookup was the usual "pest" fish:



Next fish I farmed was a small leo shark...And than a 1/2 hour later ZZZZZZZ!



36" legal, a great fighter and a beautiful fish!!!

This bug was munching on my bait in the surfline:


RayO had the stripe when we left the pier so we headed over to Coral St. Public Dock which always delivers...however it was dead. It was time to go and we both agreed to wait and throw one more cast for 10 more minutes, and then:

Bendo!


A 16" spottie, at first I thought it was a bat ray it hit RayO's pole so hard. He had 6lb. test so he took his time and finessed it in, it was a good fight.


After eating dinner we went to our local city park lake and tried to entice some bluegill with a little bread dough to no avail. A great 12 hour fishing day!

Legacy1

[Liteliner]

Nice leo man. That bug looks like a giant sand crab. Crazy. Thanks for the report.

[ThemBastards]

Nice Job man, I am still waiting for my first Leo. In your opinion do you find that they feed closer to shore like in your picture?

[rusty6]

its a spiny mole crab to be precise, it eats other sand crabs. i found one up here at morro bay a few weeks back that was about the size of a baseball.

[legacy1]

Nice Job man, I am still waiting for my first Leo. In your opinion do you find that they feed closer to shore like in your picture?

I caught them between the beach and the first benches on the pier if you are familiar with the Balboa Pier. Both leos were caught within 75 yards of the edge of the water, and a leo I caught on the same beach(Newport) with squid a while back was also in the surf, so in my limited experience, I think they cruise the surfline...

[FishNFurious]

I've seen leopard sharks caught in two or three feet of water. They do cruise the surf for perch and stuff. Great fighters. :cool:

[fish_sauce]

...so in my limited experience, I think they cruise the surfline...

thanks for the report!

i caught more baby leos with cut bait and ghost shrimp on the surf than i did surf perches last year...so you're right, when conditions are good, they definitely stay within or near the surf line---

you went from fishing for leos to fishing for bluegills?!? thats quite a change! :lol:

...I am still waiting for my first Leo...

keep on trying, they're definitely out there. cut mackerel works very well---the bloodier, the better---use the section near the gill plate/collar area, you'll get better results...

[Wingnut]

Nice Leo & Spottie, pretty successful day, well done. :cool:
I caught a little Leopard Shark once, they're fun. ;) :mrgreen:

[ThemBastards]

Thanks Sauce