Balboa Pier June 23/24

[MasterFisherYY]

I'll be at Balboa Pier almost everyday until 8/11 I believe. In the meantime here is what I have to report. First and foremost there is a huge problem with snaggers at this pier. One individual I observed had two glow sticks attached to two ends of his fishing line with three or four treble hooks in between. All he did was throw out his tackle while peering through the surf, yanking his rod whenever a fish appeared. He was doing really well too which is a shame. There are also numerous individuals that don't even have the slightest concept of catch and release. We're talking about perch and other misc. game fish that are mere babies. Fish and Game if you're out there please answer those CalTip calls! Anyways Monday was slim picking, I was at the pier from 5pm-12am and before the sunset your chances of getting hit was really really low. After 8:15ish or so it was a modest picking on mackerel on sabiki rigs topped with glow sticks. People that were regulars and knew what they were doing were enjoying the majority of the catch. The hot spot was the end toward the right near the light. There was also a huge school of either anchovies or sardines around with two sea lion pups chasing them. Mid-pier saw someone haul in a very small flounder or halibut? And of course in the surf there are corbina, perch, and croaker present... I just hope you don't go into the dark side to catch them . Tuesday was much better. I arrived at 6 this time however and to my surprise at first, nobody had fish in their buckets. The end of the pier however was extremely packed. At roughly 7:30 this time, schools of mackerel periodically swam by giving lots of people a run for their money. Reminded me a lot of the carnage I witnessed as a kid fishing the pier. I'm talking about sabiki rigs full of mackerel, 6-9 per rod! This time around it was the left and middle right sections of the end that had the most action. It is not consistent action however, with the schools coming back every ten minutes or so. It was a mix of huge and small mackerel but noneless it is a sign of things to come. Literally have been hitting up this pier for the last three or four weeks with little to report. There are also Bonito mixed in but they were pretty small, no bigger than the biggest mackerel being caught. There is a huge current going through so you may need a heavier sinker, say 2 or 3 tops! On Monday the mackerel were only on the top but for Tuesday they were on the bottom so who knows what Wednesday will bring us. Will try to take pictures next time once i understand how to post them here.

Surf: Perch, HUGE Sargo, Corbina, and Croaker (Sand Crab by far best bet)
Middle: Ray, Flounder/Halibut? (I'm assuming either squid strips or pieces of mackerel)
End: Mackerel/Bonito (Sabiki topped with mackerel)

Unfortunately my girl and I got skunked both days but I enjoyed watching people slay, especially the kids and couples.

[bachiboy]

Nice report. From the sounds of it, you're being very observant to what is working out there, which is great. Now you just need to put some of those things you learned to task and dump that dreaded stripe.

As for the snaggers. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it's not illegal...unethecal, yes. Unless they are keeping under-sized fish or going over their bag limits, there's not much DFG can do.

Good luck if you make it out there again tonight!
Don

[fishing_freak]

thanks for the updates i was wondering how the mack bites were doing

[Rex_SD]

You really want to use live bait for the halibut. Try fishing for the them with the small mackerel your catching or even a small smelt or sardine if you get one. You can keep the bait alive in a bucket as long as you only put a few fish in it. I would use a trap hook rig and fish right on the bottom. If you hook a larger one, you will need some sort of net or gaff to get the fish up to the pier. Just make sure the fish is over 22 inches if you gaff it. Fishing for halibut will be slow so you may what to fish with two poles, one for halibut and one for everything else. Also, bouncing a Fishtrap or Big Hammer on the bottom can also catch halibut.

[TUNAVIC]

Lot of info there,to bad about the snaggers,I guess their everywhere,thanks.

Cya Tuna Vic

[MasterFisherYY]

Thank you for all the replies! I will definitely use this new intel on my next outing! Yea the snaggers are bothersome and a crying shame but hey what can you do haha.