Balboa Pier June 26

[MasterFisherYY]

Surf fishing was insane today! The hot baits were definitely ghost shrimp and lug worms! Sand crab and mussel also did fairly well. Size 6 hook and a quarter ounce to one ounce sliding sinker Carolina Rig style is a must! You would need roughly a 10-14inch leader. The surf was very rough today so it was hard to distinguish bites but still noneless the action was consistent. Unfortunately the surf near the pier was crowded today by both fishermen and swimmers. Yellowfin Croaker were pretty hefty in size with the occasional baby mixed in. I'm happy to report that the Corbina action is decent with three being landed in the span I was there from 4pm-8pm. Just when I was leaving which is sundown the bite was starting to pick up again. There is also bait fish hugging the piling today which was promising. Mackerel action wasn't the best but they're there, just takes a little effort and time.

My observation:

Surf Perch tend to hit sand crab and lug worms the best
For those that like catching Round Stingray, I caught 5 exclusively on lug worms and my partner caught two on fresh mussels from the end of the pier.
Mussels near the beach tend to be white in color while the ones further down are orange and very big/fleshy, hard to stay on hook though.
I caught and released a huge croaker on a lugworm. Other than that they mostly hit on mussels.
The Corbina were being caught on sand crab, lugworms, and mussels. The one I landed ended up spitting out a crab!

One thing I have noticed is that the surf perch in Orange County primarily consists of Walleye while LA County/Ventura has more Barred Surf Perch

Motor Oil grubs were getting fair action of perch and stingrays
Light line is essential! My 6lb reel was getting action while the 10lb one had no such luck

Also general question for people that fish this pier. On the left side of the pier near the surf, is there some kind of rocky structure? I keep getting snagged on something but it appears to pop loose every time.

[bachiboy]

Great report. Glad you were able to get into a nice bite. Keep an eye in the tide swings. You'll probably notice some better action with a bit of movement.

Don