First Outing of 2014 in Malibu of Course 01-02-2014

Being waaaaaaaay too hung over to fish on New Years Day, I had to settle for the second day of the new year for my first outing. Magicseaweed called for a 1' swell, but it was more like a 4-5' swell, which is unusual for this area (I like 1-3' swells max). Regardless it was a gorgeous day and we were set on fishing. Brian and I arrived at 6:27 AM and left around 11:15 AM. Low tide was 1.36' @ 3:58 AM and high was 6.38' at 10:05 AM (damn, that's high). Bait was squid and later fresh smelt for a bit.

I caught the first fish of the day at 6:41 AM, which was a small 7" or so grass rockfish which was quickly released to get bigger. My next catch of the day was a big ole smelt (around 19" or so) at 7:40 AM which was kept for bait. Brian got in on the action, sort of, at 8:53 AM bringing in a 4.5" or so rock crab. Crab was released since it is illegal to catch them via hook and line. My last catch of the day was a decent sized (I do not remember the measurement, happens when you wait two months to post a report, lol) shovelnose guitarfish at 11:03 AM which I kept because they are tasty but I had not kept one before to eat due to one reason or another. Got to say a nice way to bring in the New Year! I am happy any day I catch three fish, regardless of size. Videos after pictures BTW.

Surf Fishing (and Some Catching) Malibu 07-22-2013

Wanting to take advantage of the grunion run and the full moon to do some night fishing, Brian and I headed to one of the regular Malibu spots to do some early evening / night fishing. We fished from 6:45 PM to 11:00 PM. Bait was squid all night. High tide was at around 10:20 PM and was a huge +7' combined with a fairly large 3-5' swell, made for some surprise soakings for both of us, despite moving up the rocks 15' or so. I was amazed how high those things were splashing. Anyways, fishing started out pretty good with us both getting bites fairly early on. I landed the first fish of the night at around 7:04 PM and it was a nice one! A big ole 19"+ Calico Bass that weighed 3 pounds 5.7 ounces. After being skunked five times in a row, it was nice to catch something finally. Into the bucket of water to keep em alive until I leave and back to fishing we go. It was pretty slow after that, with a bite here and there and the occasional crab tug until I caught the next fish at 8:47 PM, a small leopard shark. Took a few quick pics before I tossed em back and went back to fishing. I caught the next fish at 9:02 PM, a small grass rockfish that I took a quick picture of and tossed back. Brian got lots of bites all night, but just could not hook up for some reason. He did pull in a nice sized rock crab at some point, that was thrown back since it is illegal to catch them via hook and line. Anyways, finally my skunk streak has ended! Hope it stays that way :).

Ventura Pier 09-16-2012

Got to the pier around 10:30 AM and set up around mid pier. Fished with double dropper loop at first and caught my only fish of the day on squid (It was a croaker). Used it for bait for no takers. Buddy Brian was killing it on the sabiki catching Wall Eye Perch, Queen Fish, Lizard Fish and Spot Fin Croakers. All pretty small and most released except a few used for bait. Crabbing was slow too, ended up with two keeper rock crabs, but tossed em back before I left since it is not enough meat too much trouble to prepare with only two crabs, lol. Still nice to be back. Some lovely looking locals strolled the pier too, which was a nice bonus.

Surf Fishing Malibu 08-18-2012

Had the wife drop me off at the Malibu spot around 5:45 AM. Was set up and fishing five minutes later. It was an incoming tide until around 10:30 AM which was a 4.5+ high tide. Tried squid, fresh sand crabs and salted and unsalted anchovy. Only creature caught on the day besides the bait was a decent sized rock crab. Sent safely back in the water after a quick picture. Skunked fish wise. Had one fish on, but hook must have been not in well as it came off about half way in. Felt like a small to medium sized leopard shark. Left around 11:30 AM when wife came back to get me after her morning shift. Weather was downright perfect. Water was clear, but whole area stunk of rotting lobsters. Lots of baby lobster shells all over. Season is almost here!

Crabbing and Fishing Ventura Pier 05-25-2012

Met up with Brian at about 7:15 AM and headed for the pier. Started fishing and crabbing at around 8:00 A.M. There were a few other anglers around most catching queenfish / herring on sabikis. We set up shop at the end and I placed the crab net in my usual spot. Fishing was fairly constant on the sabiki lines we used catching what they call tiny 7-11 perch, decent sized walleye perch and queenfish / herring. Buddy and I both tried shark rigs (him the whole time, me only when I got tired of using the sabiki rod) with live bait but no takers on those either. Gave some of our perch to the locals to try for sharks, no love for them either. Crabbing was spectacular as usual. I ended up getting 23 keeper red, yellow and rock crabs. I gave five away to these two younger fellows (I think they were around 17) who were camping with their family somewhere close and wanted some to boil up. They were pretty nice kids and I had plenty so I spread the wealth a little. We left at around 2:00 PM as the wind and swell was getting progressively worse (the crabbing also slowed as the swell got bigger). Good day on the pier hanging with my buddy and checking out the local scenery (love them hot days!).

Ventura Pier 05-15-2012

Hit up Ventura Pier from about 1:30 PM till 10:30 PM. Set up shop with the crab net in my usual spot baited with the usual menagerie of junk this time consisting of mackerel, sardines, whitefish head and rock fish head. Crabbing was off the charts all day. Ended up keeping twenty something rock crabs (red, yellow and rock) and two spider crabs, one if which was the biggest caught to date for me. Fishing wise you could have all the queenfish you could ever possibly want if that is your thing (I caught and released all fish caught on the day). Didn't see much else, except for a large smelt and a few sand sharks caught by others shortly before leaving. Birds were diving and dolphins were around the pier, but I never saw any baitfish anywhere on the pier. Guess the bait is hanging out just outside the pier. I forgot to bring a sabiki so I made one from crappie jigs I had in my tackle box which worked just fine.

Hermosa Beach Pier 04/08/2012

Arrived at the pier at around 7:00 A.M. with my fishing buddy Brian. At first we started at about the half way mark just past a huge group of anglers killing it on sardines with sabikis. After a while we moved further up the pier to try our luck in the location we did well at last time we were here. We both landed quite a few mackerel and sardines throughout the day using sabikis. Brian caught one 10" or so rock fish and I caught one keeper rock crab in my crab net. Did see one guy hooked into a large thresher shark which put on quite a show, jumping out of the water and making a couple runs under the pier. Once up closer the angler snapped his line being to aggressive with it while two friends we trying to rope gaff it. It was a shame he lost such a nice shark. Also talked with fellow PFIC member Tim aka Toejamb. He had about the same luck as us on the day (A few sardine and mackerel). Left the pier around 1:30 P.M. and were asked by a DFG fish counter near the base if he could measure and weigh our catch. Since we had about 30 minutes left on the parking meeter we obliged his request and let him measure and weigh our catch of mackerel and sardines. Was a very nice fellow! Left about 2:00 P.M. enjoying the great eye candy which was abundant all the way out of town. Great day of fishing with Brian. A few pictures below.

Ventura Pier 03/09/2012 - 03/10/2012

Hit up Ventura Pier since my buddy was late and we missed the grunion run time. Arrived at the pier around 11:45 and proceeded to the end of the pier after checking the surf line for any signs of life. Dropped in my crab net and started getting the rods ready. set up one pole with a whole small BSP from a previous trip on a circle with a stinger and let it sit while I set up the other pole. No hits that I noticed on the whole BSP. Set up the other pole with a high low and put shrimp on the high and squid on the low. Pulled the other pole up while I went to check the crab net. 1st pull and there is a keeper! Nice way to start. Dropped the net back down and went back and tossed out the high-low pole. After a while I see some movement so I pick up the pole and feel it...seems kinda like crabs, but why not set the hook anyways...hmm, that is not a crab! Brought the little guy to the pier and left him just below the water line while I went to grab the crab net to get it up. My buddy held it in place while I got my net making sure it didn't wrap around a piling. Brought it up and it was my first every bat ray. A small little bugger (maybe 18" across or so) that just found the squid too tempting. After a quick unhook I lowered em back to the water in the crab net. Forgot to take a pic. After that I only really had one other solid hit, which I missed. Brought in the bait and it had a huge mouth mark taken out of its belly....grrr, that's what I get for not using a stinger. On the crab front I ended up with five keeper rock crabs and one decent sized spider crab. Caught a ton of shorts. Left a little after 3:00 A.M.. All and all a great trip even though it was a bit slow.

I got crabs at the pier....

Malibu Pier 03/02/2012

Hit up Malibu Pier with my fishing buddy Brian Friday afternoon from about 2 P.M. till about 8 P.M.. Fishing and Crabbing was SUPER slow. All day I caught one large smelt (shown below) and a bullhead. On the crabbing front, I only got a couple tiny rock crabs and a bunch of medium sized spider crabs. This trip reminded me why I am not a huge fan of this pier...

Jetty Fishing Pierpont Bay (Ventura, CA) 02/25/2012

Met up with my fishing buddy Brian at 8:00 AM in Woodland Hills. After a quick pit stop at 7-11 for muchies and drinks we proceeded to the jetty. We started fishing around 10:00 A.M.. Brian hooked up on a wall eye perch pretty quickly using muscle. I went quite a while without anything. At some point, I noticed an about two foot wide hole between three rocks that had water down below, so I dropped my bait (frozen squid) in there and just a few minutes later...tap, tap bam fish on. Pulled up a 10" rock fish, sweet! After that I moved around casting to rocks and holes I could see and caught four more rockfish from 10 to a little over 12". They were all the same species of rockfish (not sure what kind, anyone know? We were thinking grass or brown rockfish). Brian also joined in the rockfish party and landed 3 or 4 of them as well. He also hooked into a nice 5" or so rock crab which we promptly returned since it was caught on hook and line. We packed it in at around 3 PM. Another great day of fishing in Ventura, CA. All fish except the biggest rockfish were promptly released to get bigger.

Fishing area and fish pics below (in no particular order):