Poaching the Pier (6/10)

[Latimeria]

I didn't know what the status of the pier was, so Squatch and I decided to poach it without the fear of having lead weights cast at us.  It was kind of eerie seeing everything boarded up, but knowing no one has fished it in 6 months made it a little exciting to see what could be around.

Bass.... a slow pick of bass for me.



It was an equal mix of calico and turd rollers.









Steve gets on the board with a big smile!  (It's been a while since we could razz each other regarding fishing)



I picked up 6 bass and Steve got his so it wasn't exactly the fishing I was hoping for.  There was too much floating stuff to try trolling or anything, so we explored the pier by driving through and around it a bit.



Weird thing was the lights in the Cafe were on....  Not sure who was living inside!





7 bass weren't going to cut it and with the 5 second period swell, We were not making any long runs.  We hit a few waypoints i have saved close by to turn this into a grocery run.  We made a few moves and I deployed the chum bucket... like old school bat ray style (I'm not sure how well it worked until I got home and I started cleaning the fish)

Brownies were the go to fish of the morning.





We kind of caught a little of everything.



Since they didn't come over fast and furious, it was hard to tell what we ended up with, but I'm guessing 2-3 dozen from all the ones we returned.  I'm also inclding the one's that Squatch didn't get his hands on the leader for.  hehehehe

I got a few sheephead.



And a surprise baby Cabezon!  Pretty looking thing!











We were spying on a few bigger than usual boats in an area and had an idea something was going on.  Soon enough, the birds, bait and splashing fish showed up!  That was the sign we wanted, but there were a ton of boats out there and undoubtably a few ran full steam over them and sunk them out.  At least it's good to know what we now know.

Anyway, came home with 14 fish for the fryer and had fun talking with Steve about the upcoming trip to the Ranch.  Soon as I learned they sold it, I was more than super happy to have booked it when I did!  When I was cleaning the fish and the baitwell for that matter, I noticed sardine heads and parts all over.  Looks like the chum actually was working!  LOL





Thanks for reading and great fishing with you Steve.

[sasquatch]

It was a great day. Not a lot of action but fun to check out the pier.

I followed up by going to the OB pier community meeting.
Engineering said it is able to be reopened as soon as wave damage to the top are done.
Expecting early July so it's good we gave it a shot while we could.

[jrodda]

 Nice critter pick, that little cabby looks super cool. Pier looks ominous, if it opens hopefully it gets at least a paint job.

[KogaHead]

nice to see you goons got a few

[skrilla]

I can say for sure the Bralla rig isn't the ideal rig for those splashing fish. 

[Latimeria]

I can say for sure the Bralla rig isn't the ideal rig for those splashing fish. 

Yep, that you can say for sure.  lol

[vdisney]

That looks like a big a$$ pier, sure makes ours puny   

[Latimeria]

That looks like a big a$$ pier, sure makes ours puny   

I don't remember, but it is, or was the longest pier on the West Coast.

[Tim524]

I have seen a guy catching quality Sand Bass around The Whistler Buoy lately, hopefully the sun decides to show this month Nice haul, the Cabazon was cool looking