Anyone have any recent reports?

I doubt we'll head all the way to the end, but wanted to at least know what I'm in for.

Last time we were there we hooked tons of perch, but it's now later in the summer, so not sure what's out there.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. Would be using hi/low rigs, sabiki rigs for the smaller rods and probably a slider or carolina rig for the larger rods.

Thanks!
FNF

i heard pacifica pier catching salmon

I've only been there once and it was about 2 years ago, but we used live grass shrimp on high/low rigs at night and we all caught several sand sharks.. It was pretty fun. I heard that they close the pier at night now though... Know anything about that?

Thx norcal. I havent been to Pacifica yet but I would love to. Just don't have the time tomorrow. In n out time so gotta go somewhere close other than dumbarton. Hopefully we'll get into some fish.

RJ, I think they keep it open cuz I hear (or read) that ppl still night fish there.

That's on my to do list as well.

Just wanted to hear what ppl are catching to come a bit better prepared.

Probably more of the same ol walleyes, with a few blacks mixed in. At least this time around ya won't be poaching so ya wont have to watch your back for DFG

Not really up to date but as of 8/6 that was the deal. Expect a few halibut and bass to come over the rail, they have live anchovies available at the bait dock and those should do the trick. Mudsuckers, shiners or bullheads also do the trick, but most of the berk folks are doing the anchovy thing.

So live anchovies from the nearby bait shop?

Yeah, the bait shop has em, and I think most of the regulars get em from the bait dock in the marina. Think it's a little cheaper. Believe its K dock, you could ask some of the dudes there to be sure. Good luck, don't get tagged by fish and game I kid, I kid. Be sure to measure your catch and obey all relevant regs when visible, ya never know when you'll get caltipped Have fun out there.

Well, see a dude catch two buts and two stripes, another lady had been there with her hubby all day an ended up with one stripe too.

We tried for the big fish but just failed. It was getting pretty scary too. Just a couple bites when we first got there (8a) and then nothing until about 2p! After that we kinda slayed the smelt.

Caught so many that we need up feeding a nice pelican that we named Chabo some of our catch.

The rest were brought home, cleaned and fried up with lemon and salt!

Yum.

Good outting!

Thanks for everything guys.

F33r

Nice! How did you catch the smelt?

well, as a kid i remember going to san mateo pier to fish for smelt but that was like in spring. i had no idea they were still running this late in the year. luckily, my bro in law caught one while he was kinda messing around and realling up with a sabiki rig. no float. once he caught one i was like...i know what to do!

took out a couple high low rigs and daisy chained them with a large float at the top and a 3 oz pyramid weight at the bottom. used some fairly small hooks. probably like a size 10 (?) and tiny pieces of pile worm. my bro in law was using little pieces of store bought shrimp and that worked for him. probably more cost effective than using pile worm.

anyhow, it turned out to be a decent outtitng, but it was scary for a while! no bites or any action on the pier.

it woulda been nice to get a big hit or land something larger. the guy that caught the two buts and stripes was using a rig i hadn't seen before. he was also using a slip float which i thought was kinda small, but it turned out to be productive!

tight lines!
FNF

oh yeah, forgot to mention...there was a younger dude at the start of the pier fishing with a net and a small rod/reel like an ice fishing combo. he was catching tons of little perch and selling them to people fishing with live bait.

little hustler.

i think that's what that one guy used to catch his stripes.

must be freakn a thrill to catch a stripe that size out there in the saltwater. i would assume they probably fight more since the water is cooler. when i've caught stripes in the delta they fight, but the water is warmer and i think they become a bit lethargic than when in saltwater.

just my theory.

so what was i poaching? perch? didnt know they were seasonal.

any more info would be appreciated. i'd hate to get busted!

Where do we start?
Perch are closed inside the golden gate from April 1st to July 31st, except for shiners. Been in effect for about 10 years now.
Daisy chaining a hi low's skatin it too; if you ran more than 3 hooks, that's poaching as well. You a bad man, f33rnofis

Eh, lotta regs out there you San Jose freshwater guys wouldn't be too familiar with, I guess. Most sabiki rigs as sold are not legal for use in SF bay, yet are perfectly legal out on the coast. You could run a million hooks off the coast, in theory, but cannot exceed three in the bay. Kind of a bs rule, but DFG may not agree with that opinion.
Disobeying seasonal closures might well get ya caltipped tho; the guys who follow the regs don't like it when they can't fish, but poachers go out and take fish.

Jack smelt run pretty much from spring to fall. Even a few taken in winter, not in the same numbers tho. Ya like em?

Yeah, glad ya had some fun.

damn! i've been bad. well, thanks for sharing.

yeah, i see a lot of ppl using sabikis on piers. never knew that was a problem. then again, santa cruz isnt the bay so that would make sense. but i still have seen ppl use sabikis at berkeley.

about the perch...no freakn idea they were off limits, man. that sucks big time! just looked up the shiners and i'm glad some of the perch we caught for father's day were the same.

can you name some of the other regular perch species so that i can look them up?

and yep, i was using 4 hooks, so good to know. next time, 3 max!

thanks for the info man!

Yeah, it can be confusing about the 3 hook reg. Alot of people violate it unknowingly. Its legal to use stock sabikis out in Santa Cruz, but not at Berkeley. DFG will ticket though, if they're in the mood. Guess it makes sense to them.

Well, the most commonly caught perch species around SF bay differs with the seasons, but typically walleyes, silvers, blacks, striped, rainbows, white, and sometimes barred perch, shiners not included. You may even find redtails and calicos every now and then. There are others that are fairly common in the bay but are not commonly caught, like pile perch and rubberlips. Those are pretty hook shy and you'll have to work on your presentations for them. The others are relatively easy to catch.

NP, have a good one.