Hey all, the second week to the end of August I'm taking the wife and kids to San Diego to Sea World and the zoo, but was hoping that I could slip away for a bit and try my luck at warmer weather coastal fishing.

Anyone have any info on the fishing out there? I'm looking at Google Earth and see that there's a pier at the end of Niagra Ave. Looks to be the closest beach/pier to where I'll be staying. I see a couple other bays like Mission Bay and a few Isles, but I have no idea what kind of access there is to them.

Any info on bait, rigs and spots would be much appreciated. I'll likely only have a couple hours to fish if that so any knowledge going into it would really help.

Thanks all!
Daniel

I grew up in San Diego so i know that area really good! That is Ocean Beach pier, its not a bad pier for Calico and Sandbass, if they still offer live anchovies there go for it on a carolina rig with a 2 oz weight. Fish the South side of the pier where it T's but dont go into the T. Also there is very good surf fishing in mission beach if you fish it early, you gulp blood worms in the 2in size or motor oil red flake grubs with a 1/2 oz carolina rig on 6lb test. you can also you pinky size sandcrabs in the surf. Also in the Bay near the rocks there is excellent calico and sand bass action with 3-4 in swimbaits or single curly tails on a 1/2oz head, the lighter the lead head the better. good luck man! i am going back for a week at the end of August.

Cool man thanks! I'll be there from the night of aug 24th to the night of the 27th. Since we're going to check out seaworld and the zoo we're likely going to get back to our hotel room pretty late. I'm thinking I'll fish for an hour or so early in the morning.

Do they rent rods at that pier? Just asking cuz if I take my rods it's $25/case/bag. Maybe it would be cheaper to rent it out there and just take a couple of rig setups?

i dont think you can rent poles there, just take a small 2 piece pole and a reel in your bag. they sell tubes you can put them in if needed.

yeah, i was thinking just buying a 2-3" pvc pipe with end caps.

wonder if the airport security will bug out on me (looks like a pipe bomb or whatever). LOL

just make sure you make it so it can unscrew, and throw some fishing stickers on it so it doesnt look plain jane. They will probably want to check it out and see the contents in it so make sure that you also put some good padding inside so you dont have broken rods when you pick it up on the other side.

I have seen guys make their own and they even put carrying straps on it and decorated it with stickers, looked pretty good.

yep. good idea

hey all. so we're here in san diego and we ended up only bringing some light tackle. i have an oldskool 6' telescoping rod with a 304 Garcia/Mitchell (12lb test) on it and my son will use my 4'8" telescoping with a little reel (6lb test).

i'm thinking we'll target perch and or smaller fish. any ideas as to what's good in the area and what to use for smaller fish?

i see the pier we're closest to is right off of niagra ave. where can i get bait? i have a few sabiki rigs with me and some hi/low rigs.

any ideas? i'm thinking we'll hit the beach/pier saturday morning.

thanks!

you can fish mission beach for perch using gulp sandworms or med size sand crabs or motor oil red flake 1 3/4 inch grub on a carolina rig.

any beach for that matter will work. just got to fish the holes.

if you are going to fish the pier use strips of squid on a dropper loop

I will likely do a pier but if we can find a close by beach with a pier we will do that. Looks like the dropper loop is like a hi/low rig. Do we need floats?

no need for floats, there is sand bass and calico bass on that pier, try on the south side of where it T's off, I usually setup right before it T's off and cast by the kelp. I usually only use 1 hook, less chance of getting snagged....use torpedo weights if possible.

Thanks for all the info man. I only brought pyramid weights but maybe I can find a lil bait shop and get a few.

If you do decide to do some surf fishing, make sure you purchase an Ocean Enhancement stamp - needed if fishing below Pt. Arguello (Santa Barbara County). Good luck and let us know how ya do!

Strictly pier since I didn't bring my license. Just bought some frozen squid to cut into strips and some gulp alive pile worms. I'll let you guys know how we do for sure.

BTW: I would LOVE to live out here. Have no idea why norkalcat would wanna live up north!?

family, met my wife here in norcal while visiting family.....and there ya go....i am leaving tomorrow to San Diego for a week...if you are still in town let me know, we can tackle some fishing in my good spots.