Chart House, Malibu

Report from Pierfishing.com:

It was a pleasure to fish with you guys and meet some new folks! Although I was skunked over a period of almost 14 hours (7:30am to 10pm), I'm happy to have gotten out. Next time I'll check the surf reports and set my expectations accordingly. :) Here are some non-fish pics...

Hashem: The one that got away


Just waiting for a bite...


The waves pounding all night


Happy Birthday, Tim!


Group shot (minus Noviceboy)


Chart House

Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica

Report from Pierfishing.com:

Fished from 1:30pm to 9:30pm and was essentially skunked. Started out at the first lowered platform on the left and was able to snag a smelt. Moved to the end of the pier around 6pm thinking I can at least get some mackerel, but I was out of luck. Instead, I snagged someone's broken line with a nut and a bolt being used as a makeshift sinker. That's a first.

Also have to report that literally everyone at the end of the pier was snagging lobsters. Most of them had the same setup: 3 to 4 oz pyramid sinkers with multiple treble hooks. What's funny is that the Harbor Patrol office is right there... a couple officers even walked around but apparently they didn't notice anything wrong (not even the excessive number of poles per person--I counted about 40 just in one corner for no more than 15 people). Anyway, it was reported to DFG... :/

Nice sinker

Chart House, Malibu

Report from Pierfishing.com:

Hey guys, what a great night! I enjoyed meeting and breaking bread with all of you. :) My knowledge of fishing has literally doubled--haha. Mahigeer, you rock for letting me reel in that leopard shark!

Pics are coming soon...

This was my first get-together and one of my best fishing experiences so far. The sharks and rays were non-stop for hours and my fishing buddy Hashem allowed me to reel in the leopard shark. It was probably just a 5 or 10-minute battle, but it felt like a lifetime as I tried to keep the tip up on that big ol' surf rod. I wasn't kidding when I said my knowledge doubled. I learned seemingly simple things like how to tie dropper loops, chumming the waters, how to hook the bait, keeping your lines tight, casting with those big surf rods, etc. Oh, and learned how to dig up sand crabs, LOL.

How I envy those who grew up near the ocean.

riorust and mahigeer start the day


riorust's shovelnose


mahigeer and toejamb w/bat ray


riorust's big bat ray


riorust's big bat ray 2


v6v6v6's leopard shark (courtesy mahigeer)


toejamb's first of many thornbacks


santa's thornback


huntress' smoothhound shark


huntress' other smoothhound


santa's smoothhound


mahigeer's smoothhound


toejamb's smoothhound


Anton's shovelnose


gordo grande's smoothhound


evening shot of the charthouse and beach

Belmont Veterns Memorial Pier, Long Beach

Report from Pierfishing.com:

Fished the 72nd St. jetty and Belmont Pier on Sunday. Pretty uneventful... Just a bunch of smelt and a couple small halibut caught by others, but slow otherwise. Until... Next to me a young boy got a huge bite and couldn't pull it up. His father took hold and was fighting for a couple minutes before a sea turtle surfaced. Oohs and ahhs from the crowd that had now gathered. It must've been around 3 1/2 to 4 feet in my unexpert assessment. The turtle eventually ran under the pier to the other side where the line snapped. Poor guy, I'd almost prefer him getting pulled up (there was a net ready) and the hook removed.

I had my camera with me and shot some video. Unfortuantely, the video doesn't show much except for about 3 seconds of the turtle surfacing so here are a few frames from it.

The crowd gathers around to see what's been caught


Someone spots the catch--there it is!


It's a sea turtle!


Close up


The turtle spreads his fins to go back under


The father trying to hold on


The turtle swam to the other side of the pier and the line eventually snapped