California Fishing
 

Just got back from a 9 day trip along the coast of California. The was a family trip so I wasn't fishing but as a surfcaster I did check out the shoreline structure and pier fishing. Pier fishing is primarily done by food fishermen taking a variety of very small panfish and a few flounder - they called them "flatties" but they looked very much like our fluke or small halibut. There were also some surf fishermen fishing primarily on the sand beaches - most wet wading and bait fishing. No one fishing on the rock structure which struck me funny until I saw some of the state and National seashore information boards placed on the boardwalks. They had a few describing the various life forms in 'tide pools" and how it was wrong to be walking through tide pools because it would damage to life chain and you could hurt crabs, seaweed, etc. Extreme environmentalism run a muck. Could you imagine a movement to prevent surfcasting in boulder fields around here because we could be stepping and killing seaweed and other tide pool creatures? The sea mammal (sea lions, seals) population is almost considered sacred. The things are huge and everywhere and I'd be afraid to fish after dark with them around. All in all I consider us very fortunate here on the right coast because the left coast has many obstacles to a surfcaster.
The craft beer was fantastic - nice to go back to the original West Coast style IPA's. The hazy New England IPA's are also in vogue now in California. The they call them Northeast style IPAs - I told them they are called New England style back here.
I was in San Francisco around 20 years ago and at that time considered it one of my favorite cities. It's really gone downhill... literally - downtown smells of urine everywhere. Huge population of homeless living on the streets - very few public facilities for them or tourists. For perhaps the most liberal city in America I was appalled at the lack of concern. California on a whole is also very expensive - gas over $4 a gallon, simple breakfast over $12 each. They tax everything. Beautiful state but it obviously has many issues to address.

I agree DZ, the city of San Francisco was a world class and first class destination 20 years ago. It has truly become a dump and embarrassment in short order. A true shame.
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Lived an fished in California for a few years. It has a great fishery
but the size of most of the target species are what we would
consider bait. Mostly if you wanted a real bend in the rod you would
need to target the species in the shark/ray family, which I could
never get into. I stuck to targeting the California halibut.

lami steelhead rod and a vs100
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...B/IMG_0130.jpg

You are right, we are lucky on this coast for the sake of the target
species and how unlike California, fishing in NE is more part of our
culture and is accepted. NE beach culture is biased to fishing, where
CA beach culture is biased to surfing. Anglers out there are sort of
outcasts...even more so than out here.

One day one of my buddies had some woman following him
screaming at him....."Don't Kill the Dolphins!!!!"....hahahaha.

Where california has a leg up on us...is in shore access. A california
angler or beach goer has access to nearly 100% of their shoreline.

In terms of tide pools. I would note that I have seen more life in a
Californian tide pool than in any here in the north east. I would say
its a fair request to limit trampling them, but I do not think its
enforced. Its sort of interesting as I remember the Cape as a kid
and we had more mollusks, starfish, and even remember catching
American eels in the surfline. Comparatively the same beaches today
are a wasteland. Some enforcement might seem extreme, but
consider what our culture in the northeast has done to our
resource. I see the suggestion in CA no different than
recommending to not dropkick short bass, bluefish, skates,
crabs....or any sea life if you can help it.

There are plenty of things that CA has done right with a lot of
controversy. Around 2009 they closed entire sections of water both
shoreline and inshore structure. Prime fishing areas closed.

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/MPAs
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.a...=105396&inline

I sometimes wish we could pull the same thing off here in the
northeast...but know it could never happen.

I do not consider myself a conservationist, but do miss the
fishery we once had. I really feel our government has dropped the ball.

I spent the last 15 years of my professional career working for software cos in and around SF. The City has a huge homeless problem. The streets are literally covered at night, especially around Union Square. Even in the touristy sections like Fisherman's Wharf and Embarcadero after 8 at night they become dangerous areas to be alone and walking about.
The last company I worked for had an office downtown on Spear St. If we worked late we always had 3 or 4 of us accompany the ladies to their cars.

you want a mpa in the northeast? blasphemy, go live in cuba. :fishslap: the last thing fishermen around here need is an mpa. we need and nowadays have, for the most part, reasonable bag limits. most fisheries are in good shape and trending in the right direction. even cod, if we just lay off a few more years will bounce back. I thought they were doomed at one point but I catch so many I've changed my mind. I'm just kidding about cuba but my point is great fisheries but your citizens arnt allowed to fish. and for tidal pooling - you ought to go out with my kids, they find everything

Puppet,
Halibut from shore! I love it. BTW I received a voice mail from you but the number you left was inaudible.

Dennis

hahahhaha...Yeah I get your point. It is sort of Blasphemous...sorry
Niko. I guess once they take it away you never get it back, but at
the same time I feel that it is better than gone completely.

I must admit. I have not felt the sting of the fishery in most of my
travels on the road. But deep in the western LI sound....its been a
ghostland for the last few years. This year the reports I hear form
Long Island are dismal.

I am not a scientist, but its strange that although my skill and
tactics have improved, my numbers in my local water were still
better almost a decade ago when I was green.

Not sure of your area...but In terms of tide pools on the cape, we
would find welcks, starfish, and a variety of critters all the time in
large quantities. Now its just the crabs mostly. It probably the
product of fertilizers and insecticide runoff.

A Californian tidal pool is just covered with life. Some rocks have
thousands of starfish and anemones covering them....even in LA
county. Comparatively, some NE shores seem kind of barren. Its not
that you cannot find some life in them, its just not the same quantity.

I get it, theres less life for a multitude of reasons. water temps are up for sure so i think most species are trending north. the fishing was pretty easy 10-20 years ago. you could stick a fork in the ocean and catch bass so we got spoiled. there are less fish around too so we reduced bag limits and endorsed catch and release. the colder water up me seems to hold a lot more life in general. at low tide my kids can fill a bucket full of white leggers, juvi lobsters, starfish and another bucket full of green crab. I just don't like the path of a mpa, they work but at what cost? theres more than one way to skin this cat and I don't think we need to cut off vast swaths of ocean from human contact to have a healthy ocean. the science of fishery management is getting better every day and starting to catch up that will help immensely with managing species. come up for tuna season puppet

Part of me would dig targeting tuna again. I had so much fun that one trip i did a few years back.

Realistically i feel bluefin are out of my class. I just dont have the arms for Jigging for them. I caught one 120# fish and was done.....partial humilation....hahaha....my ego still feels the sting.

I think someone noted yellowfin are smaller sized toys to play with. May be i will look onto an outfit that hunts them
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Florida is a state that truly protects their fishery,yet they still have an abundance of people who make a living on the water. Mass is full of short sighted people whose children will bear the burden of their greed.
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I was hoping for a beer report Dennis. Sonoma and Mendocino targets were surf perch and ling cod when I was out there. A problem there on the rocks is the sleeper waves. Good chance of dying. The tide pools on the east coast are incomparable to a California tide pools. More like protecting a coral reef than ulva covered rocks in Narragansett.
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