LAUGH and sinker Fishing off the Santa Monica Pier’s edge isn’t always about the catch of the day
SM PIER As he lowered his line into the dark, dirty waters of the Pacific Ocean, Kevin Buchanan knew he didn’t have much of a chance of catching any fish, despite loading his hook up with anchovy. The halibut and smelt just weren’t biting on this day, and even if they did, the British ex-pat wasn’t planning on eating what he reeled in.
“Because of the poor water quality and just so many people living by the bay, the recommendation is that you don’t eat what you catch here,” said Buchanan, a private school principal from the San Fernando Valley, who drove to the Santa Monica Pier early Wednesday morning with his son Jordan for a little father-son bonding.
“We just come out here for fun, relax a little and enjoy the scenery,” Buchanan said as a cigarette butt floated past the Lucky Lura bait leader he had just untangled and dropped into the calm water. “On the weekends, it gets pretty crowded, but on a weekday like today, it’s nice and quiet.
“We saw some dolphins swim by earli-er.”
While not as popular as it was during the pier’s heyday in the 1960s, fishing is very much alive and well on the lower deck of the pier, where experienced anglers of all backgrounds test their luck — some say “skill” — alongside the less experienced, all just looking to have a good time.
On Wednesday, when Buchanan and his son showed up with their lures, anchovies and muscle meat, there were already five other weathered-looking fish-ermen resting up against the metal railing, staring peacefully at the horizon as they patiently waited for a mackerel or halibut to bite. One had a small radio that was blaring Spanish music, while a Russian man who could barely speak English chatted up a companion in his native tongue.
Carlito Tagulao and his young son Charlie were there too, hoping to reel in a few fish for dinner.
“We’re Filipino,” the elder Tagulao said with a smile, showing his two, gold-rimmed front teeth. “Of course we eat it. It’s fish.”
Tagulao and his son prefer to fry their catch or cook it on the barbecue.
“They taste good,” said Charlie, a fifth grader who was excited to be out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday, however, not so pleased with the lack of activity in the water. “It’s been pretty boring today. The fishing isn’t good.”
As a security guard barely making ends meet, Tagulao said fishing on the pier is one of the ways he can feed his family. He knows what people say about the poor water quality around the pier, which is constantly rated an “F” by environmental watchdog Heal the Bay, but Tagulao isn’t worried about getting sick from the fish.
“I know people who have been fishing here for years, and they haven’t died yet,” Tagulao said. “Really, though, it’s just a time that my son and I can come and spend time together. I work a lot, so we barely have time to be with each other. Today he is on vacation, so that’s why we’re here.”
“I like taking my shoes off and dipping my feet in the water,” Charlie said, as he bounced around the lower deck.
ON THE LINE Halibut continue to be the prize fish for most of the local anglers and each year a few large halibut, as well as many small halibut, will be snatched out of the water. Most regulars use live brown bait like small queenfish, white croaker or smelt, which they’ve snagged with Lucky Lura type bait leaders — a series of small hooks tied together on a line that rests just below the surface.
They fish the bait straight down in the areas between the pilings. Quite a few halibut in the 22-to 37-inch range are hooked with these live baits, but most fish caught are much smaller, around 10 to 12 inches.
A few regulars also “drag” for the halibut. They put a long-shanked hook into a headless anchovy and then drag it along the bottom. If crowded, they cast out and retrieve slowly. If it isn’t too crowded, they walk the bait along the edge of the pier, always alert for the soft mouthing of the halibut.
The same trolling method also works well with scampis and sometimes the lures will produce the biggest halibut, fisher-men said. One of the best spots for halibut, although mostly smaller-sized fish, is off the upper deck of the pier on the south side, just before the lower deck begins.
Occasionally, barracuda, white seabass or even yellowtail will show up, most often out at the end of the pier in deeper water. Some have caught rays and sharks too, but not so much now.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS John Velaski, owner of the Santa Monica Bait & Tackle Co., which is located at the far west end of the pier, remembers the days before the breakwater was destroyed by storms in 1983. Then, he would catch large white sea bass or take a rowboat out into the bay, drop anchor and catch perch “all day long.”
Now, with the breakwater gone and the water quality poor, there are very few big fish to snag. But that hasn’t deterred locals and tourists from flocking to the end of the pier for a little rest and relaxation.
The activity is pretty much nonstop too, he said, since the pier is open 24 hours a day and no license is needed to fish, meaning anyone can bring their lure or rent one from Velaski for $4 and drop a line in the water.
Velaski said fishing is just as much about testing one’s skills as it is finding peace and respite from the hustle and bus-
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 24, 2007. Read the original PDF.