Aptos- 10 lb Striper from the pier. 5/24/10

I was fishing the sea cliff pier yesterday. When i got there bait was no where to be seen and i was getting ready to leave then it came in thick on the south side. I threw a live sardine in on a Carolina rig and fished bait for a couple hours waiting to get a bite. I now have lots of freshly frozen sardines.At 7pm I heard a friend of mine yelling my name so I looked over. My fishing pole is in his hands, doubled over peeling line! I ran over there and grabbed it from him and fought that puppy in while half the pier watched and half of them yelled instructions at me. Talk about pier pressure or is that peer pressure. A friend dropped down the crab net and we maneuvered that fish in and got it on the deck. It got hooked by the treble stinger I always use.  After that the bite got real hot and 5 more stripers from 5-8 lbs where brought in. The guy that netted my fish caught two that day himself. At least 3 people had there bait picked up and taken for a run and then dropped. One guy in the surf farmed another. It was a blast to see all the good-ol-boys catching and to land a decent fish my self. The ranger came down to close up shop and the pier was full still with people actively fishing at sunset. Something I'm sure he isn't used to.

awesome report Bam.  Glad you got bit while the biting was hot.  Here's hoping that people go easy on the lil rockfish and target some east coast "rockfish" instead

Nice dude, thanks for the info!!

WTG on the striper bro.

Jedmo

WTG!
I walk down to the pier after work alot and can tell its time to start fishing local when the regulars start showing up in large numbers and actually fish as opposed to BSing.  Some of those guys can cast baitcasters a freakin mile.  get a hoot out of that islander looking guy with the arms as big as most peoples legs.

WTG!!!!!!!!!!

Nice looking fish dude!!!

Seems like the bite is hotter down there in the afternoon/early evening??

Congrats again and thanks for sharing!!

Sincerely,

Jim

Very nice!

Nice catch buddy! seems like the striper in that area or starting to go on a good bite....seems like ill have to launch out of santa cruz too this weekend as well as monterey!

Nice looking Striper!  Thanks for the report and picture Bambora.

Awesome!!!  What a fish!  Cool story too

Great fish!

WTG!
I walk down to the pier after work alot and can tell its time to start fishing local when the regulars start showing up in large numbers and actually fish as opposed to BSing.  Some of those guys can cast baitcasters a freakin mile.  get a hoot out of that islander looking guy with the arms as big as most peoples legs.

His name is Angel, he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.   All the regulars down there are some funny characters!