Seal Beach Pier, Seal Beach, CA
Trip Date: June 9-13, 2008
The Pier
The piers of Central and Southern California have a unique subculture. By day, they teem with tourists of all different races and backgrounds, all living completely separate lives. By night, the multi-ethnic tapestry remains, but the occupants of the pier share a common goal: catching fish.
When four or five white boys from rural Southern Oregon walked onto the Seal Beach Pier in June of 2008, every head turned. Broken English paired with Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, and a host of other languages I couldn’t place, mixing with the acrid stench of cigarettes from every group.
We walked around the pier, looking at everyone’s respective catch — almost exclusively White Croaker and various species of surfperch — before a guy hooked into a respectable fish.
We stared intently as he fought it for five, ten, fifteen minutes. It broke the surface almost 30 feet below, and he identified it as a skate. He said he had no desire to eat it, but many Asian fisherman did, and we’d be more than welcome to keep it. We were thrilled at the possibility, but just as he got to the end of the pier to land it (a major feat, considering it was nearly half a mile long), it broke his line.
With that, the rest of my classmates decided to head back, but I remained fixated.
I stayed out until almost 3:00 a.m. that morning, watching, learning, fishing. It made getting up for Six Flags three hours later especially difficult, but I would spend the next four nights doing the same thing and not regretting it one bit.
*****
The Charter
One day of the trip included a charter fishing excursion, which I had looked forward to for years.
In fact, I’d led the class fundraising efforts throughout high school, starting a concession stand for junior high sporting events, then, seeing its success and noting that hot lunch was only served at our school three Fridays a month, starting a snack bar that served microwavable lunches and snack items like candy bars
As our funds grew, we rolled into senior year. One of my best friends, Tony Maddalena, and I, had been given three pages of yearbook ads to sell. We sold about three times that many.
All told, our efforts had resulted in more than $12,000 that we could put towards the trip, but all I cared about was what would become my first-ever chartered fishing trip.
The opportunity to choose a half-day or full-day trip day came, and everybody wanted to do a half-day trip. I was crushed. One of the chaperones, Dan Phelps, either took pity on me or really wanted to go fishing, because he volunteered to accompany me on the full-day trip.
The barracuda had been running, and the last three boats before us had caught hundreds of them, so I was optimistic. Perhaps too optimistic, because our boat caught less than a dozen between the 50-plus anglers on board.
I had a five-footer strike my anchovy right as I brought it to the surface, slurping the soft-bodied bait right off of my hook.
I stood there, momentarily frozen, before the shock and disappointment set in.
Sure, we caught lots of Pacific Mackerel, Calico Bass, and Dan even got a brilliantly-colored, red-orange California Scorpionfish — which we were told had dorsal spines as poisonous as its flesh was delicious — but no barracuda.
Returning to the house, we learned the guys on the half-day trip had caught almost a dozen species between them, including barracuda, yellowtail, and even a four-foot shark.
*****
Disappointed by the charter boat, I returned faithfully to the pier each night, which made for plenty of interesting experiences:
- One day, a seagull stole my bait.
- Another day, I caught a starfish.
- Yet another, I learned that the week before we’d arrived, the television series Greek shot its Spring Break episode right on that pier.
- In a moment of stupidity, I tried leaving my rod propped in the sand with bait in the water while I tried swimming. The pole fell over and the sand ruined my reel.
- I actually hooked into a nice California Halibut that was maybe 10-12 pounds, but after fighting it to the surface and allowing me to look at it, my line snapped.
Great experiences and stories, but not one fish.
*****
On the afternoon of the last day, one of the guys I’d befriended, Julian, said he’d let me use one of his two rods.
Julian was born just across the border in Mexico. When he came to the United States in his late teens, he brought with him his wife, a few possessions, and a bad drug addiction.
The birth of his first son sobered him up and made him an advocate for the Christian faith he credited his sobriety to.
Late in the afternoon, both of Julian’s rods dipped at the same time and I reeled in a small White Croaker. It wasn’t pretty, didn’t fight well, and made a weird, throaty noise when handled (I later discovered this to be its namesake), but I was glad to have caught it.
I wished Julian a good life as we parted that afternoon, and planned one last attempt to catch a fish entirely on my own.
*****
When I returned that evening, I could see fish schooling around the pilings under the pier lights, but couldn’t get them to bite. I had absolutely no saltwater tackle, and everything I’d used all week was intended to catch trout. I had the right baits (squid and shrimp), but not the right gear.
Why I tied on a Kokanee Jig
After about 20 hours of sleep in five days, after hours on the pier, after questioning whether I had a future in even casual fishing, I had held out hope.
That hope resulted in a last-minute catch that would be my only fish of the week (apart from the dismal catch on the charter boat).
It was too small to eat, and several fisherman dropping bait traps into the water had caught larger fish, but I was so proud. I had a passerby take a picture for me with my disposable camera
*****
When I returned home the next afternoon, exhausted, Dad mentioned he’d been having some luck at the Klamath River. I’d been fishing all week and catching almost nothing, so you’d think I’d decline, right?
Nope. After a 14-hour drive, I hopped off the vans, and we went fishing that night.
It was, at that moment, that I realized just how serious I was with fishing. It was no longer just something I did for fun. It was an obsession.
#CaughtOvgard
Read Hook #5: The 100-Fish Day.
Great job on this piece! It was very informative and engaging. I’m eager to hear different perspectives on this. Click on my nickname for more engaging content.
Hello. impressive job. I did not anticipate this. This is a fantastic story. Thanks!
You have remarked very interesting points! ps decent internet site.
Wohh exactly what I was searching for, thanks for putting up.
Excellent blog here! Also your website loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
I like this post, enjoyed this one regards for posting.
Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am impressed! Very useful information specially the last part 🙂 I care for such info a lot. I was seeking this particular information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
hello there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up something new from right here. I did on the other hand expertise some technical issues the usage of this website, as I skilled to reload the website lots of times previous to I may just get it to load correctly. I have been wondering in case your web host is OK? Now not that I am complaining, but slow loading cases times will sometimes affect your placement in google and can harm your high quality ranking if advertising and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Anyway I am including this RSS to my e-mail and can glance out for a lot more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this once more soon..
I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts on this sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website. Reading this info So i’m satisfied to express that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I so much certainly will make sure to don’t overlook this web site and give it a glance on a continuing basis.
Thanks for every other informative blog. The place else may I am getting that type of information written in such an ideal manner? I’ve a project that I’m simply now operating on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.
You have brought up a very great details , regards for the post.
I’ve recently started a web site, the information you offer on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Very nice style and design and great written content, hardly anything else we require : D.
I as well think thus, perfectly pent post! .
Great awesome things here. I?¦m very happy to see your article. Thank you a lot and i am having a look ahead to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
I like this site very much, Its a very nice place to read and find information. “Practice, the master of all things.” by Augustus Octavius.
Normally I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, quite nice article.
Thanks for all of the labor on this blog. My mom take interest in carrying out investigation and it’s easy to understand why. Many of us know all regarding the lively medium you provide functional information via the website and as well as welcome contribution from the others on this area of interest and our own princess is in fact studying a lot of things. Enjoy the rest of the year. You are performing a superb job.
Great write-up, I am regular visitor of one¦s blog, maintain up the excellent operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
Hey there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m looking to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Hello! I just want to give a huge thumbs up for the great information you have got right here on this post. I will probably be coming again to your blog for more soon.
Hello, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your super writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
Great post. I am facing a couple of these problems.
I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Very useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this particular info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this web site wants far more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read way more, thanks for that info.
I simply could not leave your website before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual information an individual provide to your guests? Is gonna be back frequently to check out new posts.
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.
Hey, you used to write fantastic, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
I am really enjoying the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A number of my blog readers have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any ideas to help fix this issue?
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
Very efficiently written post. It will be useful to everyone who employess it, including me. Keep up the good work – looking forward to more posts.
I feel that is among the most vital info for me. And i’m satisfied studying your article. However want to statement on few basic things, The site taste is wonderful, the articles is really nice : D. Just right process, cheers
Thank you for each of your labor on this site. My mom delights in making time for investigation and it’s really obvious why. Many of us hear all of the compelling mode you provide advantageous guidelines via your web blog and even welcome contribution from some others on this situation then our own daughter is actually being taught a lot. Take pleasure in the remaining portion of the new year. You’re performing a tremendous job.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.