Oceanside Pier Summer 2016

At the end of June I headed out to California to visit Ruoxi.  Her dad was also in town, visiting from China.  He was leaving in a few days, so the first thing we did together was head over to Oceanside Pier to go fishing.  We brought a couple of medium-light rods, picked up some frozen squid from the pier bait shop, and tossed out pieces on small Octopus hooks.  Needless to say, the bite was very slow.  Ruoxi's dad caught a small sand bass though, so we considered it a success.

Barred Sand Bass (Paralabrax nebulifer)

I switched to a sabiki with very small hooks in hopes of getting something different to bite.  Eventually something did, and it was a fish I couldn't ID.  I knew it was a new lifer, but I'd have to look up what it was when I got home.  Unfortunately, this little fish would not lie still for a photo, and it beat itself to a pulp in a matter of seconds.  I feel bad about posting this photo, but at least the fish got used as bait.  Ironically, it's name ended up starting with "red-eye".

Red-Eye Round Herring (Etrumeus teres) - new hook & line species #335

The sabiki saved what would have otherwise been a really slow day of fishing.  I only caught a total of three fish, but two of them ended up being new species.  The other new one was a topsmelt, and the fish I had already caught was a salema, which I had encountered last December while fishing for bat rays in Mission Bay.

Topsmelt (Atherinops affinis) - new hook & line species #336

Salema (Xenistius californiensis)

Ruoxi's dad caught one more sand bass, and that was it for the day.  Despite the slow fishing, we had a great time.  The sun was shining, the breeze was pleasant, and we didn't skunk out.  That's about all you can ask for.  However, I hope someday I can take Ruoxi's dad out and have him catch some big fish!