FINE FISHING OFF PACIFICA

Salmon should be arriving any time now at Pacifica

Tom Stienstra

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER OUTDOORS WRITER

Municipal Pier, where the annual run offers the best fishing of the year - for free

WHEN IT COMES to fishing, some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug. At Pacifica Municipal Pier this week, fishermen have felt more like prisoners of hope than anything else, waiting for the annual arrival of salmon, and with it, the best fishing of the year from any public pier in America.

A high fog arrived Tuesday, and with calm seas beneath, schools of anchovies started migrating inshore, marked by gulls and pelicans, circling, diving and feeding. Birds never lie, you know, and most here figure the salmon can't be far behind, chasing and corralling the anchovies.

"Fishing at the pier is like playing the stock market," said Jim Klinger, a field scout and Pacifica resident. "One day it's all limos and Lear jets, the next day you want to be perched on a window ledge on the 30th floor."

Last year, the salmon arrived on July 8, when 300 salmon were caught at the pier in a few hours, a maniacal but happy scene, and as word circulated overnight around the Bay Area, the 1,000-foot pier became jammed with 800 fishermen the following day. At daybreak, the salmon charged inshore again, and more than 600 were landed by afternoon, then the next day, more than 1,000 were caught, with hundreds of others hooked and lost. It lasted for five days, then after settling down to 50 to 100 salmon per day, another siege ensued for a week, with 300 to 400 fish caught per day. Peaks and valleys, it went up and down like this through August.

To some level, this happens every year, just after the Fourth of July, but nobody knows exactly when the salmon will arrive, and nobody knows exactly how many fish will show, or when they will bite. And that's when fishermen start thinking about prayer.

"From day to day, even hour to hour, it can be so unpredictable that you never know what's going to happen next," Klinger said. "'Everything seems so temperamental and finicky. It can be the greatest day of your life or the biggest disappointment."

Over the years, the scene at Pacifica Pier has become a microcosm of urban life in America. Cost is a factor in recreation these days, and not only is fishing at the pier free, but a fishing license is not required either. People can stand shoulder to shoulder here, and despite huge differences in backgrounds, with language and cultural differences the most prominent, they learn to work together anyway. Whether it be loaning a crab net to land and hoist up a big fish, or dipping under and over lines while playing a salmon to avoid tangles, people discover here that you get results by cooperating, just as in urban life.

And just like life elsewhere, everybody can be happy, excited and tense over what is possible on some days, yet surly, closed and grumpy over what seems impossible on others.

Pacifica Municipal Pier is located about 10 miles south of San Francisco, and with access from Highway 1 out of The City and also from Sharp Park / Westborough Boulevard off Highway 280 from the Peninsula, it is within close, easy reach of thousands. Like the fish, the people come in waves. When the bite is on, every spot is filled along the railing, both sides. When someone finally turns his or her back on the fish and goes home, the spot is quickly taken by a newcomer. With lights posted and night fishing permitted, it can be the fishing pier that never goes to sleep.

Though salmon are the most sought-after catch, striped bass often frequent the nearby surf, with kingfish, sharks and perch also common. Though rare, sturgeon, barracuda and bonito also have been caught here, and two years ago, even a 60-pound white seabass was landed. But as Klinger said, you never know what might happen next.

Last week, Neil Giffen, a longtime Pacifica resident and angler, lost a fish when it wrapped his line around a piling - and when he looked down, spotted a baby sea lion that had crawled up on one of the angled pilings.

"Everybody was saying, "Look at the poor little guy, he looks scared, maybe he's hurt,' " Giffen said.

But right then, a 15-foot Great White shark appeared out of nowhere, cruised right beneath the baby sea lion, eyeing it as if considering dinner.

"That baby seal stayed lodged there for hours," Giffen said with a laugh. "That was one smart little seal."

A few smarts are also required for fishermen here, but nothing that can't be learned quickly. The standard rigging is called the "trolley rig," named after a fishing system unique to Pacifica Municipal Pier.

You start with a 4- to 8-ounce pier sinker, which looks like a four-legged spider, tying it to your line, then make a short underhand cast, with the sinker grabbing the bottom and holding tight despite the ocean surge. You then attach a pier bobber, which is about the size of an apple, to the line with a snap swivel, along with 6 feet of leader and a size 5 / 0 hook. After hooking a whole anchovy for bait, you let the bobber and bait "trolley" down the line to the water. You end up with that giant bobber floating on the surface, a whole anchovy for bait below it, and you wait for that bobber to get tugged under, perhaps when a giant salmon has taken the bait.

Because the fish are often large, with 10- to 20-pound salmon typical, crab nets are dropped down and positioned under the fish, then hoisted up to the pier deck to land the fish.

A small bait and tackle shop at the foot of the pier has terminal tackle available, and during down time, an employee can often demonstrate how to rig. A pre-tied trolley rig costs $4.25, and a pier bobber costs $1.98.

When the pier is full of anglers, it actually helps the fishing, not hurts it, because all those anchovies in the water for bait is like a chum line, drawing the fish right in.

Everything seems perfect for such a scene to unfold this weekend. The water temperature is 55 degrees, ideal for salmon, and the first migrations of anchovies are arriving right on schedule. The water is tinted green like the glass of a champagne bottle, a color that Klinger says often brings the best prospects, especially compared to the murky browns of winter. The water seems filled with a vibrant essence of life, with birds, baitfish and the first salmon of the year already here.

Most of the people at the pier are helpful to their neighbors, but just like in the cities, there can be a limit to that help.

"One day at the pier, this guy was just plain making life miserable for everyone around him," Klinger said. "He was bumping into people, hitting people with his rod, and finally, when things settled down and we got back to fishing, his bobber goes bye-bye. We knew he had a huge fish on, and sure enough, he started to fight it, reeling, his rod doubled over, but the guy got all screwed up and before long, his line started getting tangled with several people.

"He looks over at us and says, "What do I do now?'

"And the guy next to him says, almost automatically, "Cut your line.'

"So the guy pulled out his knife, cuts his line, and proceeds to lose one of the biggest salmon you could ever dream of."

For information, call Pacifica Municipal Pier at (415) 355-0690 or Coastside No. 2 Bait & Tackle at (415) 359-9790.