San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

I’m going for spotted bass and other edible fish in mission bay. Someone recommended I use the gulp sand worms and size 6 fish hooks. The hooks seem really small. Are they really the right size?

Okay, here’s the deal.

I prefer a #6 Owner mosquito hook because it's well-suited for a variety of baits. For instance, small-to-medium sandcrabs, squid strips, any size ghost shrimp, small grubs to 2 inches long, peas (for opaleye) any number of small Powerbait and Gulp baits, but especially the Gulp Sandworm.

Larger hooks tear bigger holes in the bait, meaning it's more likely to be torn off by a nibbling fish, or just fly off on the cast.
#6 hook beside a sandworm...

A sandworm on the hook as it would look on a Carolina rig....

Worried about the strength of that skinny wire hook? Been using 'em for 20 years.....

22 inch spotfin croaker

24+ inch spotfin.. 44 inch guitarfish...

A chunky opaleye....
For scale, the ruggedly handsome model in the pics was six feet tall, 235 pounds...

And the last point for that size hook: Rock wrasse and diamond turbot have small mouths, and will chew on the edges of your bait until it's gone. A bigger hook may not even fit into the fish's mouth. White seaperch peck away at the bait, and a bigger hook seldom gets them hooked up.

Tide note: Monday, I caught 19 fish between 7 and 11:30 a.m.as the tide was coming in. The bite slowed waaay down at high tide, only got four more fish before leaving about 4 p.m. That's pretty consistent with my experience, for the places I fish. Your results may vary. If I was going to go soak bait again, I'd go when the tide is similar...the 22nd thru 24th of August.

Ok I’ll give it a shot. Do you cut the sand worms or keep them whole? And where do you typically go to catch those fish?

Thanks!

First off I’m a little biased when it comes to Spotted Sand Bass. They live their entire lives in a relatively polluted environment and seem to thrive. Probably one of the most willing fish to catch there is. While they can get fairly large most aren’t. It takes a long time for them to get 14 inches. In the past 100 years Boats were painted with lead based anti fouling paint that would slough off and sink to the bottoms of the Harbors. Later the paint was reformulated with Copper Sulphate, and it still sloughed off and sank into the mud, they have to repaint every 5-10 years. This continues today. If you catch Spotties often you have seen them choke up Razor Clams. These Clams
live in the mud and absorb these heavy metals. As the Spotties digest them the heavy metals are deposited into the fatty tissue in the meat. It never leaves. The older the fish gets the more heavy metals it collects. The same goes for Croakers, Bonefish, Leopard and Grey Sharks. You could eat some but you are eating meat laced with heavy metals, collected and stored for as long as that fish has lived. This goes for all bottom feeders. Now Sand Bass and Calico Bass are migratory and travel in and out of the Bay. Both are broadcast Spawners collecting in large groups and producing millions of young. Spotties spawn next to rocks and pilings and mostly never leave the Harbors. There are not as many of them and if you catch one next to his piling it takes a long time for another to move in. I really wish they would just have a no take order on them to save them for catch and release Sportfishing. They are like Pets. Their bodies are tainted from their environment. The migratory fish are more plentiful and their stocks can recover quickly. Their meat is cleaner. So keep the Sandies and Calicos if you need to. Leave the Spotties for the Catch and Release Sportfishermen. Everyone would be much better off. Just my opinion.

Ok yeah I don’t want to eat anything polluted. Anything besides sand bass and calico bass? Should I also be fishing on the shore and pier instead of the bay if I want to eat the fish?

The Sirf fish aren’t much better according to some recent studies. That being said, I was raised on Corbina and I believe them to be one of the finest eating fish there is. It is just they live on a diet of mostly Sand Crabs, various Clams,Innkeeper Worms and Ghost Shrimp in the Harbor areas. All are not the cleanest food source any more. It is more of number of fish thing as well as size. The Smaller fish have had less time to build up Toxins but they have to be big enough to have spawned into order to not fish them out. I know I sound like a fatalist but it is solid science behind it. Smaller Tuna, Yellowtail, Dorado, barely legal Barracuda, Ocean caught Sand Bass and Calicos are much cleaner than most all Bay and Surf fish. A couple of servings a week of these fish shouldn’t hurt you long term.

Fish that have restrictions for eating in California.

Do you think McDonald’s is any better?

Yeah, the kelp-huggers and PETA will put out a lot of crazy information about eating fish. Any activity besides sitting in Starbucks surfing the web for bargains on repop retro trilbies is strictly verboten.

What's safe to eat...and how often?
The facts are here: https://oehha.ca.gov/sites/default/file ... poster.pdf

Yeah so I definitely don’t want to feed my kids lead, but if those guidelines are accurate, I’m probably never going to feed them more than one serving of bay fish per month if I’m lucky.

How Mission Bay fish get their extra flavor

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/200 ... ssion-bay/

Oh jeez, I had heard rumors that fiesta island used to be a dump, but toxic waste? Jesus.. don’t they do water sampling in the bay? It isn’t still toxic is it?

This doesn’t mean we can’t catch the hell out of them, pat them on the head, tell them good luck, and send them on their way. As far as McDonalds, just no. Basically, most commercial caught Fish, has sat in the Sun, on deck for too long then aged four or five days before you get it. Perhaps quick frozen then thawed out. Seafood is getting a bad rap. The latest bad news is Freshwater Fish are inundated with micro plastics. microscopic shards of plastic that takes years to disintegrate. No telling what the health hazard is or how your body rids itself of this stuff. On the other hand, smaller Dorado are the cleanest fish, also the fastest growing fish there is. Fresh caught Mahi Mahi, a dream!

One year, there was a bad stretch of dorado down in Central America that were full of worms. Hundreds of worms in every fish. Thick throughout every fillet. It was foul

All I know is, I was fishing at the Jetty saw a guy in the water taking water samples. He was a biologist from Scripps. He said don't eat the fish that live in the Bay. Just the ones that migrate in and out are ok to eat. Me I will only eat fish and chips.

[sounds Nasty, glad it was a one time thing. Here Jacksmelt and Yellowfin Croaker often have parasitic Worms in their flesh. They say they are harmless but ….Yuk!

To answer the original question, I use a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce Jighead with a 2/0 hook. I file down the barb to make it easy to get the hook out. My plastics last a lot longer that way, and the hook sets a lot easier also. Sure, I lose a fish or two, with the barbless hooks. Overall I feel I catch more. I can get the Bass off quicker and cast back to the schools of fish catching a second or third Bass in the same area. I use 30 braid and 17 pound fluorocarbon leader. I realize that’s heavy for most of the Bass but not too heavy for the occasional big Halibut, White SeaBass, and big Sand Bass I catch. I used to lose those. I’ve landed Angel Sharks, Bat Rays, small Black Sea Bass on my 6 foot Rod 8-17 pound rated fast action Rod and 2500 size spinning reel. They fight the same as on 6 pound yet I get the security I’d heavier line. I don’t feel I catch less fish with the heavier line, as my Dad used to say, as long as you can put that Jig in front of their mouth, you can catch them.