Daniel Ambrose answers:

ALL GOOD!! BUT DO YOU HAVE YOUR FISHING LICENSE,FOR SPEAR FISHING..DON’T LET THE DEPT OF FISH AND GAME CATCH YOU W/OUT IT OR THEY’LL BE SPEARING WITH ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT..
ALSO CHECK N SEE WHAT IS THE STATE FISH THEIR PROTECTED,AND SO ARE OTHER SEA CREATURES..

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Assume the reel is 1.5 feet from the butt of each rod. That gives your 6 ft rod a tip length of 4.5 feet, and the 8 footer a tip length of 6.5 feet. With the same casting motion, the tip of the longer rod (and your casting weight) will be moving 6.5/4.5 times as fast, or about 1.4 times as fast. Thus, if everything else is equal, it will cast about 1.4 times as far.

The whippier tip on the longer rod will help you casting lighter weights, but it will also limit how much weight you can cast.

The sinker weight, up to a point, will increase your casting distance — that is, if the sinker is not so heavy that it overloads the rod, or so heavy that it cuts down on how hard you can cast (again, assuming all other factors are equal), the heavier weight will go further — just like you can throw a baseball farther than you can throw a tennis ball. I don’t think a 4 or 5 ounce sinker is heavy enough to limit how much force you can put into the cast, but if they don’t get you any more distance than a 3 ounce, only use them if you need the weight to hold the bait on the bottom in the current.

If you don’t need the 30 pound test, you might switch to 25 or 20 pound — or use braided line — as thinner line will cast farther. You should also make sure your reels are full — if they’re not full, that will cut your casting distance.

I fish on the west coast, so I’m not familiar with the fish you catch, but in general I match the hook to the size of the bait — if the hook is too small, it’ll get lost in the bait and I won’t hook the fish solidly (or at all), and if it’s too big, I won’t get bit in the first place. I’ve caught several tuna from 30 to 65 pounds on a size 2 hook (with a small anchovy bait), so you don’t necessarily need a big hook for a big fish.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Yeah, Crappie very rarely come out of the water.

This question is kind of tough, being that there’s quite a few possibilities. There’s four that come to mind; Gar, Striped Bass, Carp, or possibly Largemouth Bass.

Did you see what looked to be schools of fish jumping at times? If so, there’s a good possibility that they were Gar, although Carp do the same at times. I’ve seen Gar around here travelling in schools of 10 or more. They feed on minnows very heavily, which are on top, which is what leads to them jumping at times.

If you seen a lot of single splashes, they were probably some kind of Bass (Striped or Largemouth). The morning and evening hours are their main feeding times in the Summer months. If the fish you seen jumping were in and around cover or in shallow water, they could have very well been Bass.

Carp are a lot like the Gar a lot of times. I kind of doubt this is what it was, being that you said fish were consistently jumping. I don’t know much about Carp, but I don’t believe they jump all to often. The main times I see Carp make a comotion is when something scared them, like a boat or duck flying by or something. But again, I have seen Carp jump for no apparent reason.

Maybe that can help you narrow it down a little?

Edit: I didn’t notice your question regarding catching them. If fish are on top, they are feeding on one of two things. Baitfish or bugs and what not. When I see fish jumping in towards the middle of a lake, I throw baitish imitating baits. That is most likely what they are feeding on. Weightless plastic jerkbaits do great for this. There is a bait company called Zoom. They make a plastic jerkbait called a Zoom Fluke. These are very productive baits.

If you notice fish jumping in cover, I would try out a top water lure, preferably a weedless one. They make frog lures, which I like a whole lot for the cover. They are weedless, which will avoid the hangups if you make a cast into a tree or something. Take a look at the Scum Frogs and Rage Tail frogs. Both are great in this situation.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

You only need two…
Patience and research

Wow thats it right there…

The best tips are the ones that apply to what your doing….

Good luck Caleb!!!

Daniel Ambrose answers:

You’re really only likely to see small fish — tomcod (white croaker), maybe perch or jacksmelt, fish in the 5-10 inch range. Small pieces of cut bait (anchovies, squid, shrimp, or mussels) on small (#6 or #8) hooks are the way to go. You’ll generally do better near or on the bottom, or in close to the pilings. (The exact species really depends on the pier.) Larger baits fished on the bottom, cast way out off the end of the pier might result in bigger fish (rays, sand sharks, or halibut), but more likely you might end up with nothing. The cooler water in the winter will slow the bite down. In the summer you have the possibility of bonito or other migratory fish, and the resident fish will bite better as well.

The best advice would be to look around and see what other people are doing and whether they’re catching much, and copy them.

This is based on my own pier fishing in Santa Monica Bay as a kid. However, I just found this link, which is specifically about McFadden Wharf:

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Night fishing is the best time for fishing on shore and really all you need is a lighted bobber because alot of fish like to go above water and hit almost anything you throw out to them. It in a way helps you “boost” your percentage for catching a fish in a way. Actually you can use worms for night fishing too, probably the only time to anyway. Or you can try for bass or anything of the kind with lures like slash and crank baits or rooster tails or even the hydra fishing lure. So I would be sure to have lots of tackle for night fishing.

Good Fishing! <

Steve