Pacifica Pier News

South side: It is July, and we do remember the chirpy news crews out at Pacifica Pier, reporting on the “unbelievable schools of mighty salmon” and “masses of enthusiastic anglers. Back to you, Brenda.” Seems impossible, given the past two seasons, but it happened, salmon were indeed caught from Pacifica Pier, hauled in over the battered sides. Local legend, from not too far back, has it that a thousand king salmon were landed from the pier. In a single day. Last year? It didn’t happen. This year? Best we can scrounge is a month-old report of two salmon landed, both silvers, which hopefully were briefly admired and released. Still, it’s the pier, the great L, the Rev. Herschell Harkins Memorial Pier, if you’re formal, running a quarter mile out over the sea. And something is always happening, day or night, perch or smelt or flounder or who knows. No boat needed. Just a willingness to fish, be friendly and happily freeze. By way of a slightly more serious approach, the neoprene-clad surf fishers, working the beach on both sides of the pier, are said to land the very occasional striped bass, and nearly all of these caught very early, right about the time night gives up to dawn.

Brian Hoffman
Thursday, July 26, 2007
This article appeared on page D - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle