Big Mack from Shore

It was late October. High tide was 4:30 pm on Sunday. I planned a fishing for afternoon. I arrived at State Pier around 3:30. There were several fishing boats limiting space. I started with a bait rig. As I prepare another rod, small pollock bit on frequently. When I casted the second rig, a young fisherman came and talked to me. He came for fishing smelt. I said that I had caught some a week before and people fished in the evening. He casted a sabiki rig for smelt but caught only pollock and cunner.

As a vessel left the pier around 4:00, I moved to the spot. There were lots of actions mostly stealing bait. I checked rigs often. Meantime I got a middle size mack. The number of polock was reduced at this spot. After a while I got a good hit on a rod casted in distance. I took the rod and felt something. During reeling it suddenly felt light. I wondered it might be a blue but what I found was a mack and a smelt. Seemed like the mack swam toward the pier. This mack was a little bigger. The smelt fisherman asked if he could exchange mack with smelt when he got a mack. I replied yes.

Action became slower as the high tide got close. I started to set a rod with a jig&sabiki rig. This rod was 9’ Daiwa Acculite with a 4-hook rig of 1’’ Rexbait silver holo and a 1/2 oz Kastmaster. Sometimes I got snag upon hit on a bait rig. Maybe a crab was feeding. I lost a few rigs and I made one. As I put fresh bait, I got a few smelt mixed in pollock.

When it got slightly dark around 5:30, he brought a large mack. As he put a piece of cunner on a no-sinker rig, it bit on. I exchanged it with 3 smelt I had kept. Soon I got a bite on a shorter rod. I thought it was a cunner and moved the rig not to have bait stolen. Doing that, a fish hooked up. As I reeled in, fish began to run. Should be a mack bit on during retrieving. With a cunner, a nice 15’’ mack came up. Active time had come.

I thought mack were in middle range. If so, it was time to use a sabiki rig. I didn’t set the bait rod and took the rod with a jig&sabiki. I casted the jig, counted down for 5 seconds as usual and jigged. At the second jigging, I felt multiple fish bit on, definitely nice ones. I reeled in trying not to let them run very much. What I saw soon were triple big mack! Got it! Although I lost one on the jig upon pulling, I kept two 15’’ mack at the same time.

All of the fishermen there started to cast jigs immediately (seriously!) but the hit did’t last. I wrapped up at 6. I kept 6 mack, 2 regular size and 4 big ones. It was spectacular as a shore mackerel fishing.

It was really perfect time to use a sabiki. I also thought the combination of Rexbaits and Kastmaster outfished because they looked like menhaden, which were schooling at that time. One hour after high was typically the best time from my experiences. Everything fit. It was a great day!