. As the winter west swells bend and wrap around Point Fermin to the west, they tend to swing in and hit the upper portions of the wall stronger. During the summer, we get the steep south swells, and the lower Long Beach section up to around “the V” catch a lot of swell energy. In the spring and fall seasons, we get combo swells. This is when the fishing can get really good. If you are unfamiliar with swell direction, go to a NOAA website and look up some of the weather buoys. Get familiar with relationships between swell directions and locations on that wall, and you'll begin to see what I'm talking about. Things like water color and temperature are still important variables, but these seem to follow more typical patterns with one exception, red tide. This is semi-regular occurrence on the wall, where plankton blooms create a bioluminescence in the water. As your line is pulled through the water, the water immediately surrounding your line will illuminate, creating a lightning bolt effect with every twitch of the rod. Generally, fishing is slow in heavy red tide areas, but pay attention because sometimes it's only
a few feet deep. As a starting point, I try to find edges just outside it.
Team "Explorers" Craig Bark, Don Castro fishing outside the Federal Breakwall in their 14' Western.
#2 Equipment
Just like any other sport, everyone who fishes has his or her own unique style. Tackle and equipment is no different. As a general guideline. most folks who pitch the wall like to use a graphite rod in the 7 to 8 foot range, with 7 ½ feet probably being the most versatile. The closer one fishes to the rocks, the shorter the rod needed and vice versa. The rod should be able to handle 20-30 lb. test line easily. I prefer a 7'6” Flippin' stick designed for freshwater bass fishing. A flippin' stick is a powerful rod with a parabolic bend, and this works well for a few reasons . When pitchin' the wall, you'll rarely be more than 20 feet from the rocks, and sometimes I'll fish as close
as 5. With heavy line the rod acts as a shock absorber when you set the hook hard. For example, say you pitch you're lure in and get a good bite right in the rocks. With an extra fast tapered rod, there is no give, so if your line is nicked, or it's over the top of the barnacle and mussel encrusted rocks, you're done, many times before the rod has ever loaded. You're really trying to lift the fish out of the rocks instead of snapping them out. The parabolic bend of a Flippin' stick keeps the sudden jolt from breaking the line, acting sort of as a dampener. It's up to you to keep the fish coming towards the boat by reeling and lifting. Most of the Bass you will catch don't justify the 20 to 30 lb. test on their own, but the environment they're in won't let you get away with much less. As far as reels go, I prefer a low profile version that has a Flippin' switch, which allows me to disengage the reel and reengage it with my thumb without ever having to turn the handle.
"When pitchin' the wall, you'll rarely be more than 20 feet from the rocks, and sometimes I'll fish as close as 5."
#3 Technique
Ok, so you know what to look for, and you've got the right set up, but how the heck do I pitch cast? Pitchin' is basically an underhand pendulum cast developed from the flippin' technique used in freshwater bass fishing. The easiest way to learn is at home. Stand up on a milk crate to simulate boat height off the water. Let out line so your lure is approximately 10 inches above your reel. Hold the lure in your hand close to the rod with the reel in free spool. The idea is to shoot the lure with the rod as the lure falls in a pendulum motion. Let go of the lure as it approaches the bottom of its arch, and push it forward with the rod tip while simultaneously releasing the spool. The idea is to shoot the lure low to the water with little effort. Why pitchin' you ask? This technique allows for pinpoint presentations to targets on the wall. It takes very little effort to pitch as apposed to traditional casting. It also saves a lot of time, meaning you can keep the lure in the strike zone much longer because you are making many more presentations. It also keeps a lot of the slack out of the line throughout the process, so when you get a bite right as the lure hits the water, you are in a much better position to set the hook.