pitchin' to the rocks in the dark. Spanning more than eight miles from Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro across to Long Beach , the San Pedro Breakwater, as it was originally named, dates back more than one hundred years. Using mostly quarry rock barged over from Catalina Island , the original breakwater construction began in 1899. In 1932 work began on the 3.5-mile “middle” extension. Then in 1941 construction began on the 2.5-mile eastern leg of the breakwater. Work stopped in 1943 due to World War II and didn't resume until 1946. The extension was finished in 1949.
Team "Reckless" Ben Florentino, Eric Neiman staging for the Final round at Pier J.
The Wall plays host to an abundance of marine life, but for bass anglers, it's the shot at a big calico that seems to be the biggest draw. Bass fishing on the wall is nothing new; my father used to fish it back in the 1950's. “We used to use black pork on a lead head and catch ‘em pretty good”, he says.
They would use an oar to push themselves off the rocks at night as they drifted along the inside, guess you could call that an early trolling motor. I'm not sure what the biggest bass ever taken off the wall is, but I have seen pictures of double digit fish taken in the late eighties and early nineties. Everyone has a story of a “Wall” fish. So here's a collection of 5 ideas that may help take some of the guess work out of this unique fishery, and get you started using an effective technique known as Pitchin'.
#1 Conditions
If I had to pick one element that can make or break this place, it would be swell. Swell gets water moving in and out of those rocks. This, in turn, pushes baitfish and forage around and gets the whole food chain going; however, be aware of too much water movement. Too much movement and the fish tend to hunker down and seek refuge. In the wintertime we typically get west and north westerly swells, and during the summer months, we have traditional south and southwesterly swells. These swells will hit different stretches of the breakwater with varying degrees of intensity, which is based on swell direction.
"Wallbangers" setting up in the dusk. Eric Johnson and Darin Lalla, "Team Wallsout" fishing the outside of the Federal Breakwall in their "purpose built" Crestliner. (Above)
T he Long Beach Breakwater better known as “The Wall”, is a unique fishery in and of itself. Situated within such heavy industry and shipping traffic, it seems almost foreign to be catching bass while several thousand-ton super freighters slide eerily by in the darkness. If you talk to someone about fishing the wall at night, you generally will get one of a few responses like, “I have a friend who fishes it”, or “ Man, I've lost some big fish on that thing.” And if you have spent any time out there, you're probably one of the later. This type of fishing is definitely not for everyone, but if you can make the adjustment to the “night life”, you may just find yourself