Public fishing pier in Garibaldi

F
FishSchooler
Active member
What is there available to catch at the public fishing pier in garibaldi? I mean, why put a pier called the public fishing pier if theres no fish? ;) Im up for anything that wont break or cut 17 lb sufix siege (easily), even better, 12 lb Maxima UG. Lures are my preference (only baits I will use are crab, clams, or mussles). While clamming last time, we found a flounder, or halibut. Couldnt tell what it was. It was tiny though so we sent it back out with its friends.
 
I didn't even know there was a pier but I would guess that most people use it for crabbing. If I recall correctly, halibut tend to like the open ocean more than big harbors like Tillamook. It's worth a try, but I would be surprised if you catch something other than a flounder and sculpins, with the occasional bait thieving crab. Oh, and I suppose there's also a remote possibility of hooking up with a salmonid while they're en route to spawn in the Wilson.

I typically fish from the south jetty in Barview which is few miles north of Garibaldi. If you feel comfortable scrambling around on large boulders while keeping a watchful eye for sneaker waves, you can catch greenlings, perch, rockfish, cabazon, and (less commonly) ling cods. The waves can get pretty hairy the further out you go, but I find them easy enough to manage within a 100 yard stretch of the CG tower.

What sort of clams did you find out there? I drove home during a little minus tide and was surprised by how much muddy substrate was exposed.

Cheers,
Chris
 
There were no waves when I was there, barely any ripples too. Maybe cause it was low low tide. The dominant species is the cockles. I did catch one of those you get at the grocery store (expensive ones) that are smallish and white/gray. The sand might hold a little bit of razors. I looked at a map and it said that theres not that many crabs there, even though we did rake a few up while clamming. What is a general saltwater bait to use? You know, worms is the bait that almost any freshwater fish will eat.
 
There are quite a few factors that impact wave height, but slack tides tend to produce small waves and incoming high tides tend to produce larger waves. Jetties are built to help protect bays and channels from the destructive swells created by storms. Tillamook bay is so large and doglegged that any wave large enough to make it past the jetties will typically disappate by the time it reaches the pier. I made up a quick google map of the places I've been in Garibaldi and what I've caught and/or heard about the area.

I think sand shrimp are the closest analog to earthworms in that pretty much every saltwater species will gladly eat them. But cooked bay shrimp, clams, mussels, and squid strips will certainly work for perch, greenling, and (occasionally) rockfish whereas live and cut bait are used almost exclusively for the larger ling cods. Most of the fish that you are interested in catching will try to eat anything they can manage to cram into their mouths though. Rockfish and lings tend to be more like bass and can be caught with lures and soft plastics.
 
Maybe I'll just toss a shrimp and clam out there on that same line and hope something but a shark picks it up. :pray:;)

What about sand worms? I was digging for clams there in the sand and saw quite a few worms, I dunno what kind they are though.
 
Get a Ghost Sand Dog pump, and ask around if there are any low tide flats that locals pump for bait. You can use them for Salmon/Steelhead, and any close in rock fish minus the Lings, and Black Rockfish, although I have hooked a bunch of the Blacks on fresh cut bait.
 
Fish from Barview jetty. You can catch fish all along the jetty on the bay side. I avoid fishing on the ocean side as the waves are VERY unpredictable. Plenty of muscles to gather though during low tide.
 
Nvm, I'm going to Cape Lookout SP for memorial day... Whats over there? :D
 
We need to update this thread.
 
Me and my friend were talking about ocean fishing at school and he said that the best ocean fihsing place hes been to is garibaldi
 
good morning fishschooler!
well I have put about 50 hrs of fishing with kids in on that pier and it is about as lame as I have ever seen a spot, even the crabs tend to be way too small to keep. Now the barview jetty is a good bet but if ya really want to go for it drive south out of garibaldi to hobsonville point ( cross rr tracks and park in turnout on right ) and you are at the famous ghost hole. stay closer to the point and cast a sturgeon or nook setup out as far as humanly possible and your odds of getting a good fish are pretty good. I have always used the boats as a good indicator of how far out I have to be. Ive landed about 6 fish and lost about 30 bucks worth of gear in 8 or so days of fishing there.
 
i went there today trying to find a place to fish. i hooked up with more rocks then fish. i caught 3 kelp greenling and managed almost every second. i was using sand shrimp on a single hook. my girlfriend out did me this time. haha. ok heres my question people out there were catching bigger fish. should i have been gobbing sand shrimp on the hook? any advice? also i forgot my salmon rods but im glad i did seeing as these fish were only ten inches tops. i want to get into some 15 to 25 inch fish.
 
fishy4 said:
i went there today trying to find a place to fish. i hooked up with more rocks then fish. i caught 3 kelp greenling and managed almost every second. i was using sand shrimp on a single hook. my girlfriend out did me this time. haha. ok heres my question people out there were catching bigger fish. should i have been gobbing sand shrimp on the hook? any advice? also i forgot my salmon rods but im glad i did seeing as these fish were only ten inches tops. i want to get into some 15 to 25 inch fish.
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I have never used a better jig than the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad for rock fish. We were reeling them in like crazy on those last time we jetty fished. Fishing out on the reefs is a different story.

I've given up on sand shrimp. I can't keep them on any hook under any conditions except slowly lowering them into the water off a dock.

Chass
ct
 
For sandshrimp I tie elastic thread around them onto the hook. stay on just as fine as a biscuit.
 
pre-build

pre-build

I think shrimps major downfall is people don't put enough time in prep, I use a mustad circle hook and net wrap it with a rubberband a touch of super glue and then put my pre-built setups in the freezer till I need them, but as a rule sand shrimp produce mostly small fish for me so I have turned to flesh bait or just crawlers... sandshrimp just dont seem worth the effort anymore.
 
halibuthitman said:
but as a rule sand shrimp produce mostly small fish for me so I have turned to flesh bait or just crawlers... sandshrimp just dont seem worth the effort anymore.
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Although I've never caught much at all with sand shrimp, I feel the same way. We fished next to plenty of other people who weren't catching a thing on sand shrimp. We got there with our Storm lures and caught a lot of fish . . . doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Chass
ct
 
I went out again this past weekend. It was pretty fun we caught a huge crab on a sand shrimp and again about 10 kelp greenlings and no one else seemed to be having any luck. wish i wouldve kept the crab! and is what i meant by managed every second was I was getting bites literally everytime I set the pole down. And the best part was right as we were about to leave whales came into the bay and we got to see them, there was 4 of them I couldnt believe they would come in that close to shore, and neither could anybody else that got to see it. When using storm lures do you just cast and retrieve or jigg??
 
fishy4 said:
When using storm lures do you just cast and retrieve or jigg??
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We were casting out as far as we could, jigging as we reeled them in. We always caught the fish right at the rocks though. They hang pretty tight to the shelter of those rocks.

Chass
ct
 
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