After... let's see... one... two... maybe three hours of sleep last night (all that for a few stupid shooting stars, and the damn Sprite kept me up after the show), we had a slow start at today's camp. Tide was at its lowest around 11am, so I didn't expect the kids to catch that many except maybe the odd small shiners and sculpins then.
The action didn't really start until 12:30pm, when the tide turned and water started to rise. Whenever there is a small current, peamouth chub fishing (actually, barfishing for any species in general) is better as the scent is carried further to attract the fish.
We were getting more peamouth chub than shiner perch today, and many big ones. Once they were used to detecting different types of bites that the float indicates, the kids were hauling them chubbies into the tank one after another one.
We had one kid who came out with us last time and didn't catch anything. Rather disappointing. This time, he was determined. Towards the end of the camp, he managed to hook two shiners, he was excited!
Wildlife viewing today: Sandpipers? They were walking around on the mud flat during low tide. Two great blue herons landed right in front of us on the mud flat to hunt for small fish. One hawk flew by us to a nearby forest. Still no sightings of eagles.
We later on saw one angry heron chasing a flock of geese away to protect its nest. The Olympic diving rat was back in action. The boys managed to complete all the tasks as usual, landing and identifying all four species of fish that we were targeting.
For those of you who are bringing their kids down to the pier to do this, keep the line thin (4lb test), slap on a float and a size 14 hook. Any kind of dough will entice the fish. Keep the float depth adjusted so the hook is suspending just above the bottom.
More chubby viewing.