GREAT FISHING IS NO PIPE DREAM HERE

LIVE THE PIPE DREAM

POPULAR MAN-MADE STRUCTURE AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER GOOD FOR ROCKFISH, HALIBUT

By Capt. Bill Schaefer

Iwrite a lot about fishing deepwater structure this time of year – both the man-made and natural varieties. And one such place that has always produced well is the area known as the “Pipe” that’s located off the southern San Diego coast, just north of the Mexican border.

It’s an outlet pipe constructed to help the border city of Tijuana, Mexico deal with its sewage issues. The Pipe comes out from under the sand at about 70 feet deep and runs another mile out to 90-plus feet deep and then forms a Y on the end, with two extension pipes running north and south for about 100 or so yards.

ON THE ROCKS

The Pipe is covered with giant Volkswagen-sized boulders to protect it. This bodes well for anglers, as the location has slowly become an artificial reef over the years, with everything from rockfish to bass to yellowtail living around it. Halibut lie along the sandy sides and are a regular catch. In the giant cracks and crevasses between the rocks lurk giant lingcod and even black sea bass. I think I have caught just about everything you can out of this area.

This spot can be good year-round, but the end of winter and spring can

Author Bill Schaefer shows off a nice halibut taken off the side of the “Pipe,” a man-made offshore structure near the U.S.-Mexico border that’s a prime spot to catch flatties, rockfish and other species. Schaefer advises anglers to always drift and fish a bit past the target. (BILL SCHAEFER)

be really productive for rockfish (after the season restarts on March 1) and bass. The bass haven’t quite started to move to the kelp beds and the rockfish haven’t yet shuffled off into deeper waters. Time it right and you can get into weeks of coolers full of fillets and fish-taco fixings for your dinner table.

MAKE YOUR MARK

The Pipe will become a favorite fishing spot for you. Mark it on your meter with a waypoint and return at ease. I have marks all the way out to the tip and at both ends of the Y, and I don’t mind sharing them.

This mark is just a tad on the south side, so you should cross over the Pipe when headed south to the spot: N32 32 256, W117 10 767.

That should get you started, and remember that the Pipe is in about 80 to 90 feet of water for the most part, so even though it sticks up off the bottom 10 to 20 feet, it doesn’t look that big on the 120-foot scale your meter will most likely be on.

BE PATIENT, KEEP MOVING

If you see clouds of fish as you pass over, go back upwind and drift over it again. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see fish; many like to hide in the rocks down there. If you don’t get bit at first, move over a bit and try again. There’s over a mile to drift over.

Ocean current plays a big part in whether fish bite. It can be very slow at one moment and then the fishing can go wide open a little bit later. Sometimes the fish at one end aren’t eating like at the other end, so try all over it and mark it as you move.

Once you locate the Pipe and go upwind to drift over it slowly, you can vertically jig your lures or cast and retrieve them. Drifting over the area slowly also shows more detail on your meter and more fish within your rig. Always drift a little beyond the Pipe. Halibut hang off the sides on the sand and sometimes the sand bass will too.

March 1 marks the California rockfish opener for boat anglers and as Charlie Thomas displays with a nice red, the Pipe can be a great place to limit out. (BILL SCHAEFER)

GEAR AND BAIT CHECK

For tackle, I like to use the same gear I use in the kelp, which for me is my Daiwa DXSB swimbait rods, with a Lexa 300 WN reel. At the Pipe I usually use braided line to feel the deep bite better and be able to pull the fish away from the rocks below. You can fish bait here, and any medium saltwater tackle you have will do. A dropper loop setup works well. However, you can score regularly with swimbaits, as well as spoons or small iron. There are a lot of boulders

Don’t forget about saltwater bass. Swimbaits are the ticket to enticing bites from calicos and sandies at the

Pipe. (BILL SCHAEFER)

down there, so don’t be surprised if you lose some lures.

Besides the swimbaits that do very well here, iron jigs and spoons can also be effective. With the swimbaits the hook rides up, so swimming your bait over the rocky bottom leads to less snags on the rocks. Live bait will swim into the rocky cracks to escape predators and cause break-offs. Everything from calicos to rockfish to halibut eat swimbaits.

BE COLOR COORDINATED

I like dark colors here, like various brown baits. Tails can vary with companies and give out different vibrations, so carry a few manufacturers’ baits to experiment. Big Hammer, Reebs Lures, MC Swimbaits, Hellafishy Lures, Reyes Swimbaits and LK Lures are popular.

Generally, I stay with larger 5-, 6-, 7-, or 8-inch models. A big bait/ big fish approach will often produce a great day at the Pipe. CS

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