Today's Lesson: Don't Fish on the Docks

Last time I fished from the docks, I had a great day. I caught a leopard shark and walked home with some serious game fish.

Today I fished the docks at Alamitos Bays, looking to catch a bat ray. I ended up catching 3 Long Beach Police Officers and a warning.

There is nothing like hearing an armed officer say, "Sir! Please put the fishing rod down." like it was some sort of weapon. It was a good thing I wasn't cutting bait or it would have been a much scarier, "Sir! Please put down the knife!"

Once I was "un-armed" they started asking me questions. The first one was easy:

Q: What are you doing today?
A: I am fishing. Are you Fish and Game?

then it started getting complicated,

Q: We are with LBPD. Do you have a boat around here?
A: One on gangway 16B.

Q: So you don't have a boat on this gangway. What are you doing here? Did you see the "NO FISHING" signs?
A:I don't have a boat here. I came to fish by the park, but I saw all the signs, so I moved over to the docks.

Q: So you saw the signs?
A: Yes, and I thought it meant I couldn't fish from the walkways, so I picked a spot where I wouldn't bother anyone.

Q: You said you had a boat here, so why aren't you fishing by it.
A: I wanted to fish this spot by the park.

Q: And the boat is in your name?
A: No, It is in my grandparent's name.

Q: Do they know that you use their boat?
A: Yes, they own is specifically so that the grandkids can use it. It is on 16B do you want me to show you?

At this point they probably think I am lying. So I give them a data dump.

Q: What is the name of the boat?
A: Summer Salt II. She is a 31 ft motor-sailor. Slip 634 I think. It is registered to William and Gertrude Carroll. They are my grandparents.

He takes my ID and scans my record.

As it turns out I am clean. I have no criminal record, warrants or parole, and I start class tomorrow. This all adds up to someone who will take a stern warning to heart, so they let me off easy.

Freak Fish

I was fishing plastics in the river mouth at Seal Beach, and found 3 fish washed up on the sand, each semi-alive.


This is a lizardfish. It is super slimy and prehistoric looking. Some people where trying to convince me that it was a catfish, but I knew better. Catfish (even the saltwater variety) have a fu manchu like this:
The other fish, below, is one that used to annoy me at Newport Dunes. It is a needlefish, although I have never seen one as big as the one washed up on the beach.

The fish probably could not handle the bathwater type temperatures that the powerplant creates as it cools its generators. I put them out of their misery and used them for bait, fishing for sharks or bat rays.