First Trip To The Wall

Sometime last year I told myself that I wanted to not only do more hunting and fishing but that I wanted to start the new year with a sort of ceremonial hunt. With that in mind I decided to go fishing on new year’s morning. I picked the Alameda Rockwall as my hunting ground for the day. I had heard about this spot for years but I’d never fished there before so it gave me the opportunity to explore a new fishing spot.

I spent little over a week preparing for my trip. I got all my equipment ready from my rods to my bait. I went to a new tackle shop in Castro Valley because the one that I normally go to has been closed since March and has no signs of opening back up. I even did a bit of scouting to see what setup would be most effective. I had been told that the wall was a good spot for halibut, striped bass and leopard sharks but I knew that there were other species available as well. I was quite optimistic about my chances.

On new year’s morning I arrived at the rockwall at 6am. It was too dark to head out so I sat in my car for about 40 minutes while I waited for the sun to come up. When I could see clearly I began making my way down the wall. It was a cool morning but with no wind. The water was calm and I was the only person out there at the moment. I had a feeling that it was going to be a great day.

I worked my way down the wall to get to the spots that I had scouted the week before. I was fishing 2 different setups, one for smaller fish like flounder and sea perch and one for larger fish like stripers and halibut. I began fishing around 7:15am and hoped for the best.

I was using a combination of squid, anchovies and shrimp for bait. I got a bite early on. It was a heavy fish but I couldn’t get an idea of what it was by the way it was fighting. Whatever that fish was I knew it was big. After 5 minutes of fighting the fish I heard the sound no angler wants to hear: Shwack!!! The fish had broken the line. It was a heartbreaking moment for me. I fished as hard as I could for the rest of the morning but I was unable to get another bite. The wall started to get crowded around 10pm and since there isn’t much space to begin with, I decided that I would fish for one more hour then leave. Didn’t get anymore bites so I decided to call it a day. But before I went home, I decided to treat myself to some lunch. I went to this restaurant just a couple hundred yards from the wall.

Despite not catching any fish, I had a good time at the wall. It had been months since I last went fishing and it was nice to just get out there. I think I’ll wait till later in the year when the water warms up to fish the wall again. I think I might wait until spring when the fish are actively feeding or go out during one of those warm, summer nights when the fish are close to shore because of the high tide. Maybe I’ll take my kayak out there once it’s ready to go. One way or another I will be returning to the wall at some point this year.

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