Hello, Our dad was an avid fisherman. He grew up fishing all over San Pedro, Terminal Island and when he could, Long Beach Harbor jetties. As we grew up, we went with him to his early morning shore fishing trips. Most of those ended up with us playing in the water and sandy shores. There were a few trips our mom went along, too. He fished, she stayed under the umbrella and my brother/I played in the sand and water lapping up the shoreline. So, what did he do to make a different experience? He had already gone to Lake Crowley for trout fishing and one year, came home with the largest trout caught on opening day. His trophy made our drag racing trophy pale in size and comparison. So, for the local waters, he bought a 5 hp green, Mercury Outboard motor from this boat dealer in Sunset Beach, just south of Seal Beach, CA on PCH. Note: Our dad went to the boat shop next to the old blue building so he could look at several small outboard motor powered skiffs. He wanted to try fishing inside of the jetties as he did like surf fishing just up the beach in Huntington Beach. He also knew several of his friends that said the fishing under the overhead PCH bridge leading from Seal Beach to Surfside was a good place to fish. But parking was not available due to government property. So, the only way to get access to the fish was by boat. Note 2: My brother and I were laughing at the idea that our dad would launch the boat and cruise around fishing from the inland water ways. We laughed because that boat shop was named Cruzon for cruising. No, he did not buy a small boat. We did rent a small skiff and our motor powered us under the bridge and throughout the swampy inland side of PCH for a day’s worth of fishing. Although we always saw his Mercury Outboard sitting in its cradle in our Westside of Long Beach, hot rod building backyard garage. It was in “his” corner… We did borrow his monofilament excess line wound on a giant, wooden, crank reel to store the old lines for making leaders, etc. Jnaki But, we borrowed his giant line reel for our kite contests that happened every year in Dana Point. Up the dirt road from PCH and to the top of the hill/mound, which today is a giant high school. It was the annual kite contest for distance, fighting kites and styling kites. The West winds made all kites instantly go up. The breeze was strong enough to have a distance contest, heading East. YRMV My brother and I made several giant kites that we had to assemble there due to the size and not fitting in a van, sedan delivery or Impala. The monofilament lines wrapped on the reel fed the tall kites for height and distance. The size of the 7 foot tall kites looked like a peanut when we won the distance and back contest. Yes! ... Somewhere close to the freeway in San Juan Capistrano... YIKES! Surfside/Sunset Beach inner harbor bay The launch ramp to the inner waters on PCH. This famous house is just across PCH from the old boat shop and a classic surf shop called Kanvas by Katin. (The maker of the original surf trunks) Seal Beach and Belmont Shore are in the far horizon of the PCH photo. The old Sam's Seafood Restaurant is directly across the street from this water tower home.
The Jalopy Journal
