Balboa Pier

Date: May 29, 2007; To: PFIC Message Board; From: dompha ben; Subject: Jumbo Squid Invasion at Balboa! (pictures)

Around 3:30, we… drove around to Balboa Pier. When we arrived, there were only a few families at the end, enjoying a wide-open mackerel bite. I split-shotted a small piece of mackerel and kept a few of the cannibals for bait. Almost all were released; those that didn’t look like they would make it (eye injuries, etc.) were given away to folks.

As the afternoon turned to evening, more and more people showed up at the end of the pier. By the time the sun was setting, it was shoulder to shoulder, with people wrapping all the way around Ruby’s.

As dusk fell, I saw the first squid cruise under the lights. At first, I thought it was a baby seal, but I noted the erratic pulsing movement, and realized what it was. Soon, there were hundreds of the huge critters flashing in the water. Bryan and I tossed out squid jigs, and immediately hooked up. Everyone on the end of the pier was bendo…it was incredible! I haven’t seen that much excitement on a pier for a long time.

DOMPFA Ben with a jumbo squid caught from Balboa Pier — Don’t forget to bring a landing net for reference, I’m 6’3″

Calstar Bryan poses with an angry squid at Balboa Pier

If you do catch a big squid, stay clear of the tentacles and the sharp beak. They can do damage to your flesh, and give you a painful experience!

After a solid 40 minutes of wide-open squidding, they seemed to vanish just as quickly as they had arrived. I didn’t keep any of the beasts, as I have a few slabs of calamari in my freezer from a squid my brother Dan gave me a few weeks ago. Instead, the squid we caught are going home with some of the nice families with whom we fished tonight, including a couple of people that didn’t manage to land any squid of their own. I don’t like to give away my catch as a rule, but in the case of squid, which don’t release well, I didn’t mind.

All told, the pier probably landed around 50 squid by 9:15, with over 100 lost due to light line, pulled jigs, inexperience, and unpreparedness. I had one of only three nets at the end of the pier, and it was being passed around like community property… I didn’t mind, actually, and stopped catching squid for a while so I could help people net theirs.

My hoop net was in high demand tonight…Did I mention…BRING A NET!

Everyone was appreciative, and no one fought, complained, or acted too greedy. I can see why people think Balboa is the “friendliest” pier in SoCal.

Word has it the last few nights have had similar showings of the big squid at Huntington, Newport, Balboa, Oceanside, and Dana Point. Don’t forget a landing net… these squid are BIG. By the way, I’m not blowing up the spot. It’s already blown up, and the number of people using cell phones to call in their buddies tonight was almost comical. As we walked down the pier leaving, there were hoards of people coming in with coolers and buckets. I hope the squid came back to give them a repeat performance…because they were gone when we left. Happy hunting…

Posted by Calstar Bryan

Hi Everybody- Thanks for all the kind responses. The squid were (no pun intended) a blast to catch. As for rod and reel combos, I was using an 8ft. jig stick coupled with a Daiwa Sealine 30 tossing 30lb. test and they were still ripping drag and putting tons of bend-o in the rod.

Ben seemed to take top honors in “Fight of the Night” fishing an Abu 6500 on an 8ft. 15lb. rod with 50lb. Power Pro. I can’t tell you how jealous sick I was watching him fight those freight trains on that light gear.

As for jigs, Ben was rigged pretty traditional for squirts, working a plastic squid jig 12 inches above a four-ounce torpedo sinker. I threw a painted glow-in-the-dark torpedo sinker with squid hooks and that seemed to work well too. Anglers fishing neon glow sticks (green or purple) were hooking up pretty consistently. Unfortunately, as Ben mentioned, some squid unbuttoned due to pulling the jig, inexperience and/or too light of line. It was kinda’ entertaining though seeing some of the broken-off glow sticks breeze through the water then disappear into the depths.

I’ve never seen such excitement on a pier in all my life. People were cheering and high-fiving while others patiently played out the big cephalopods waiting for a landing net to be lowered. Complete strangers encouraged their fellow anglers on throughout their fights as fresh ones were being hooked up around the entire end of the pier. Oh to be a patron of Ruby’s, witnessing all this from a booth, must have amazing. The experience was truly awesome. If my brother reads this…Brady sorry I inked up your jeans.

The following spoof generating quite a bit of comment!

Pier Collapse Prompts Investigation

by B. Russell Acker, Staff Writer, May 31, 2007

NEWPORT BEACH– In what is being called a freak accident, the Balboa Pier collapsed under the incredible weight of a large crowd of fishermen, and plunged into the roiling surf, late Wednesday night. While no one was killed in the incident, scores were hurt, and hundreds have already filed claims against the city for their injuries and loss of fishing gear.

Nick Tripodes, a local merchant, witnessed the ordeal.

“I heard a loud snap, followed by screams and a tremendous splash,” recounts Tripodes. “You could hear all those people swimming for shore in the dark. It was awful.”

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Raymond Devonian cites eyewitness accounts that suggest the pier collapse was caused by giant cephalopods.

“When the giant squid come in, the pier loads up with [anglers],” stated Devonian. An avid angler himself, Devonian empathized with the calamari-crazed fishermen. Still, he encourages anglers to be safe.

“It’s just not designed to support that many people,” Devonian said about the pier, now little more than a concrete and wood jetty jutting out from the shoreline at a right angle. “What we’re going to do with the tons of squid jigs that are washing up on the beach I really have no idea,” said Devonian.

Initial reports from the Army Corps of Engineers suggest that over 17,000 people were on the pier Wednesday night at the time of collapse.

“That’s astronomical,” said Ken Jones, author of Pier Fishing in California. “It’s not the kind of thing we [pier anglers] take lightly. When this sort of thing takes place, there’s really only one question: Where’s the tartar sauce?”

Jones’ comments were merited by how rare it is for the tasty cephalopods to swim en masse this close to a pier.

It is unclear at this time if last winter’s cold weather spared enough of California’s lemon crop to meet the demand of calamari anglers. “Let’s just hope the price of lemons makes these eight squid I caught last night worth it,” stated one soaked angler. He did not wish to be identified, but added, “Balboa is still the friendliest pier in California. I’ll be back.”

Several organizations are calling for a probe into Wednesday’s catastrophe. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) exercised his executive powers early Thursday morning, declaring a state of emergency, which makes many anglers eligible to apply for federal aid to replace lost fishing gear.

At a press conference, Schwarzenegger’s comments were short, but hit a sour note among California’s pier anglers.

“You are mine now! You belong to me!” exclaimed Schwarzenegger. It was not clear if Schwarzenegger was speaking about the Balboa pier collapse, or if he was simply quoting lines from the 1990 film, Kindergarten Cop.

What is clear is that the Governor has called for the immediate closure of all piers in the state, until such time as they can be inspected and deemed safe.

When asked when the piers might be reopened, Schwarzenegger only stated, “You forgot the second rule in a crisis situation…”

He did not comment further, leaving many pier anglers and residents of the quiet Newport Beach community to wonder about their beloved pier.

Another run of Humboldt Squid occurred in 2011.

Mahigeer (Hashem Nahid) and a jumbo squid

<*}}}}}}}}}>< — During the 1930s and its big band era, the Balboa Pavilion became a favorite stopping spot for bands such as the Benny Goodman orchestra, Count Basie, The Dorsey Brothers, and Phil Harris. It also saw its share of marathon dances during that crazy period. One dance step called the “Balboa,” the “Balboa Hop,” or the “Balboa Shuffle,” originated at the pavilion and apparently swept across the country for a short period of time.

<*}}}}}}}}}>< — It’s always nice to have a restaurant or snack bar on a pier where you can get a bite to eat without walking off the pier. Ruby’s Diner at the Balboa Pier is special given its status as the first Ruby’s and the fact that it replaced the old bait and tackle shop out at the end of the pier.

CATCHING UP WITH …

NEWPORT BEACH — During Doug Cavanaugh’s 18 years as a Balboa Island resident, he spent a lot of his time exploring the area. He frequented the beach and took long runs along the shoreline. Little did he know that his love affair with a dilapidated, abandoned structure at the end of the Balboa Pier in 1980 would later house the first diner in the Southland phenomenon known as Ruby’s Diner.

At 26 years old, Cavanaugh convinced longtime high school friend Ralph Kosmides to venture into a new dining experience that focused on good food at low prices in a 1940s setting. In 1982, Cavanaugh convinced the city of Newport Beach to allow him to build a diner from the existing 1940s bait shop. The terribly neglected facility had been vacant since 1977.

Costs associated with the building’s rehabilitation would leave Cavanaugh and Kosmides penniless. Prior to the diner’s grand opening, the two business partners nervously wondered if they had made a mistake. The smiles from curious passersby would later ease their minds. “It was the first indication that we had a success on our hands,” said Cavanaugh, now the president of Ruby’s. “People were looking for a simpler time.”

And they found it in Ruby’s, Cavanaugh said. Cavanaugh named the diner after his mom, Ruby Cavanaugh. Ruby, who lives in Tustin, resisted when Cavanaugh first told her he would be naming the diner after her. Ruby’s love of the 1940s era was the inspiration for the restaurant. She gradually became comfortable with the idea. “She really likes seeing her name in lights,” Cavanaugh said. He said his mom never hesitates to sign a place mat in crayon for a child. The black-haired woman adorning the menus is a carbon copy of a youthful Ruby.

Today, there are more than 30 Ruby’s restaurants nationwide. Diners can also find a RubyBurger in Terminal Six at Los Angeles International Airport or Terminal D at the airport in Las Vegas. Changes coming in 2000 include new breakfast and dinner items.

Ruby’s will be temporarily closed for three weeks starting in November while the city replaces some of the wood pilings holding up the pier. Many of those pilings went up in 1940 after storms in the late 1930s destroyed the original Balboa Pier.

When Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce president Richard Luehrs joined the chamber in 1982, he said one of his first duties was to welcome the new business team of Cavanaugh and Kosmides. “I have watched them grow up over the years,” said Luehrs. “And I have had more than my fair share of RubyBurgers.” Luehrs said the management at Ruby’s has been very proactive and supportive of the Newport Beach community. Cavanaugh said the secret to success for Ruby’s is the food. “Why do people go out to dinner?,” Cavanaugh said. “They go to get a good meal.” Cavanaugh said a lot of restaurants go out of business because they rely too heavily on environment and entertainment. Both are important qualities, Cavanaugh acknowledged, but if the restaurant is not focused on food and service, it won’t make it.

The Newport Center-based company plans to open several more Ruby’s locations nationwide in the future. And what is Ruby’s favorite item at Ruby’s? “Just a good old-fashioned RubyBurger,” Cavanaugh said.