Pier Fishing in California - Page 24 of 29 - The Complete Coast and Bay Guide to Shore-Based Fishing

Gaviota Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Closed since 2014 — Awaiting repair and/or reconstruction. A prime example (perhaps the perfect example) of government inefficiency, in this case the California State Parks Department. For years there have been promises of repair and reopening but as…

Berkeley Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The Berkeley Pier is closed for renovation and no one seems to know when or if it will be reopened. If a survey had been done over the past twenty-five years as to the most visited pier in…

San Simeon Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required In 1542 Rodriguez Cabrillo, the Portuguese navigator sailed northward from Mexico to explore the coast of California. After visiting the bay of San Luis Obispo (that he called the Bay of Todos Santos, or All-Saints Bay) he visited…

McNears Beach Fishing Pier — San Rafael

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required I was fishing on the pier one mid-August day (with no luck) when a lady came up and asked how the fishing was. I said I hadn’t had a bite. She was attractive and wearing a dress that…

Ocean Beach Pier — San Diego

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Due to damage to the pier during the ’23-’24 winters the pier is currently closed. It will not open until at least the summer of 2024. However, given the pier’s age, and structural damage, San Diego has approved…

Embarcadero Marina Park Pier — San Diego

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Almost every pier in the state has a special memory for me. Some of the memories are of social gatherings, some are of great days fishing, and a couple are because of specific fish I caught at the…

Trinidad Pier aka Seascape Pier — Trinidad

Private Pier — Fishing License Required My first visit to the Trinidad Pier was in August of 1976 and I was immediately struck by two thoughts. The first concerned the beautiful surroundings, both the harbor area itself and the view looking down the coast. The…

Pismo Beach Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required This pier, together with the other piers along this stretch of coast, provides both recreational fishing and a relief from the summer heat for those who travel over from the hot Central Valley. In fact, the summertime influx…

White Croaker

Croakers: Family Sciaenidae Species: Genyonemus lineatus (Ayres, 1855); from the Greek words genys (lower jaw) and nema (barbel) and the Latin word lineatus (striped). Alternate Names: Tomcod (southern California), roncador (Ventura and Santa Barbara area), kingfish (central and northern California), sewer trout, tommy croaker, tommy and…

Striped Bass

Striped Bass from the Fort Point Pier Temperate Sea Basses: Family Percichthyidae Species: Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792); from Morone (a word of unknown origin attributed to Samuel Latham Mitchell who named it in 1814) and the Latin saxatilis (to live among rocks). CA Fish Bulletin…