California Piers — Sept. 2018

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#1
California Piers — 9/2018

116 Piers

P = Public = No license required — 88
PR = Private = License required — 7
PA = Public Access = Status unclear, license probably required — 16
FW = Freshwater and license required — 5


Currently closed (Sept. 2018) — 10
8 to be fixed (hopefully)
2 probably permanently closed


San Diego County Piers
P — Imperial Beach Pier
P — The Ferry Landing Pier—Coronado
PA — Coronado Mini Piers — Status unclear
P — Bayside Park Pier (Chula Vista)
P — Pepper Park Pier (National City)
P — Embarcadero Marina Park Pier (San Diego)
P — Shelter Island Pier (San Diego)
P — Ocean Beach Pier (San Diego)
P — Crystal Pier (San Diego)
P — Oceanside Pier
P — Oceanside Small Craft Harbor Fishing Pier
_____________________________________________________________

Orange County Piers
P — San Clemente Municipal Pier
P — Dana Point Harbor Fishing Pier
P — Newport Pier
P — Balboa Pier
P — Huntington Beach Pier
P — Seal Beach Pier — End section closed
_____________________________________________________________

Los Angeles County Piers
P — Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier (Long Beach)
P — Shoreline Aquatic Park Piers (Long Beach)
P — Cabrillo Pier (San Pedro)
P — Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon)
P — Cabrillo Mole (Avalon)
P — Isthmus Pier (Two Harbors) — Recently marked no fishing
P — Redondo Beach Pier
PR — Redondo Sportfishing Pier — Currently closed, no date for reopening
P — Hermosa Beach Pier
P — Manhattan Beach Pier
P — Venice Fishing Pier
P — Santa Monica Municipal Pier
P — Malibu Pier
PR — Paradise Cove Pier (Malibu)
_____________________________________________________________

Ventura and Santa Barbara County Piers
P — Port Hueneme Pier
P — Ventura Pier
P — Stearns Wharf (Santa Barbara)
P — Goleta Pier
P — Gaviota Pier — Closed, (state) no date for reopening
_____________________________________________________________

San Luis Obispo County Piers
P — Pismo Beach Pier — Closed, (City) scheduled to reopen 10/20/18
P — Avila Beach Pier — Closed, (Port District) no date for reopening
P — Port San Luis Pier/Harford Pier (Avila)
P — North T-Pier (Morro Bay)
P — South T-Pier (Morro Bay)
P — Dunes Street/Anchor Park Pier (Morro Bay)
P — Cayucos Pier
P — San Simeon Pier
_____________________________________________________________

Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo County Piers

P — Stillwater Cove (Pebble Beach)
P — Monterey Wharf No. 2
P — Monterey Coast Guard Pier/Jetty
P — Seacliff State Beach Pier (Soquel)
P — Capitola Wharf
P — Santa Cruz Wharf
P — Johnson Pier (Halfmoon Bay/Pillar Point)
P — Pillar Point Pier
P — Pacifica Pier
_____________________________________________________________

San Francisco City & County Piers
P — Fort Point Pier (San Francisco)
P — San Francisco Municipal Pier
P — Pier 7 (San Francisco)
PA — SF Ferry Building Pier (San Francisco) — Currently closed
P — South Beach Harbor Marina Pier (San Francisco)
P — Agua Vista Pier (San Francisco)
P — Heron's Head Park Pier (San Francisco)
P — Candlestick Point Park Piers (San Francisco)
_____________________________________________________________

San Francisco Bay -- South Bay Piers
P — Brisbane Fishing Pier
P — Oyster Point Fishing Pier (So. San Francisco)
P — Robert E. Woolley Peninsula Park Pier (Burlingame)
P — Redwood City Marina Fishing Pier
P — Dumbarton Pier (Fremont)
_____________________________________________________________

San Francisco Bay -- East Bay Piers
P — San Leandro Marina Pier
P — Arrowhead Marsh Pier —Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline
P — Doolittle Pier — Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline
PA — Veterans Court Pier (Alameda) — Status unclear
P — Fruitvale Bridge Pier (Oakland), closed
P — Fruitvale Bridge Pier (Alameda), closed
PR — Fortman Marina Pier (Alameda)
PA — Union Point Park Pier (Oakland) — Status unclear
P — San Antonio Pier (Oakland)
PA — Executive Inn Pier (Oakland) — Status unclear
P — Estuary Park Pier (Oakland)
PA — Alice Street Pier (Oakland) — Status unclear
PA — Middle Harbor Park (Oakland) — Status unclear
P — Port View Park Pier (Oakland)
PA — Shorebird Park Piers (Emeryville) — Status unclear
P — Emeryville Marina Pier
P — Berkeley Pier — Closed, (City), no date for reopening
PA — Vincent Park (Richmond) — Status unclear
P — Ferry Point Pier (Richmond)
_____________________________________________________________

San Francisco Bay — North Bay Piers
P — Point Pinole Pier (Richmond)
PA — Vallejo Pier (waterfront) — Status unclear
P — McNear Beach Fishing Pier (San Rafael)
PR — Marin Rod & Gun Club Pier (San Rafael)
P — Paradise Beach Park Pier (Tiburon)
P — Elephant Rock Pier (Tiburon)
PA — Greenwood Cove (Tiburon) — Status unclear
PA — Shelter Point Pier (Mill Valley) — Status unclear
P — Sausalito Pier — Closed, no date for reopening
P — Fort Baker Pier (Sausalito)
____________________________________________________________

Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte County Piers

P — Miller Park (Nick’s Cove) Pier (Marshall)
PR — Lawson’s Landing Pier (Dillon Beach)
P — Spud Point Marina Pier (Bodega Bay), Closed, no date for reopening
PR — Lucas Wharf (Bodega Bay)
PR — Tides Wharf (Bodega Bay)
P — Point Arena Pier
PA — Noyo Harbor Pier (Fort Bragg) — Status unclear
P — Del Norte Street Pier (Eureka)
PA — Commercial St. Dock (Eureka) — Status unclear
PA — Adorni Pier (Eureka) — Status unclear
P — Citizen’s Dock (Crescent City)
P — “B” Street Pier (Crescent City)
___________________________________________________________

Carquinez Strait — West Delta
P — Eckley Pier (Crockett/Port Costa)
P — Martinez Pier
PA — Benicia Ninth Street Pier — Status unclear
P — City of Benicia Fishing Pier (1st St. Pier)
FW — Pittsburg Pier
FW — Antioch Marina Pier
FW — Antioch Pier
FW — Antioch Bridge Pier (Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline Pier)
FW — Rio Vista Pier







 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#2
Nice list of piers Ken. I’ve fished quite a few; I know you’ve fished them all. Some I have just set foot on but have not fished like Venice, Santa Monica, and Paradise Cove. I guess the little pier in Marina Del Rey is closed and off the list. Never fished the OC (came close to Fishing Newport). Missed a few in Central like: some of the Morro area, Ventura, Port Hueneme, Cayucos, and came to the door of San Simeon but they were closed. A couple near the San Diego Border like: Imperial Beach, Coronado, Chula Vista and a couple near the Oregon: Border (Citizen’s Dock, B Street, Del Norte). And Stillwater Cove in Monterey.
 
Last edited:

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#3
A lot of piers, some good and some not so good. We (1) need to have DF&W define which piers are public pers (no license needed) and (2) hope to see the piers that are closed be rebuilt, fixed or whatever it takes to be reopened.
 
#4
Hi Ken, thanks for the great list! Just wanted to let you know that Agua Vista pier in San Francisco was recently closed (sign says it's unsafe). I contacted the mission bay parks office about when it might be repaired and re-opened, but they didn't have an estimate :/
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#6
Fished Agua Vista with Rich a dozen times or so. It was the closest pier to where he was living on Potrero Hill when he lived in the City.
Mostly bat rays, brown smoothhounds, perch, and small rockfish. When the herring run is on at McCovey Cove, sometimes it trickles down to Agua Vista. And I remember about 4 or 5 years ago, someone mentioned they caught some lizardfish there when they were pushing their way north.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#7
I caught several kinds of perch there along with some fairly unusual fish, or at least I thought so at the time, striped kelpfish and yellowfin goby, the latter which I think is fairly common today. Actually had some pretty decent trips there.
 

mav

Well-Known Member
#8
PA — Coronado Mini Piers — Status unclear
I know the fairy landing is public. I was always told that the other non navy piers in Coronado were off limits to fishermen BUT you can fish the shore next to them. The Navy piers across the bay from Shelter Island require a fishing license. Some Navy piers you can’t fish but, same deal, you can fish next to them along the shore as long as you don’t do any damage to any government property.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#9
Mav, There is (or at least was) an actual Navy Air Station Coronado recreational pier but access to it is limited since it is on the base. I've always wanted to fish it.

December 28, 1998
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Dave McD
Subject: looking for smelt...found the Mac's!


I gave my partner Jarrod (my 13 year old nephew) a new pole for our saltwater trips for Christmas, so naturally we had to go test it....We tried Shelter Island for 2 hours Saturday morning... nuthin... I had the umbrella net and tried it for the first time while there to try and get some smelt and head for the jetty.... nuthin... tried the Shelter Island boat ramp docks.... nuthin... by now it was 9:30 AM so we decided to go get an Egg McMuffin and head for NAS North Island (Navy Base, I'm active duty so just drive right in) and see if we could find some smelt there, so off we go...We can see some baitfish hovering about 20 feet out from the fishing pier, tried to chum 'em in... nuthin... Saw some Mackerels cruise thru the baitfish chowing down, hmmm.... Well, Jarrod and I look at each other and did the mutual mind link... Bait up and toss in! We started about 10:30 AM and fished till 1:00 PM, this was Saturday, 26 Dec, and we used to put our fish in a basket and keep 'em in the water so they stay alive and fresh, but my basket bent then broke, Too heavy!!! So we head home and count out our Mack's... 44!!! not bad for a day we figured we were gonna get skunked and were gonna settle for catching some bait. Dave & Jarrod

P.S. we went back the next day and took my 3 year old daughter with us, got there at 10:30 AM, Mack's started biting about 11:30 AM (tides?!?!?!???) and we caught 24 mack's and 4 smelt by 2:00 PM, fish were still there, but we had to go. My little girl got the smelts and that made my day that she was able to catch some too, since I've had to leave her home when we go real early and it's cold, and she really likes to go.

Date: August 23, 1999
To: PFIC Message Board
From: Dave McD
Subject: NAS North Island fishing pier


Took my four-year-old daughter to NAS North Island fishing pier on saturday, 21 Aug 99. Fished about 10 AM till noon. I put on a Piscator Rig, size 12, and let her jig straight up and down, she caught 5 Queenfish and 1 lizardfish. I tried cut anchovies and squid on the bottom and got skunked. Some people were jigging for and catching quite a few Queenfish, others seemed to be catching a few mackerels on various cut baits, but they said most mackerels were caught earlier in the morning. I saw one small guitarfish brought in, and a couple people were catching small smelt for bait. One guy using tiny doughballs near the surface was bringing in plenty of small smelt for halibut bait. Tight lines all, Dave & Shantae

Date: October 23, 2010
To: PFIC Message Board
From: pinfish
Subject: North Island NAS pier


Fished here two days ago in the afternoon. My father is Navy Retired. It was partly cloudy after some days of rain. Incoming tide. Had the pier to myself. Didn't have bait. Bounced the Sabiki for hundreds of lizardfish. Tipped some hooks with grubs to get a small calico bass. Used the lizardfish on a high-lo as live bait. Lost most on fast grabs. I guess I'm not used to the timing on these hits. haha. Lost a runaway grab and instantly popped off at the mainline -- I think this was probably a shark as the mainline rubbed the skin. No bites on cut up lizardfish.

A Navy SEAL team on inflatable rafts sped by. I gave them the shaka sign even though I'm not Hawaiian. They replied in kind. Looked like Obama was arriving or something I was only using 15# and travel rods. Saw some boils and threw out the Fish Traps. Then noticed it was all just lizardfish launching out of the water after the anchovies. The lizardfish were even hitting my 5-inch fluke on a drop shot. Later some guys show up. One of them set out lobster traps. I left at 8pm. Continuous helicopters was shell-shocking.
NAS_Pier_Coronado_4_2010.jpg
NAS_Pier_Coronado_1_2010.jpg
NAS_Pier_Coronado_2_2010.jpg
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#10
Mav, The Coronado Mini Piers are those located just down the shore from the Ferry landing Pier. The San Diego group used to fish there quite a bit — with good success. I'm confident that a license would be required.

Near_Ferry.Landing_2010_Pier_5.2.jpg
Near_Ferry.Landing_2010_Pier_7.2.jpg
Group_Coronado.Mini.Piers_2002_4.21.jpg
Variety_C.Mini_2003_7.2_Don_Pes.jpg
 

mav

Well-Known Member
#11
Man, I grew up fishing those old navy piers at North Island. I fished the hell out of them before I lost access. One was The Julian, that was closed to fishing and I think it’s no longer there. The next was Miss Noris. I lost my first bonito there with #8 mono, 5/8 kroc, and a spincast rod/reel combo. That pier just got old and fell apart. Then you had the “Skinny Pier”with lots of bass. Everybody use to just call it that. That’s where me and my older bro CNRd our puffer fishes. Then, there was the no name auxiliary pier that you have pictures of. A barge was once put in but most of my catch was on the pier. I notice the railings on the concrete block. People back then knew not to get too close to the edge and fall in the water. At one time ther was a hot dog cart that would show up. All the Navy piers needed fishing licenses.

Oh the mini piers.. I always called them expansion nubs. My older bro use to live bait fish for corvina there when most people didn’t know about corvina. Yea I always assumed you needed a license to fish there.

The piers I’m talking about are further down. You can’t fish on them but you can fish them like structures. Bait fish hang around the sides and the corvina eat them. So you’d work your lure along the side.