California Pier Report
May 2025 Fishing Report, Southern California (#301)
Southern California Lobster — Lobster season is now closed! No hooping and no keeping lobsters caught on rod and reel.
San Diego County Piers
Imperial Beach Pier – Fish are biting with a nice mix showing up on the pier. Some corbina, including a couple of nice-sized ones, have hit inshore while a few croakers are also making an appearance. Mackerel are thick some days but slow others while nighttime hours seem to see better fishing, at least at times. A few shortfin corvina have also been taken and surprising they were caught out at the end which is a little different than expected. A mix of sharks and rays have also ben taken including some decent-sized bat rays and a few threshers (youngsters as usual). Mix in some baby cabezon (along with a 15-inch cabbie), some scorpionfish, and the usual small sharays (thornbacks, round stingray, smoothhounds, leopard sharks, etc., and you have a decent variety of fish. Oh, and a few octopus have also been taken. No reports of bonito to date. On 6/30 we got a report from ghost1234 that said, “Bite picked up, saw the surf more active, some spotfin, corbina, perch. Lizardfish still present very thick, no mackerel this day I saw of, some smelt a lot of queenfish/white croakers if you picked through the lizard fish. Beautiful weather but the wind came inshore fairly early and stayed strong. Clean water with the low low tide in the AM to a rising tide. also glanced by blacks beach afterwards and saw spotfin caught, few corbina also on sand crabs, some fly fisherman. I’m looking for the mackerel bite to load up on some fresh bait as the bait we slide in IB gets eaten up by the lizardfish after a while.”
The big question here continues to be water quality and if it’s even safe to eat the fish (and most aren’t). [Imperial Beach waters were reopened in September ’24 after being closed to swimmers for 1,018 days; a closure caused by sewage flowing into the ocean from the nearby Tijuana River. Apparently readings are improved but still not good.] How To Get There: From I-5 take the Palm Ave. (Hwy. 75) exit and follow it to where Palm Ave. and Hwy. 75 divide. Follow Palm Ave. to Seacoast Dr., turn left and it will take you right to the pier.
Ocean Beach Pier — The bad news is that the pier is closed. The good news is that the pier, one almost annually damaged by winter storms during the past few years, will eventually be replaced with a new improved pier, one better able to withstand the winter storms (and hopefully last for 75 years). How To Get There: From the north, take I-5 to the Sea World Dr. exit and follow it until it turns off to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. From the south, take I- 5 to the Nimitz Blvd. exit, then follow that road to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Follow Sunset Cliffs Blvd. to Newport Ave., turn right and follow the road to the pier parking lot.
Crystal Pier – The pier finally reopened on July 6 after more than $2 million in repairs. It shouldn’t have taken that long in my opinion but what do I know. As for the fishing expect to catch corbina inshore, surfperch and croakers inshore to mid-pier, sharays (thornbacks, round stingrays, leopard sharks, and bat rays) throughout the pier, and possible pelagics—sardines and mackerel mid-pier to the end. How To get There: Take I-5 to Garnet Ave. then take Garnet west to the foot of the pier.
Pepper Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter! Traditionally some kelp bass on the bottom should be available. How To Get There: From I-5 take the 24th Street off-ramp west to Tidelands Avenue and go left (south) on Tidelands to the end.
Bayside Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From I-5 take the J Street off ramp and go west. Take J Street to Tidelands Ave.; turn right. Take Tidelands to Sandpiper Way; turn right. Take Sandpiper to Bayside Parkway, turn left and follow the road to the park.
Embarcadero Marina Pier — We need a reporter. Expect some bass, croaker and sharays (sharks and rays) on the bottom as well as halibut (most caught on soft plastic lures). And, it sounds like a few mackerel are also hitting. The last report was a report from ghost1234 on 5/6 that said, “Got back from work and headed out at 4am to embarcadero to catch some mackerel. Only two people there when I showed up, bait in water boiling from school of baby barracudas chasing them around some decent size mixed in couldn't get them to bite only chase. Caught 7 mackerel on mackerel for bait on the same float setup. Overall slower day, not much sunshine gave up around 7:40ish.” How To Get There: From the I-5 south, take the Front Street exit south to Market (just stay on Front Street, it runs into Market), take Market west to Harbor Dr. Turn left on Harbor Dr. and take it to 8th Ave., turn right onto Convention Way (formerly Harbor St.). Follow it a short block to 5th Ave. and the pier. It seems that with the new Convention Center the city is constantly working on these streets near the pier and renaming them; if you get confused remember that the park and pier are immediately to the southwest of the Convention Center. From I-5 North, approaching from the south, take the J Street exit, then go straight, three blocks up to Market, turn left and take it from there.
Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado) — Locals are reporting a mix of bottom fish—halibut (including legal size fish), bass (all three varieties) and a variety of sharays—shovelnose guitarfish, butterfly rays, round stingrays, bat rays and smoothhounds. At night add in some shortfin corvina and barracuda. On June 22 a 42-inch halibut was reported caught at the pier by Jay. How To Get There: From San Diego, take the Coronado Bay Bridge (Highway 75) to Coronado. Once over the bridge you are on Third Street. Simply follow it to B Avenue, turn right, and follow it to the front of The Old Ferry Landing — the intersection of First Street and B Avenue. The pier sits behind the shops in the complex.
Shelter Island Pier — A report from Ghost on 6/1 said, “Stopped by Shelter Island around 7pm looking for mackerel to catch for bait. Saw fellow OB fisherman Jose there fishing, he showed me his past catches the weeks, BSB, soupfin, leopard, bat rays, some halibuts were caught; few legal in past week. Lots of people fishing for halibut, a local group was 6-7 deep fishing for halibut. I left around 9 pm saw maybe 3-4 mackerel caught but too slow for me so I left. It was a windy and cold night” On 6/29 I received a report that said people using anchovies were getting a mix of mackerel and bass when fishing the evening hours. How To Get There: Take I-5 or I-8 to Rosecrans (Hwy. 209) and go west, turn left at Shelter Island Dr. and follow the road until you see the pier and the entrance to the parking lot.
Oceanside Pier — Bill Litchfield said although the fishing isn’t super hot there’s a lot of variety and overall good fishing. Inshore in the shallows some corbina are being picked up while just a tad bit further out, just past the surf line, yellowfin and sportfin croakers as well as a few barred surfperch are being taken. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much size to the spotfins most being in the 1-3 pound range. The best bait for the perch and croaker has been mussels and worm. Unfortunately with the end still closed (and strangely no one working on it) much of the pier seems really crowded on weekends and even some weekdays. This is made worst by the sharkers who normally fish out at the end but who are now parking themselves just in from the fence that blocs off the end. A few halibut are being taken, mostly shorts, and mostly on live bait, while some undersized bass and even a couple of juvenile, undersized white seabass have also been taken. As seen in most years there are schools of herring (queenfish), salema and walleye surfperch under the pier in the shadows and locals with the know how get all they want. As for the mackerel, they are in and out, good some days and slow others with nighttime being the best time. Bill said a lot of bonito are being caught on the boats, some BIG bonito, and all the locals are hoping for them to move into the pier’s waters. Lastly, he said there are a ton of stingrays being seen in the inshore waters and says he wouldn’t even wade out into the water at this time there are so many. On June 27 we received a report from SC McCarty that said, “A friend who lives in Oceanside tried walking the pier yesterday, but found it very crowded between tourists and shoulder to shoulder fishermen, catching what I am guessing were good sized spotfin croaker. She's a member of the forum, but too shy to post herself.” How To Get There: From I-5 take Mission Blvd. west to Pacific, turn left and follow it to the pier.
Oceanside Harbor Pier — The harbor waters seem to have cleared up but fishing is just so so. Some jacksmelt, an occasional bass, croaker, sargo and maybe, if really lucky, a halibut. No reports of mackerel. How To Get There: From I-5 take the Harbor Dr. exit off the freeway, follow it and it will wind down to the harbor; where the road splits stay to the right on North Harbor Dr., and follow it to the pier.
Orange County Piers
San Clemente Pier —Jimmy at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy.), said the main reports he is getting is on spotfin croaker and barred surfperch inshore while mid-pier to the end in seeing increased numbers of mackerel. He said he hasn’t heard of many sharks and rays although some are being caught by surf casters. How to Get There: From I-5 take any of several exit streets west to El Camino Real, follow it to the center of town, and from there take Del Mar down to the pier.
Dana Harbor Pier —Jimmy at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. said the harbor continues to offer good spotted bass action and some small barracuda (with nighttime action on the barracuda probably being better). We got a report from Fishman Fishman on 7/3 that said, “I arrived early morning to fish the Dana Point Jetty. Found the jetty closed to fishing, until Saturday July 5th, due to high surf conditions. Moved over to DP Harbor Pier. Fished mussel and anchovy for a few hours without any bites. While I was fishing, another fisherman arrived with eight fishing rods/reels. He began fishing with four active lines in the water. One rod rigged with a Sabiki and hooks tipped with raw beef. A second rod rigged with a Sabiki and hooks tipped with shrimp. The two remaining rods were each set up with dropper rigs baited with cut pieces of Ahi tuna. He definitely put a new meaning to "Surf and Turf"! He didn't catch any fish with the meat or tuna while I was there. He did catch a smelt with the shrimp and transferred the live bait to a dropper rig setup. I decided to leave after fishing for about 2 1/2 hours without any bites. The fisherman quickly moved into my vacated spot and setup his remaining four rods. He mentioned that a buddy of his, recently caught a 26-inch Halibut on frozen anchovy, in the corner I had left. I contacted DFW (888) 334-2258 and reported the multiple fishing rod violation. Dispatcher said a Warden would be notified.” To Get There: The pier is located in the Dana Cove Park area of Dana Point Harbor. From the Pacific Coast Highway take Green Lantern Road south to the harbor, turn left on Cove Road, and follow it to the pier.
Balboa Pier —Our reporter Snookie said, “Fishing is getting back to almost normal at last. However, there is a bacteria in the water now that questions eating the catch again. I have noticed the mackerel catch is improving a lot lately. The day I caught all the halibut and the keepers [nine in one day] there were lots of smelt again. We have had lots of Lizardfish for bait and a few herring (Queenfish). Even saw two Mexican Blacksmiths last week. They aren't good for bait, but they are pretty. We have had a few big shovelnose guitarfish this last week. Those were caught on small walleyed perch. There have been a few thornbacks also. We give a lot of lessons about them as most people think they are dangerous. We have been missing sardines and yesterday two were caught. They were big sardines. The weather has been okay and the water okay. We'll see what those storms off Baja bring us.” We also had several reports from the pier during the month. On June 10, Bendopolo reported “checked on Snookie and Crew on Balboa Pier this morning. The water was beautiful, clear and 66 degrees. The Halibut are around and the Bait of Choice were the 5-inch Lizardfish, which were thick around the Pier. Second choice was harder to come by, Shiner Perch. Out on the end of the Pier, schools of Mackerel came around and the Sabikis would load up 3-6 at a time. Plenty of room here to fish. Beautiful Day in Paradise.” On June 19 Sky tuna reported, “Fished Balboa yesterday from 1-8pm. Beautiful day and busy but not overly crowded. Mackerel were in low numbers but you could get one every 10 minutes if you were persistent. Bait was scarce, 99% being lizardfish. Managed 1 keeper halibut (24”), 1 short, and lost what felt like another very good halibut. Tried fishing croaker with mussel for 5 minutes at the base of the pier and managed to get a nice 13” croaker. Beautiful day out there.” On June 27 Snookie reported, “Yes it was a great day for me as I caught nine halibut and three were keepers. They were 22 1/2 inches, 23 inches and 26 inches. They were all caught on smelt that showed up this morning. I gave David the manager of Ruby's one of them and my brother and his wife one of them. I kept the 26 inches. That is my best day ever.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot (which is very expensive).”
Newport Pier — No report; need a reporter although action typically is about the same as at Balboa. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take the Newport Blvd. turn off and precede west watching for signs directing traffic to the pier. The pier sits at the foot of McFadden Place. Metered parking is available but all the lots fill early and are full much of the day. Basically you almost have to wait until someone else leaves and there’s an empty spot.
Huntington Beach Pier — No report; need a reporter. Given reports from similar piers I would expect surfperch and croakers to still be available inshore while top action (on mackerel and sardines) probably remains hit and miss. How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.” How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.”
Seal Beach Pier — Nan, at Big Fish Bait & Tackle. 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy. said the fishing has picked up with a lot of croaker being caught (both spotfin and yellowfin. He said some of the spotfins are very good-sized fish. A lot of white seabass are also showing up; no details on size. Somm mackerel although they come and go. Quite a few leopard sharks and what sounds like smoothhound sharks. Few bat rays but a lot of stingrays (the beach leads the nation in stings from stingrays). Sounds like typical summertime action. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway simply take Main St. west and follow it to the pier.
Los Angeles County Piers
Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier — Nan, at Big Fish Bait & Tackle. 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy. said the pier is seeing croakers, mackerel and sharays. No reports on halibut but usually it’s a good pier for halibut in the summertime. We got a report on June 13 from Brock Norris that said, “Wednesday there was plenty of small anchovies at the pier for those netting them, some mackerel, but not much else. I fished for Halibut, had one raked bait in about two hours, water was clean.” How To Get There: From the north take I-405 to the Lakewood Boulevard turnoff, and then go south to 7th Street, turn west (right) until you come to Ximeno Ave. and then turn left. Follow it to Livingston Dr. and go west. You will see signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier. From the south take the Pacific Coast Highway to 2nd. Street (Westminister becomes 2nd. Street when it crosses PCH), go west, follow to Livingston Dr. Follow it to signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier and parking lot.
Shoreline Aquatic Park Piers (Long Beach) — The normal fish might be available—white croaker casting out from the pier and some sargo and perch when fishing the inshore waters but typically after storms and runoff the waters here are very, very dirty, filled with all kinds of stuff. Expect to pull in some flotsam and jetsom. How to Get There: From downtown Long Beach, take Pine Avenue south to Shoreline Drive. For the northernmost pier #1 follow Shoreline Avenue west and follow it around the lagoon to where the street ends. For the southernmost piers #2-#5 follow Shoreline Drive east to the markings for Shoreline Village, continue past the shopping complex, and follow the road out to near the end of the peninsula. You will see the piers.
Pier J Piers (Long Beach) — The normal fish should be available—white croaker, queenfish, small perch and other rock-frequenting species but again the waters may be filled with a lot of trash. How To Get There: From I-710 follow the signs saying S. Harbor Scenic Drive. From downtown Long Beach follow Queens Way past the Catalina Landing and on to the Queens Way Bridge over the water and take the S. Harbor Scenic Drive.
Cabrillo Beach Pier (San Pedro) — With the closure of the Rusty Hook bait and tackle in San Pedro we now need a new reporter. Hopefully a few croakers, sand bass, perch and an occasional halibut will show up. We did get a report from Longjohnplatinum on June 10 that said, “Caught a small halibut, then hooked on to a bigger halibut but it broke my line, I was using 4lb test.” How To Get There: Take the Harbor Freeway (I-110) south; it will turn into Gaffey St. Follow it to 22nd Street and turn left. Follow 22nd St. to Pacific Ave. and turn right. Follow Pacific Ave. to 36th Street and the entrance to Cabrillo Park.
Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon, Catalina Island) –Expect the usual senorita, garibaldi, sheephead, and rock wrasse while some days will also produce ocean whitefish, mackerel and perhaps even opaleye (which most years were very common). How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon there should be no problem in finding the pier, which is located at the foot of Catalina Avenue.
Cabrillo Mole (Avalon, Catalina Island) — No reports this month but expect the usual—halfmoon, sheephead, kelp bass, garibaldi, blacksmith, and rock wrasse. Mackerel can move in and out anytime while usually a few bonito are available at dawn and sundown. How to Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon when you walk off the ferry onto the landing you are at the Mole.
Redondo Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. Good mackerel action has been reported by some. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway, take Torrance Blvd. west to the foot of the pier and the parking lot.
Manhattan Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. How To Get There: From Sepulveda Boulevard, turn west on Manhattan Beach Drive and follow it to the pier.
Hermosa Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. How To Get There: Take the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to Pier Avenue and follow Pier Avenue west to the pier.
Venice Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter. How Get There: Highway 1 to Washington St., turn west and follow Washington St. to the pier.
Santa Monica Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter. How to Get There: From I-405 take Santa Monica Blvd. west to Ocean Ave. Turn left, go to Colorado Ave., and turn right onto the pier.
Malibu Pier — With the loss of long time reporter Ginny Wylie due to the Palisades fire (which burned down Wylies Bait and Tackle), we are now looking for a new reporter. Any reports from the area would be appreciated. However, I did call the shop at the pier itself and got some information (but no fish report). They said the entire end of the pier is closed to fishing (perhaps due to the store and restaurant?) and they suggested we call the state. Last time I was there I noticed various closures at the end, which of course didn’t make me too happy. How To Get There: The pier fronts on the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) so just drive until you see it.
Paradise Cove Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Paradise Cove Dr., turn west, and follow the road back into the parking lot. Parking is very expensive unless you buy an expensive meal at the restaurant and then you are allowed to fish for, I think, three hours.
Ventura & Santa Barbara County Piers
Port Hueneme Pier — Ludia at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura said the perch fishing remains good and that anglers fishing inshore are also picking up some croaker. There’s some action on sharks and rays but it’s slower than Ventura. She also said she hasn’t heard much on mackerel but is selling a lot of Sabikis (which is usually a good sign).. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take Hueneme Rd. west until it turns into Port. At Ventura Rd turn left and follow it to Surfside Dr. Turn left again and follow it to the park.
Ventura Pier — Ludia at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura reported that the biggest news was a LARGE thresher shark being taken from the pier along with some smaller sharks and rays. She said the action is good on surfperch as well as the fishing for halibut. Good but somewhat slower is the inshore croaker action. Evidently action on the top is somewhat slow, some mackerel but not big numbers. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Seaward Drive exit west to Harbor Drive, turn right and follow it to the pier.
Stearns Wharf (Santa Barbara) — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 2259 Las Positas Road, Santa Barbara, says if you want crabs this is the place to go. There’s almost a guarantee on a limit of red or rock crabs if that’s your goal. Unfortunately catching almost anything else on the bottom is impossible since the crabs grab your bait so quickly (although he did hear of two rubberlip perch being caught). If there were some top water fish hitting that might be ok but the pelagics seem to have moved on; no reports of mackerel or sardine. However 4-5 thresher sharks were reports by shark anglers using large mackerel or salmon heads for bait. He said two soupfin sharks were also caught, one about 5 feet long and the other 6 feet long. But if you want fish he says head over to Goleta. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take Castillo St. or State St. west to the beach and follow signs to the pier.
Goleta Pier — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 2259 Las Positas Road, Santa Barbara, said there’s been a nice mix of fish including 4-5 threshers, the same as at Stearns. He said some sharays have also shown up including angel sharks, shovelnose guitarfish, leopard sharks and the smaller thornbacks. He said jack mackerel showed up about two weeks ago and the schools are still there while Pacific mackerel seem to come and go with most of the action in the afternoon or evening. He said the mackerel are good sized with guys using Sabikis with larger hooks to catch them. As usual, the pipe reef is also producing fish and he mentioned both kelp bass and sand bass with the ratio about 8-1 in favor of the kelpies. Some brown rockfish are also being caught and said some mid-sized cabezon have also been taken by guys using shrimp as bait. Unfortunately he hasn’t heard any reports of halibut being caught. Interesting is a large school of something that is in the bay but they’re too far out to identify. Angers are hoping they are bonito, which showed up about this time last year and are available to boaters. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Hwy. 217/Airport exit. Follow it to Sandspit Rd. and the Goleta Beach Park turnoff. Follow this to the park and the pier.
Gaviota Pier — Still counting the days— Government efficiency seems to be a true oxymoronic word in California. The pier, managed by the State Department of Parks (State Parks), has been closed since a winter storm in 2014 (yes, more than a decade ago). Reports over the years have given hope for repair but funding as well as division and disagreement between various groups including the State Parks and the Coastal Commission, have slowed down the needed repairs. There seems to finally be room for optimism but it’s a story we’ve heard before, we will wait and hope (with fingers crossed). How To Get There: From Highway 101 simply take the Gaviota State Park turnoff down to the beach and pier.
May 2025 Fishing Report, Southern California (#301)
Southern California Lobster — Lobster season is now closed! No hooping and no keeping lobsters caught on rod and reel.
San Diego County Piers
Imperial Beach Pier – Fish are biting with a nice mix showing up on the pier. Some corbina, including a couple of nice-sized ones, have hit inshore while a few croakers are also making an appearance. Mackerel are thick some days but slow others while nighttime hours seem to see better fishing, at least at times. A few shortfin corvina have also been taken and surprising they were caught out at the end which is a little different than expected. A mix of sharks and rays have also ben taken including some decent-sized bat rays and a few threshers (youngsters as usual). Mix in some baby cabezon (along with a 15-inch cabbie), some scorpionfish, and the usual small sharays (thornbacks, round stingray, smoothhounds, leopard sharks, etc., and you have a decent variety of fish. Oh, and a few octopus have also been taken. No reports of bonito to date. On 6/30 we got a report from ghost1234 that said, “Bite picked up, saw the surf more active, some spotfin, corbina, perch. Lizardfish still present very thick, no mackerel this day I saw of, some smelt a lot of queenfish/white croakers if you picked through the lizard fish. Beautiful weather but the wind came inshore fairly early and stayed strong. Clean water with the low low tide in the AM to a rising tide. also glanced by blacks beach afterwards and saw spotfin caught, few corbina also on sand crabs, some fly fisherman. I’m looking for the mackerel bite to load up on some fresh bait as the bait we slide in IB gets eaten up by the lizardfish after a while.”
The big question here continues to be water quality and if it’s even safe to eat the fish (and most aren’t). [Imperial Beach waters were reopened in September ’24 after being closed to swimmers for 1,018 days; a closure caused by sewage flowing into the ocean from the nearby Tijuana River. Apparently readings are improved but still not good.] How To Get There: From I-5 take the Palm Ave. (Hwy. 75) exit and follow it to where Palm Ave. and Hwy. 75 divide. Follow Palm Ave. to Seacoast Dr., turn left and it will take you right to the pier.
Ocean Beach Pier — The bad news is that the pier is closed. The good news is that the pier, one almost annually damaged by winter storms during the past few years, will eventually be replaced with a new improved pier, one better able to withstand the winter storms (and hopefully last for 75 years). How To Get There: From the north, take I-5 to the Sea World Dr. exit and follow it until it turns off to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. From the south, take I- 5 to the Nimitz Blvd. exit, then follow that road to Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Follow Sunset Cliffs Blvd. to Newport Ave., turn right and follow the road to the pier parking lot.
Crystal Pier – The pier finally reopened on July 6 after more than $2 million in repairs. It shouldn’t have taken that long in my opinion but what do I know. As for the fishing expect to catch corbina inshore, surfperch and croakers inshore to mid-pier, sharays (thornbacks, round stingrays, leopard sharks, and bat rays) throughout the pier, and possible pelagics—sardines and mackerel mid-pier to the end. How To get There: Take I-5 to Garnet Ave. then take Garnet west to the foot of the pier.
Pepper Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter! Traditionally some kelp bass on the bottom should be available. How To Get There: From I-5 take the 24th Street off-ramp west to Tidelands Avenue and go left (south) on Tidelands to the end.
Bayside Park Pier — No report. We need a reporter. How To Get There: From I-5 take the J Street off ramp and go west. Take J Street to Tidelands Ave.; turn right. Take Tidelands to Sandpiper Way; turn right. Take Sandpiper to Bayside Parkway, turn left and follow the road to the park.
Embarcadero Marina Pier — We need a reporter. Expect some bass, croaker and sharays (sharks and rays) on the bottom as well as halibut (most caught on soft plastic lures). And, it sounds like a few mackerel are also hitting. The last report was a report from ghost1234 on 5/6 that said, “Got back from work and headed out at 4am to embarcadero to catch some mackerel. Only two people there when I showed up, bait in water boiling from school of baby barracudas chasing them around some decent size mixed in couldn't get them to bite only chase. Caught 7 mackerel on mackerel for bait on the same float setup. Overall slower day, not much sunshine gave up around 7:40ish.” How To Get There: From the I-5 south, take the Front Street exit south to Market (just stay on Front Street, it runs into Market), take Market west to Harbor Dr. Turn left on Harbor Dr. and take it to 8th Ave., turn right onto Convention Way (formerly Harbor St.). Follow it a short block to 5th Ave. and the pier. It seems that with the new Convention Center the city is constantly working on these streets near the pier and renaming them; if you get confused remember that the park and pier are immediately to the southwest of the Convention Center. From I-5 North, approaching from the south, take the J Street exit, then go straight, three blocks up to Market, turn left and take it from there.
Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado) — Locals are reporting a mix of bottom fish—halibut (including legal size fish), bass (all three varieties) and a variety of sharays—shovelnose guitarfish, butterfly rays, round stingrays, bat rays and smoothhounds. At night add in some shortfin corvina and barracuda. On June 22 a 42-inch halibut was reported caught at the pier by Jay. How To Get There: From San Diego, take the Coronado Bay Bridge (Highway 75) to Coronado. Once over the bridge you are on Third Street. Simply follow it to B Avenue, turn right, and follow it to the front of The Old Ferry Landing — the intersection of First Street and B Avenue. The pier sits behind the shops in the complex.
Shelter Island Pier — A report from Ghost on 6/1 said, “Stopped by Shelter Island around 7pm looking for mackerel to catch for bait. Saw fellow OB fisherman Jose there fishing, he showed me his past catches the weeks, BSB, soupfin, leopard, bat rays, some halibuts were caught; few legal in past week. Lots of people fishing for halibut, a local group was 6-7 deep fishing for halibut. I left around 9 pm saw maybe 3-4 mackerel caught but too slow for me so I left. It was a windy and cold night” On 6/29 I received a report that said people using anchovies were getting a mix of mackerel and bass when fishing the evening hours. How To Get There: Take I-5 or I-8 to Rosecrans (Hwy. 209) and go west, turn left at Shelter Island Dr. and follow the road until you see the pier and the entrance to the parking lot.
Oceanside Pier — Bill Litchfield said although the fishing isn’t super hot there’s a lot of variety and overall good fishing. Inshore in the shallows some corbina are being picked up while just a tad bit further out, just past the surf line, yellowfin and sportfin croakers as well as a few barred surfperch are being taken. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much size to the spotfins most being in the 1-3 pound range. The best bait for the perch and croaker has been mussels and worm. Unfortunately with the end still closed (and strangely no one working on it) much of the pier seems really crowded on weekends and even some weekdays. This is made worst by the sharkers who normally fish out at the end but who are now parking themselves just in from the fence that blocs off the end. A few halibut are being taken, mostly shorts, and mostly on live bait, while some undersized bass and even a couple of juvenile, undersized white seabass have also been taken. As seen in most years there are schools of herring (queenfish), salema and walleye surfperch under the pier in the shadows and locals with the know how get all they want. As for the mackerel, they are in and out, good some days and slow others with nighttime being the best time. Bill said a lot of bonito are being caught on the boats, some BIG bonito, and all the locals are hoping for them to move into the pier’s waters. Lastly, he said there are a ton of stingrays being seen in the inshore waters and says he wouldn’t even wade out into the water at this time there are so many. On June 27 we received a report from SC McCarty that said, “A friend who lives in Oceanside tried walking the pier yesterday, but found it very crowded between tourists and shoulder to shoulder fishermen, catching what I am guessing were good sized spotfin croaker. She's a member of the forum, but too shy to post herself.” How To Get There: From I-5 take Mission Blvd. west to Pacific, turn left and follow it to the pier.
Oceanside Harbor Pier — The harbor waters seem to have cleared up but fishing is just so so. Some jacksmelt, an occasional bass, croaker, sargo and maybe, if really lucky, a halibut. No reports of mackerel. How To Get There: From I-5 take the Harbor Dr. exit off the freeway, follow it and it will wind down to the harbor; where the road splits stay to the right on North Harbor Dr., and follow it to the pier.
Orange County Piers
San Clemente Pier —Jimmy at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy.), said the main reports he is getting is on spotfin croaker and barred surfperch inshore while mid-pier to the end in seeing increased numbers of mackerel. He said he hasn’t heard of many sharks and rays although some are being caught by surf casters. How to Get There: From I-5 take any of several exit streets west to El Camino Real, follow it to the center of town, and from there take Del Mar down to the pier.
Dana Harbor Pier —Jimmy at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. said the harbor continues to offer good spotted bass action and some small barracuda (with nighttime action on the barracuda probably being better). We got a report from Fishman Fishman on 7/3 that said, “I arrived early morning to fish the Dana Point Jetty. Found the jetty closed to fishing, until Saturday July 5th, due to high surf conditions. Moved over to DP Harbor Pier. Fished mussel and anchovy for a few hours without any bites. While I was fishing, another fisherman arrived with eight fishing rods/reels. He began fishing with four active lines in the water. One rod rigged with a Sabiki and hooks tipped with raw beef. A second rod rigged with a Sabiki and hooks tipped with shrimp. The two remaining rods were each set up with dropper rigs baited with cut pieces of Ahi tuna. He definitely put a new meaning to "Surf and Turf"! He didn't catch any fish with the meat or tuna while I was there. He did catch a smelt with the shrimp and transferred the live bait to a dropper rig setup. I decided to leave after fishing for about 2 1/2 hours without any bites. The fisherman quickly moved into my vacated spot and setup his remaining four rods. He mentioned that a buddy of his, recently caught a 26-inch Halibut on frozen anchovy, in the corner I had left. I contacted DFW (888) 334-2258 and reported the multiple fishing rod violation. Dispatcher said a Warden would be notified.” To Get There: The pier is located in the Dana Cove Park area of Dana Point Harbor. From the Pacific Coast Highway take Green Lantern Road south to the harbor, turn left on Cove Road, and follow it to the pier.
Balboa Pier —Our reporter Snookie said, “Fishing is getting back to almost normal at last. However, there is a bacteria in the water now that questions eating the catch again. I have noticed the mackerel catch is improving a lot lately. The day I caught all the halibut and the keepers [nine in one day] there were lots of smelt again. We have had lots of Lizardfish for bait and a few herring (Queenfish). Even saw two Mexican Blacksmiths last week. They aren't good for bait, but they are pretty. We have had a few big shovelnose guitarfish this last week. Those were caught on small walleyed perch. There have been a few thornbacks also. We give a lot of lessons about them as most people think they are dangerous. We have been missing sardines and yesterday two were caught. They were big sardines. The weather has been okay and the water okay. We'll see what those storms off Baja bring us.” We also had several reports from the pier during the month. On June 10, Bendopolo reported “checked on Snookie and Crew on Balboa Pier this morning. The water was beautiful, clear and 66 degrees. The Halibut are around and the Bait of Choice were the 5-inch Lizardfish, which were thick around the Pier. Second choice was harder to come by, Shiner Perch. Out on the end of the Pier, schools of Mackerel came around and the Sabikis would load up 3-6 at a time. Plenty of room here to fish. Beautiful Day in Paradise.” On June 19 Sky tuna reported, “Fished Balboa yesterday from 1-8pm. Beautiful day and busy but not overly crowded. Mackerel were in low numbers but you could get one every 10 minutes if you were persistent. Bait was scarce, 99% being lizardfish. Managed 1 keeper halibut (24”), 1 short, and lost what felt like another very good halibut. Tried fishing croaker with mussel for 5 minutes at the base of the pier and managed to get a nice 13” croaker. Beautiful day out there.” On June 27 Snookie reported, “Yes it was a great day for me as I caught nine halibut and three were keepers. They were 22 1/2 inches, 23 inches and 26 inches. They were all caught on smelt that showed up this morning. I gave David the manager of Ruby's one of them and my brother and his wife one of them. I kept the 26 inches. That is my best day ever.” How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take Newport Blvd. which will turn into Balboa Blvd., follow it west to Palm Street. Turn right and follow it to the pier and the adjacent parking lot (which is very expensive).”
Newport Pier — No report; need a reporter although action typically is about the same as at Balboa. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway take the Newport Blvd. turn off and precede west watching for signs directing traffic to the pier. The pier sits at the foot of McFadden Place. Metered parking is available but all the lots fill early and are full much of the day. Basically you almost have to wait until someone else leaves and there’s an empty spot.
Huntington Beach Pier — No report; need a reporter. Given reports from similar piers I would expect surfperch and croakers to still be available inshore while top action (on mackerel and sardines) probably remains hit and miss. How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.” How To Get There: Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to Huntington Beach and the pier.”
Seal Beach Pier — Nan, at Big Fish Bait & Tackle. 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy. said the fishing has picked up with a lot of croaker being caught (both spotfin and yellowfin. He said some of the spotfins are very good-sized fish. A lot of white seabass are also showing up; no details on size. Somm mackerel although they come and go. Quite a few leopard sharks and what sounds like smoothhound sharks. Few bat rays but a lot of stingrays (the beach leads the nation in stings from stingrays). Sounds like typical summertime action. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway simply take Main St. west and follow it to the pier.
Los Angeles County Piers
Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier — Nan, at Big Fish Bait & Tackle. 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy. said the pier is seeing croakers, mackerel and sharays. No reports on halibut but usually it’s a good pier for halibut in the summertime. We got a report on June 13 from Brock Norris that said, “Wednesday there was plenty of small anchovies at the pier for those netting them, some mackerel, but not much else. I fished for Halibut, had one raked bait in about two hours, water was clean.” How To Get There: From the north take I-405 to the Lakewood Boulevard turnoff, and then go south to 7th Street, turn west (right) until you come to Ximeno Ave. and then turn left. Follow it to Livingston Dr. and go west. You will see signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier. From the south take the Pacific Coast Highway to 2nd. Street (Westminister becomes 2nd. Street when it crosses PCH), go west, follow to Livingston Dr. Follow it to signs by Ocean Ave. and Termino Ave. indicating the pier and parking lot.
Shoreline Aquatic Park Piers (Long Beach) — The normal fish might be available—white croaker casting out from the pier and some sargo and perch when fishing the inshore waters but typically after storms and runoff the waters here are very, very dirty, filled with all kinds of stuff. Expect to pull in some flotsam and jetsom. How to Get There: From downtown Long Beach, take Pine Avenue south to Shoreline Drive. For the northernmost pier #1 follow Shoreline Avenue west and follow it around the lagoon to where the street ends. For the southernmost piers #2-#5 follow Shoreline Drive east to the markings for Shoreline Village, continue past the shopping complex, and follow the road out to near the end of the peninsula. You will see the piers.
Pier J Piers (Long Beach) — The normal fish should be available—white croaker, queenfish, small perch and other rock-frequenting species but again the waters may be filled with a lot of trash. How To Get There: From I-710 follow the signs saying S. Harbor Scenic Drive. From downtown Long Beach follow Queens Way past the Catalina Landing and on to the Queens Way Bridge over the water and take the S. Harbor Scenic Drive.
Cabrillo Beach Pier (San Pedro) — With the closure of the Rusty Hook bait and tackle in San Pedro we now need a new reporter. Hopefully a few croakers, sand bass, perch and an occasional halibut will show up. We did get a report from Longjohnplatinum on June 10 that said, “Caught a small halibut, then hooked on to a bigger halibut but it broke my line, I was using 4lb test.” How To Get There: Take the Harbor Freeway (I-110) south; it will turn into Gaffey St. Follow it to 22nd Street and turn left. Follow 22nd St. to Pacific Ave. and turn right. Follow Pacific Ave. to 36th Street and the entrance to Cabrillo Park.
Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon, Catalina Island) –Expect the usual senorita, garibaldi, sheephead, and rock wrasse while some days will also produce ocean whitefish, mackerel and perhaps even opaleye (which most years were very common). How To Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon there should be no problem in finding the pier, which is located at the foot of Catalina Avenue.
Cabrillo Mole (Avalon, Catalina Island) — No reports this month but expect the usual—halfmoon, sheephead, kelp bass, garibaldi, blacksmith, and rock wrasse. Mackerel can move in and out anytime while usually a few bonito are available at dawn and sundown. How to Get There: The trick here is to get to Catalina. Ships and helicopters make the journey several times a day from the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newport Beach (near the Balboa Pier) and Dana Harbor. Information is available on all of these by calling the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on the Pleasure Pier (213) 510-1520 or the Visitor's Information & Service Center (213) 510-2500. Once in Avalon when you walk off the ferry onto the landing you are at the Mole.
Redondo Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. Good mackerel action has been reported by some. How To Get There: From the Pacific Coast Highway, take Torrance Blvd. west to the foot of the pier and the parking lot.
Manhattan Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. How To Get There: From Sepulveda Boulevard, turn west on Manhattan Beach Drive and follow it to the pier.
Hermosa Beach Pier — No report, need a reporter. How To Get There: Take the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) to Pier Avenue and follow Pier Avenue west to the pier.
Venice Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter. How Get There: Highway 1 to Washington St., turn west and follow Washington St. to the pier.
Santa Monica Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter. How to Get There: From I-405 take Santa Monica Blvd. west to Ocean Ave. Turn left, go to Colorado Ave., and turn right onto the pier.
Malibu Pier — With the loss of long time reporter Ginny Wylie due to the Palisades fire (which burned down Wylies Bait and Tackle), we are now looking for a new reporter. Any reports from the area would be appreciated. However, I did call the shop at the pier itself and got some information (but no fish report). They said the entire end of the pier is closed to fishing (perhaps due to the store and restaurant?) and they suggested we call the state. Last time I was there I noticed various closures at the end, which of course didn’t make me too happy. How To Get There: The pier fronts on the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) so just drive until you see it.
Paradise Cove Pier — No report this month. Need a reporter How To Get There: Take Highway 1 to Paradise Cove Dr., turn west, and follow the road back into the parking lot. Parking is very expensive unless you buy an expensive meal at the restaurant and then you are allowed to fish for, I think, three hours.
Ventura & Santa Barbara County Piers
Port Hueneme Pier — Ludia at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura said the perch fishing remains good and that anglers fishing inshore are also picking up some croaker. There’s some action on sharks and rays but it’s slower than Ventura. She also said she hasn’t heard much on mackerel but is selling a lot of Sabikis (which is usually a good sign).. How To Get There: From Highway 1 take Hueneme Rd. west until it turns into Port. At Ventura Rd turn left and follow it to Surfside Dr. Turn left again and follow it to the park.
Ventura Pier — Ludia at Hyun’s Tackle, 3695 E Harbor Blvd., Ventura reported that the biggest news was a LARGE thresher shark being taken from the pier along with some smaller sharks and rays. She said the action is good on surfperch as well as the fishing for halibut. Good but somewhat slower is the inshore croaker action. Evidently action on the top is somewhat slow, some mackerel but not big numbers. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Seaward Drive exit west to Harbor Drive, turn right and follow it to the pier.
Stearns Wharf (Santa Barbara) — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 2259 Las Positas Road, Santa Barbara, says if you want crabs this is the place to go. There’s almost a guarantee on a limit of red or rock crabs if that’s your goal. Unfortunately catching almost anything else on the bottom is impossible since the crabs grab your bait so quickly (although he did hear of two rubberlip perch being caught). If there were some top water fish hitting that might be ok but the pelagics seem to have moved on; no reports of mackerel or sardine. However 4-5 thresher sharks were reports by shark anglers using large mackerel or salmon heads for bait. He said two soupfin sharks were also caught, one about 5 feet long and the other 6 feet long. But if you want fish he says head over to Goleta. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take Castillo St. or State St. west to the beach and follow signs to the pier.
Goleta Pier — Ben at Hook Line & Sinker, 2259 Las Positas Road, Santa Barbara, said there’s been a nice mix of fish including 4-5 threshers, the same as at Stearns. He said some sharays have also shown up including angel sharks, shovelnose guitarfish, leopard sharks and the smaller thornbacks. He said jack mackerel showed up about two weeks ago and the schools are still there while Pacific mackerel seem to come and go with most of the action in the afternoon or evening. He said the mackerel are good sized with guys using Sabikis with larger hooks to catch them. As usual, the pipe reef is also producing fish and he mentioned both kelp bass and sand bass with the ratio about 8-1 in favor of the kelpies. Some brown rockfish are also being caught and said some mid-sized cabezon have also been taken by guys using shrimp as bait. Unfortunately he hasn’t heard any reports of halibut being caught. Interesting is a large school of something that is in the bay but they’re too far out to identify. Angers are hoping they are bonito, which showed up about this time last year and are available to boaters. How To Get There: From Highway 101 take the Hwy. 217/Airport exit. Follow it to Sandspit Rd. and the Goleta Beach Park turnoff. Follow this to the park and the pier.
Gaviota Pier — Still counting the days— Government efficiency seems to be a true oxymoronic word in California. The pier, managed by the State Department of Parks (State Parks), has been closed since a winter storm in 2014 (yes, more than a decade ago). Reports over the years have given hope for repair but funding as well as division and disagreement between various groups including the State Parks and the Coastal Commission, have slowed down the needed repairs. There seems to finally be room for optimism but it’s a story we’ve heard before, we will wait and hope (with fingers crossed). How To Get There: From Highway 101 simply take the Gaviota State Park turnoff down to the beach and pier.