Playing with some figures: There are many, many, reasons why fishing does not seem as good on the California piers as years past. Most agree that the number of some fish species are down, and that the number of large fish caught at the piers is substantially down. There are many, many reasons, which I will eventually discuss.
Few though ever discuss the pure numbers. While the numbers may be down on fish, the numbers of people in California and anglers is up. 1962 saw 17,072,000 residents in California, 2026 sees an estimated 39,345,844 residents. If my math is correct, the increase in population from 1962, when I first started fishing Newport Pier, to today, 2026, is an increase in population of 130.47%.
I’m just playing with numbers, but if 10% of the people in California in 1962 fished on piers that would be 1,707,200 anglers. If each of them caught 5.00 fish per pier fishing trip that would be 8,536,000 fish. However, with today’s population being 3,934,584 anglers (using the 10% average), and if the fish population stayed the same, the average angler would only catch 2.17 fish per trip. However, we know some fish numbers are down so that 2.17 number should probably show a further decrease.
Of course all of this is speculative. I need to get the actual numbers of California anglers in 1962, the number of pier anglers (if known), and the number of fish caught (if known). Then new estimated 2026 numbers for pier anglers and any estimated number of fish. I have a feeling the numbers would be even lower since most studies of pier counts over the years only show pier anglers catching 1-2 fish per day.
I have to do some digging but I already know just by observation that some numbers are down. The question is how far down and what specific species are down? The California Fish and Wildlife Department tosses all of the figures they have into the computers and set regulations (together with the Pacific Fishery Management Council) for the various fish species. Sometimes they guess right, sometimes wrong. Their assumption is that most anglers follow the regulations and on that point there is great debate.