Rockfish from California piers

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#1
Another thread asked about rockfish at the San Clemente Pier. In response, I thought I would update this list:

Rockfish Reported on California Piers —
(includes personal records of KJ, Snookie (Newport Pier and Balboa Pier), Boyd Grant (Goleta Pier), as well as
CA. Dept. of Fish and Game Surveys (2004-2009)


Originally compiled 2006, Updated 2011, 2018
San Diego County

Imperial Beach Pier: California scorpionfish
Coronado/Ferry Landing Pier: California scorpionfish
Ocean Beach Pier/San Diego: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish
Crystal Pier/San Diego: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish
Embarcadero Marina Pier/San Diego: California scorpionfish
Shelter Island Pier/San Diego: California scorpionfish
Oceanside Pier: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish
Oceanside Harbor Pier: California scorpionfish

Orange County

San Clemente Pier: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish
Dana Harbor Pier: California scorpionfish
Balboa Pier: California scorpionfish, bocaccio*
Newport Pier: California scorpionfish, olive rockfish, calico rockfish, bocaccio*, chilipepper rockfish*, treefish
Huntington Beach Pier: California scorpionfish
Seal Beach Pier: California scorpionfish

Los Angeles County

Belmont Pier: California scorpionfish, grass rockfish
Long Beach Shoreline Piers: California scorpionfish, kelp rockfish, black & yellow rockfish
Cabrillo Beach Pier/San Pedro: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish, copper rockfish, gopher rockfish, black & yellow rockfish
Green Pleasure Pier/Catalina: California scorpionfish, treefish
Cabrillo Mole/Catalina: California scorpionfish, treefish, kelp rockfish, brown rockfish, olive rockfish, grass rockfish
Redondo Beach Pier: California scorpionfish
Redondo Sportfishing Pier: California scorpionfish, grass rockfish, brown rockfish
Hermosa Beach Pier: California scorpionfish, calico rockfish
Manhattan Beach Pier: California scorpionfish
Venice Fishing Pier: California scorpionfish
Santa Monica Pier: California scorpionfish
Malibu Pier: California scorpionfish, bocaccio*
Paradise Cove Pier/Malibu: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish, grass rockfish

Ventura & Santa Barbara County

Point Hueneme Pier: California scorpionfish, grass rockfish
Ventura Pier: California scorpionfish, brown rockfish, grass rockfish
Stearns Wharf/Santa Barbara: California scorpionfish, bocaccio, brown rockfish
Goleta Pier: California scorpionfish, kelp rockfish, brown rockfish, grass rockfish, bocaccio, vermilion rockfish, calico rockfish, gopher rockfish, blue rockfish, black rockfish, black & yellow rockfish, yellowtail rockfish
Gaviota Pier: California scorpionfish, kelp rockfish, bocaccio*, blue rockfish

San Luis Obispo County

Pismo Beach Pier: bocaccio*
Avila Pier: bocaccio*, grass rockfish, brown rockfish, vermilion rockfish*, yellowtail rockfish*, blue rockfish
Port San Luis Pier: bocaccio*, kelp rockfish, gopher rockfish, brown rockfish, calico rockfish, blue rockfish, copper rockfish, grass rockfish, vermilion rockfish*
Morro Bay North T-Pier: bocaccio*, brown rockfish, gopher rockfish, kelp rockfish, vermilion rockfish*, olive rockfish, grass rockfish
Morro Bay South T-Pier: grass rockfish, copper rockfish, brown rockfish, gopher rockfish, black rockfish, black & yellow rockfish, blue rockfish, bocaccio*, chilipepper rockfish*, kelp rockfish, vermilion rockfish*
Cayucos Pier: bocaccio*
San Simeon Pier: bocaccio*

Monterey County

Monterey Coast Guard Pier: kelp rockfish, black & yellow rockfish, blue rockfish, olive rockfish, grass rockfish, black rockfish, brown rockfish, copper rockfish, gopher rockfish
Monterey Wharf #2: bocaccio*, gopher rockfish, kelp rockfish, blue rockfish, copper rockfish*, olive rockfish
Moss Landing Pier (now closed): bocaccio*

Santa Cruz County

Seacliff Pier: bocaccio*, brown rockfish
Capitola Wharf: Brown rockfish, bocaccio*, blue rockfish, gopher rockfish, vermilion rockfish*
Santa Cruz Wharf: blue rockfish, brown rockfish, bocaccio*, gopher rockfish, black rockfish, kelp rockfish, yellowtail rockfish*, copper rockfish

San Mateo County:
Princeton Harbor Pier: brown rockfish, gopher rockfish, kelp rockfish, grass rockfish
Pacifica Pier: bocaccio*, brown rockfish

San Francisco County
Fort Point Pier: brown rockfish
Fort Mason Piers: brown rockfish, black rockfish, gopher rockfish
S.F. Municipal Pier: brown rockfish, grass rockfish
Pier 40: brown rockfish
Pier 7: brown rockfish
Agua Vista Pier: brown rockfish, kelp rockfish

South SF Bay Piers
Oyster Point Pier: black rockfish

East Bay Piers:
San Antonio Pier/Oakland: brown rockfish
FDR Pier/Oakland (now closed): brown rockfish
Port View Park Pier/Oakland: brown rockfish, blue rockfish, gopher rockfish
Berkeley Pier: brown rockfish, chilipepper rockfish*, gopher rockfish, kelp rockfish, grass rockfish
Golden Gate Field's Pier (now closed): brown rockfish
Ferry Point Pier/Richmond: brown rockfish
Red Rock Pier/Richmond (now closed): bocaccio*, brown rockfish

North Bay Piers
Paradise Beach Pier/Tiburon: brown rockfish
Elephant Rock Pier/Tiburon: chilipepper rockfish*, grass rockfish, brown rockfish, kelp rockfish, blue rockfish, black rockfish
Angel Island Pier: brown rockfish, black rockfish
Sausalito Pier (now closed): brown rockfish
Fort Baker Pier/Sausalito: blue rockfish, brown rockfish, orange rockfish*, grass rockfish

Northern California
Point Arena Pier: bocaccio*, black rockfish, grass rockfish
Del Norte St. Pier/Eureka: brown rockfish
Eureka Municipal Wharf: black rockfish, brown rockfish
Commercial St. Dock/Eureka: black rockfish, brown rockfish, grass rockfish, copper rockfish
Adorni Pier/Eureka: brown rockfish
Trinidad Pier: black rockfish, grass rockfish, black & yellow rockfish, blue rockfish, widow rockfish*
Citizen's Dock/Crescent City: black rockfish, copper rockfish, grass rockfish, orange rockfish*, gopher rockfish, blue rockfish, brown rockfish, black & yellow rockfish
B Street Pier/Crescent City: black rockfish, yellowtail rockfish*

* = Juvenile rockfish
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#2
When I figure out where to find the fish and wildlife surveys for 2010-2018 we may find additional rockfish at some of the piers. However, they are mostly a CenCal and NorCal fish, at least as far as piers..
 
#3
The monterey coastguard pier (jetty) I caught that large Lingcod and a couple of small cabazon I posted on the board when we had that 2nd or 3rd get togeather remember? Oh-ya the (old board ) is gone! Oops....
 

mav

Well-Known Member
#5
I’ve seen brown rockfish caught at imperial beach when fishing for sculpin with artificials but most are returned because they at so small.
 
S

sea++

Guest
#8
Seeing Kelp Rockfish listed from Auga Vista is super interesting to me since I assumed spots that deep into the Bay wouldn’t have the necessary structure for them. I may have to go and check that place out.
 
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Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#9
Seeing Kelp Rockfish listed from Auga Vista is super interesting to me since I assumed spots that deep into the Bay wouldn’t have the necessary structure for them. I may have to go and check that place out.
Last I heard Agua Vista was closed. Not sure if that's still the case.
 
S

sea++

Guest
#10
Last I heard Agua Vista was closed. Not sure if that's still the case.
Perhaps? Never been there so I can’t say for sure. The websites for the San Francisco Park alliance and the San Francisco Bureau of land management don’t mention any closures however.
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#11
-I believe Agua Vista Pier to be open Ken.
It has been renovated in the past 6 years years or so. The last time I was in the area looking for herring (approximately 4 years ago) near McCovey Cove, it was open. I believe you are thinking 7 years ago or so when it was shutdown for repairs (before they put in the new lighting).
-Now, I am wondering how long ago that was when you did a video interview with Bob Mizuno’s daughter at Pier 7? She’s probably married with (5) kids now, LOL :D
-We’ll have to hit all the wharf piers early morning and make the rounds (just to see what’s open). Huh, we could start at the south tower near Ft. Baker and end at Candlestick Point/Sierra Point if you like.
-I fished every piece of pier from the Gate part Townsend to the Sticks with Rich. Can’t say we caught much along there but we sure did drop a line in all those holes!
 
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Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#12
-I believe Agua Vista Pier to be open Ken.
It has been renovated in the past 6 years years or so. The last time I was in the area looking for herring (approximately 4 years ago) near McCovey Cove, it was open. I believe you are thinking 7 years ago or so when it was shutdown for repairs (before they put in the new lighting).
-Now, I am wondering how long ago that was when you did a video interview with Bob Mizuno’s daughter at Pier 7? She’s probably married with (5) kids now, LOL :D
-We’ll have to hit all the wharf piers early morning and make the rounds (just to see what’s open). Huh, we could start at the south tower near Ft. Baker and end at Candlestick Point/Sierra Point if you like.
-I fished every piece of pier from the Gate part Townsend to the Sticks with Rich. Can’t say we caught much along there but we sure did drop a line in all those holes!
Actually I thought I read just a few months ago that the pier was closed and going to be rebuilt. I’ll try to check my notes later today.
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#13
I haven't been ablre to find the article. However, did run across this article about a ferry landing for the site (which would probably mean the end of the fishing pier as happened with the "Glo Day Pier" in Richmond that now has a ferry landing.

San Francisco Examiner
January 16, 2019
New Mission Bay ferry terminal poised to shape neighborhood’s future transit


By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez on May 16, 2016

With the new UCSF Mission Bay hospitals, a planned Warriors arena and more than 6,000 homes on the horizon, Mission Bay is booming.

And that means one thing: it’s going to need more transit options.

That’s why Port of San Francisco officials are pushing for a new ferry terminal in the neighborhood that could open as early as 2022.

The Port Commission on Tuesday heard for the first time, they said, the possible future locations of a terminal which would see 10,000 daily ferry passengers to Mission Bay. The new terminal could cost anywhere between $32.5 million and $42.7 million to construct, according to planning documents, and would berth two ferries. It may also include a nearby water taxi landing.

“It will provide critical ferry service between the southern waterfront, Financial District, and the East and North Bays,” Winnie Lee, a port engineer, said of the new terminal, at the Port Commission’s meeting Tuesday.

Right now, San Francisco ferries dock at Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building. The new ferry building would provide a major link for Mission Bay to water-based transit.

In 2015, the Port hired COWI North America, a maritime consultant, to complete a study of potential sites for the new terminal, according to Port staff. That report was completed in March, and identified four sites as potential new ferry terminals, though one site has since been abandoned as a possibility.

The motion of the ocean remains a primary concern for engineers, because choppy waves could potentially slow down new ferries, said Lee, and not all of the possible ferry sites would be equally smooth.

The prime candidate for a new ferry terminal is Agua Vista Park, on 16th Street. Lee said a nearby harbor for BAE Systems, an aerospace company, creates a wind shield which keeps the waters calm.

Another possible site, on South Street between Piers 64 and 54, is problematic because weather could potentially impact ferry service.

“If we don’t install the breakwater, winter storms could shut down ferry service,” Lee said.

The third location, on the north side of Pier 54, may be shielded from the wind as well, like the first option. But reports say it is least favored because it is farthest away from central Mission Bay locations, like the Warriors arena. It may also require seismic upgrades.

Each location has its ups and downs, Port staff noted. Agua Vista Park is closer to the proposed Warriors stadium, for instance, while South Street is closer to the Mission Bay Muni station.

Staff said they favored the Agua Vista Park location, much to the concern of some Port commissioners.

“You’re starting an outreach project already having predetermined the location,” Commissioner Eleni Kounalakis told to interim Port Director Elaine Forbes.

Forbes promised to elicit more community input before a location is locked down.

Project lead and finances questioned

Even though the project is hardly a wink in the eye of engineers, it has already gained at least one detractor.

Veronica Sanchez, representing the local Masters, Mates and Pilots union, said the union took issue with the proposed terminal because the San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority was not lead on the project.

“We would urge the Port to hit the pause button a bit, and see how the project could be better managed,” Sanchez told the Port Commission.

But Ernest Sanchez, spokesperson for WETA, said it’s unlikely the organization will lead the project and WETA is already a member of the team developing the terminal

“I don’t think it’s really in the cards,” he said. “Our point of view is that it’s a Port of San Francisco project.”

The source of funding for the project also remains up in the air. Forbes, the interim Port director, said, “We’re looking to not pay for the project, to be blunt about it.”

Though planning documents note the port will kick in $3.47 million, Forbes said the rest of the money may come from federal and state grants, as well as “private contributions.”

Community wants ferries sooner

Mission Bay businesses need more transit as fast as possible, said Patrick Valentino, president of the South Beach Mission Bay Business Association.

“I think there’s a pent-up nervousness about what [Mission Bay] will look like a few years from now,” he said. The area has boomed, he noted.

Sanchez, of WETA, said its many ferry routes on the San Francisco Bay saw a “stupendous” ridership increase, from 1.4 million annual riders seven years ago to the current 2.4 million annual riders.

“One thing we’d need to do is add additional vessels,” Sanchez said.

Right now WETA has two, 400-passenger vessels under construction, Sanchez said, and the organization will solicit proposals to build three more vessels by the fall.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency also has plans to increase transit in the area. According to planning documents, Mission Bay will play host to Bus Rapid Transit by 2018, and the T-Third may see expansion, among other efforts. Caltrain also may be electrified by 2020.

Still, the ferries are crucial, Valentino said.

“To the extent that they can jump-start ferry terminals, that’d be fantastic. I don’t know what it takes to do. But to get it there ahead of time, it would be pretty important,” he said.

Forbes said the project has “a four-year to five-year horizon, due to permitting issues,” and may take until 2022. Commissioners at the meeting wanted to slow down the project for more community input.

Valentino noted the new Warriors Arena will likely arrive years before a ferry terminal.

“If we can get an arena done by 2019,” he said, “we should be able to get a temporary ferry terminal.”
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#14
Okay Ken, now Agua Vista Pier sounds like “history.”
It seems like the recent trend in San Francisco Bay. There will be new piers built in the locations of old fishing piers; they will be ferry piers though!
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#16
Well, maybe they will still try to have a fishing pier given the need for public access areas.
Lets hope the plan to maintain/preserve public access/open space is what’s in store for the urban piers of S.F. Bay! I am now a skeptic since 2019 is here and I have yet to see any ground broken to repair Berkeley Pier 3.5 years after its closure. I believe when spring comes, that will really tell the story. A ferry pier almost seems inevitable (with Hs. Lordship), one of the designated ferry sites, closed up permanently).