California Pier Report
September 2024 Fishing Report, Southern California (#297)
Lobster season is now closed!
San Diego County Piers
Imperial Beach Pier – No report, need a reporter. Traditionally the pier should be good for mackerel and possibly bonito by this time of the year. Expect some croaker inshore, halibut mid-pier, and a variety of sharks and rays on the bottom. 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 pier is closed. 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 remains closed and no one seems to even know when the work on repairs will even start (although the repairs supervised by the City were supposed to be finished by now). 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 mackerel on top and 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 — No report. 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). 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) — Need a reporter although the pier continues to kick out a lot of sharays (mainly round stingrays or bat rays) and an occasional halibut. Bass fishing (kelp, sand and spotted) as well as mackerel action should start picking up. 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 — Ray 619 reported on August 17 and said, “Went from 5pm to about 730pm. Beautiful day to get out. The pier was packed. Tons of baitfish. I used squid on the top level of water. Caught a decent sized smelt. Fished the bottom with live bloodworms and caught 4 undersized Calico Bass. A few people using Sabiki rigs and consistently catching smelt. Only saw 3 mackerel caught in the Sabiki. One regular mentioned the macks run late at night and can be caught using the glow stick.” 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 at the Oceanside Pier says the fishing has really picked up but the problem is that the pier is too crowded. Given that the end of the pier is still closed due to the fire everyone is squeezed into the remaining space. The result: (1) the area by the furthest end, right up to the fence, is most days taken over by the sharkers. They show up at 3 a.m. for the 4 a.m. opening and are the first ones out. They are taking a mix, some thresher sharks (a few), some leopard sharks, and some shovelnose sharks (guitarfish). (2) The next area inshore recently has been used by bonito anglers since the boneheads have shown up. They are nice mid-sized fish and enough are showing up to make it interesting. Mackerel too are in evidence but they are slow during the day but biting better in the late afternoon and evening. (3) The next spots are being used by halibut anglers and some flatties are being taken although most are shorts ranging in size from 17-19 inches in length. (4) Finally, from the bait shop to the surf are the croaker anglers and good numbers of spotfin and yellowfin croaker are showing up. That area is also yielding up some barred surfperch. The result of all this is pretty good fishing but very crowded conditions. On August 12 bassfanatick reported, “Did someone say Bonito?!!! Yes they are here, and in compact size. But they are here at least, chasing baits, as were Mackerel also, people catching Spotfin croakers, get down here!!!” How To Get There: From I-5 take Mission Blvd. west to Pacific, turn left and follow it to the pier.
Oceanside Harbor Pier — Bill Litchfield said he saw some bass, mainly spotted bass being taken by anglers but also noticed some big schools of mullet although few fish for them. 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 —Brett at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. said the action on good, quality-size croakers has led the hit parade. Surfperch are in the shallower water and the croakers are just a little ways further out on the pier. He says guys are using fillet strips of anchovy or lug worms and seeing pretty consistent action on both yellowfin and spotfin croaker. A couple of threshers have been reported but only a couple although some big leopard sharks have been taken. A few mackerel, but its not steady and the same with sardines. However, a few bonito have begun to show up so people are excited about that. So, overall a nice mix of fish. 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 — Brett at Hogan's Bait and Tackle (34320 Pacific Coast Hwy. said the big news has been on big croakers, both spotfin and yellowfin with lug worms and fillets of anchovies producing fish. He says a few halibut have also been reported but most are shorts. I wouldn’t be surprised if there might also be a few barracuda around at night. How 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, "There has been a lot of bait this month. You could walk on it at times because it was so thick. It was all around the pier and into the surf area. We had smelt of all sizes and sardines and mackerel. The fish chasing them were bonitos. Unfortunately the size of the bonitos was quite small. They were 8 to 12 inches. Those people on the end are not concerned about the laws and many buckets full went home with them. Yes, we do need more fish and games wardens, but the state just doesn't have enough. Some of the mackerel got bigger for a change. They were somewhat normal sized. Saw a few small barries and lots of small white sea bass. Our halibut sizes are small. No keepers this month. I'm sure we lost some though. The water is quite warm now and it has been very calm as well. If the wind comes up we stay comfortable, otherwise it can get quite hot. Am looking forward to fall as it is usually a better fishing time. We will see!" 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 — Nan, at Big Fish Bait & Tackle. 1780-C. Pacific Coast Hwy. says he’s getting reports of lots of mackerel and bonito at the Newport Pier. Not much else. Newport is usually about the same as 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 — Ladygoose reported on August 17, “Yesterday fished the end of Huntington from 8am till 3pm. Landed quite a few Bonito. Plenty of bait in the water. Was a good time on light tackle.” 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. says things are slow. A few mackerel and a few yellowfin croaker. Fishman Fishman made a report on August 6 that said, “Tuesday morning was foggy and wet. Lots of dew condensation dripping off the rods and fishing line between bites and hook ups. No wind, fished a rising tide. With some luck and perseverance managed to land a Horn shark, two Bat Rays, three Thornback Rays, a Lizardfish, a Pacific Chub Mackerel and some Smelt for live bait. The Horn shark (26 inches), large Bat Ray (33 inch wingspan) and two Thornback Rays caught with a fishfinder setup using squid. Caught the small Bat Ray (16 inch wingspan), a Thornback Ray and Lizardfish with anchovy and shrimp on a high/low rig. Switched to a Sabiki tipped with shrimp to catch the Smelt and Mackerel. Released everything except the Smelt and Mackerel. Tempted to use the Lizardfish for bait but it was too large. Have used them in the past with some success. A few nearby fishermen caught some Pompano, Jack Mackerel and a Thornback Ray. Side story. A young person asked if they could use my hoop net to catch a pigeon that had fishing line wrapped around it's feet. Always game for entertainment I agreed and proceeded to watch the “hunt.” The Grandfather went behind the pigeon that was resting on the pier. Grandfather got close enough to the bird. Bird got wise that human was up to something and began to take flight. Grandfather threw the net and surprise! One pigeon caught in the hoop net. I grabbed some pliers and a pair of small scissors and joined the spectacle. Grandfather held the pigeon while I removed a lot of braided line from it's feet. Both feet were tied together. Remarkable how the bird survived in this condition. Nice catch Grandfather! A hero to his Daughter and GrandDaughters. First net and release pigeon for the hoop net. 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. says things are slow. 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 should be available—white croaker casting out from the pier, sargo and perch when fishing the inshore waters. 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, perch and perhaps some mackerel and/or bonito. 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) — Alex at the Rusty Hook, 245 N Gaffey St., San Pedro said things are a little slow. A few halibut are being reported but most are shorts while some mackerel show up but they are in and out, nothing consistent. Not much else, not even many sand bass that are generally fairly reliable. 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 normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, and sheephead. 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) — Expect the normal species—kelp bass, rock wrasse, senorita, opaleye, halfmoon, sheephead, and ocean whitefish. Some bonito and barracuda may also show up. A report from fish-ninja on July 25 said, “I finally got around to meet up with some old boys at Avalon. This turned out to be a nice mini get together with Mahigeer and Jellyfish. It was great time of sharing our stories and respective presence with some great shore anglers. Fishing wise, it was very interesting too. My plan was to do night fishing for sharks and calico bass. So instead of leaving Long Beach in a wee hour like I usually do, I left home around noon and arrived at Avalon around 3pm. Joining Mahigeer san who were already there, I was to fish evening bites, all night for sharks then morning bites before I take off the island around noon next day. I liked this idea fishing wise but the traffic I had to suffer during my returning leg plus tiredness I had due to lack of sleep lasting a couple of days were some hefty price I had to pay for. In any case, it was a nice and fun trip. So after I arrived at the mole, I found the weather was nice and water very fishy. Knowing that barracuda was around from some boat fishing reports, I rigged a metal jig with my shore jigging rod and tossed it far. A big hit was had on the first cast. What came was indeed a nice keeper barracuda! I thought it would be a giddy fishing day but it turned out to be pretty slow after the initial hit. Occasional small Spanish mackerels that was all. Only after sunset, I managed to land another keeper barracuda. 2 hits 2 fish was a good tiding I say. Night fishing was mostly slow fare too. Earlier the evening, I managed to land some short calico bass like this one. I was using cut fillets of the Spanish mackerel I caught earlier on hi-lo rig with only low loop used. Another heavy rig with wire leader was tossed with cut barracuda chunk. But mostly silent thing for the entire night. Both Mahigeer san and I dozed off until we heard one strong hit on the shark rig, making the clicker sounded crazy for about 2 seconds. This woke both up and I ran to the rod but it was too late. Both fish and bait was gone. That was only event that was worth to mention for the night. Despite that, I have to say I love the night at the pier. There were no one else fishing, having the entire mole to ourselves. The sound of baitfish jumping around in dark sounded like a heavy rain. Moon lights dancing in reflection on the black water surface.... They certainly have totally different look in the night. I woke up 5am and started to fish for morning bites. No barracuda is to be seen. No bonito either for the entire trip. It seems that when barracuda shows up, bonito seems to disappear. When I was thinking like that sort of fishing things, something took my metal jig and dashed into kelp. It was rather large fish I could feel on my hand holding my reel. An idea of yellowtail flashed in me as I heard that some locals landed two large yellowtails a day before. But what came up after playing with kelp, the usual bale out and on and out and on and out ... a nice 18inch calico bass came out! After the sun rise, I switched to a bait tackle borrowing Mahigeer san's rig and found some halfmoon and opaleye.” 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 — Ladygoose reported on August 17, “Kind of a two week report. Fished Redondo pier August 9th. From 3 to 8pm. A few bonito were caught from the corner. My friend managed to get a small 8” fantailed sole that we were pumped on for the new species. Friend also got a large guitar fish (50”) three weeks ago at Redondo. All fish released.” 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 this month. 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 this month. 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 — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu) says the action has been off and on. It’s a combination of mackerel, some bass and a few perch. Lots of leopard sharks in the surf. She says during the grunion runs a LOT of halibut were being caught but day-to-day it’s been slower. Sargo are still biting but it’s also slowed. Do be aware that a lot of cars are being broken into all along the highway. How To Get There: The pier fronts on the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1) so just drive until you see it.
Paradise Cove Pier — Ginny at Wylie’s Bait & Tackle (18757 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu), Ginny said reports indicate fishing is still fairly good with, as usual, a lot of big bat rays being caught. 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 things ate a little slow at the pier. The pier has seen red tide conditions recently, which has really put a damper on the fishing although some perch and a few mackerel are still making an appearance. 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, said local waters are seeing a lot of red tide BUT it’s clear at the Ventura Pier. She’s getting reports of halibut, striped bass, and white seabass along with the usual perch and mackerel action. Some sharks are also showing but not in 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, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, says Stearns is still a consistent producer of thresher sharks with the bite going on for nearly a month. Ben says several Goleta shark anglers have moved over to Stearns. Just hope they are not trying to take over the pier from the non-shark anglers (as sometimes happens). Ben says there is a ton of bait in the water —Pacific mackerel, Spanish mackerel (jack mackerel), sardines, smelt, anchovies and shinerperch. The abundance of baitfish (food) answers why the threshers are there. Ben said there are other fish there besides the threshers including some leopard sharks (one measuring nearly 5-feet in length), a few halibut, and the usual small croakers and perch. It sounds like the time to be at Stearns. 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, 4010-5 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, said the big news has been bonito showing up and they are available most days. He says mackerel and sardines are also available, the sardines being taken on size 12 or 14 Sabikis (and they are available most of the day) while mackerel tend to show up around 3:30 and fishing stays good into the evening hours with most taken on size 4 or 6 Sabikis. The thresher sharks are also showing along with a mix of sharays— bat rays, sand sharks, leopard sharks, shovelnose sharks (guitarfish)— including a couple of really big ones, and even a couple of angel sharks. Bass and small rockfish are available from the pipe reef. No report of halibut. 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 — Ongoing report—The pier has now been closed for a decade and the rumors of repair and reopening continue. It’s interesting reading the various reports on the pier on the Internet. How To Get There: From Highway 101 simply take the Gaviota State Park turnoff down to the beach and pier.
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