King Salmon Archives - Pier Fishing in California

Capitola Wharf

Due to damage from the winter storms in 2023, the wharf is currently closed. No date has been set for reopening. Public Pier — No Fishing License Required While some piers along the coast (such as Seacliff) have characteristics that help define and give identity…

Pacifica Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The question of what is the best pier in the state is one that I have been asked fairly frequently over the years. Given that the answer depends on a number of factors (including the personal affection which…

Pillar Point Harbor Pier — Half Moon Bay

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The Pillar Point Pier is relatively tiny (extending only 33 feet out from the jetty rock) and sits off by itself to the far end of the main parking lot. It juts out into the outer harbor water,…

“B” Street Pier aka Michael J. Scavuzzo Pier — Crescent City

Sunrise can be a beautiful time at the pier! Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Looks, whether for women, men, or piers, can be deceiving. When first built, the expectations for this pier were high. It was similar to the expectations about the Ocean…

Citizen’s Dock — Crescent City

Private Pier — Fishing License Required Every pier has its story and one of the most interesting here took place during a visit in 1997. I had arrived late in the afternoon, checked into the motel, and headed straight over to the dock for some…

Pier 7 – San Francisco

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required San Francisco seems to have both an image and persistent vitality that exit alongside, or perhaps in spite of, the changes that have taken place in the name of progress. Witness this pier. It is one of the…

Fort Point Pier aka Torpedo Wharf — San Francisco

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required A quote from a Golden Gate National Recreation Area brochure perhaps best sums up the diversity offered by this magnificent area: “Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a park that begins where the Pacific Ocean meets San Francisco…

Trinidad Pier aka Seascape Pier — Trinidad

Private Pier — Fishing License Required My first visit to the Trinidad Pier was in August of 1976 and I was immediately struck by two thoughts. The first concerned the beautiful surroundings, both the harbor area itself and the view looking down the coast. The…

King Salmon

Trouts and Salmon: Family Salmonidae Species: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum, 1792); from the Greek roots onkos (hook), rynchos (nose), and tshawytscha (the vernacular name for the species in Alaska and Kamchatka, USSR). Alternate Names: Chinook salmon, black mouth, spring salmon, tyee (large specimens over 30 pounds),…