Northern Anchovy 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…

Johnson Pier — Pillar Point Harbor — Half Moon Bay

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required There are two public piers in the Half Moon Bay/Princeton area and both are located in Pillar Point Harbor. For many years the larger pier, the Johnson Pier, was open to fisherman and heavily used. Then, with the…

Monterey Municipal Wharf #2

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The floating docks of Monterey Harbor and the pilings beneath Municipal Wharf II provide a rich and diverse community created largely by human activity. Such communities have imaginatively been called “accidental zoos.”… At low tide the pilings, shaded…

Balboa Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Piers are one of the most romantic spots on earth! If you don’t believe me, tag along on a visit to Balboa Pier on almost any summer night. By 10 P.M., darkness has enveloped the pier. But while…

Ventura Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required CURRENTLY CLOSED FROM WINTER STORM DAMAGE AND NO OPENING DATE ESTABLISHED. There is something almost magical about the ocean at night. For myself, that sense of magic is heightened when I’m on a pier at night. Such was…

Santa Cruz Wharf

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required When I first sat down to write about this pier, I almost didn’t know where to start. Should I talk about the pier itself, the municipal wharf built in 1913, the wharf which is the longest of the…

Fort Mason Pier — San Francisco

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required I’m not exactly sure what they said but I think it was in questionable taste. There I was, fishing out near the end of Pier 3 at Fort Mason, listening to what my non-Oriental ears knew had to…

Eureka Boardwalk

The Eureka Boardwalk one beautiful fall morning Public Access Area — but Private Pier — Fishing License Required Sea gulls too like the Boardwalk Although not designed for fishing, and not designated as a public pier, the “Boardwalk” in downtown Eureka’s waterfront has become my…

Commercial St. Dock — Eureka

Public Access Area — but Private Pier — Fishing License Required In the mid-‘60s an interesting paper was released by the Department of Fish and Game. Fish Bulletin #130 detailed the effort and success of anglers between Oregon and Point Arguello in central California (Miller…

Lucas Wharf — Bodega Bay

Private Pier — Fishing License Required The Lucas Wharf is the first wharf encountered by most visitors heading to Bodega Bay from inland areas and sits just up the road from the Tides Wharf. An attractive restaurant and fish market await the visitor, as do…