Queenfish Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Pier Fishing in California

Crystal Pier — San Diego

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Small though it may be, this pier has long held special affection for me for a number of reasons. Most prominent is the fact that it was the pier where my initial introduction to ocean fishing took place…

Paradise Cove Pier — Malibu

Private Pier — Fishing License Required Paradise Cove’s pier is an icon of its history. Over decades of fishing boats, strolling lovers, angry storms, determined rebuilds and fat seagulls, it’s remained a landmark for this latitude of coastline. It used to be about twice as…

Hermosa Beach Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The first time I visited this pier was in 1982; the pier was crowded, live bait was available, and anglers were catching yellowtail. That fact may seem trivial or insignificant to the uninformed, but it seemed pretty amazing…

Santa Monica Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The angling piers of California are unique. At Redondo you find a little shop at the entrance with long rods and tackle to rent, and not far away the bait man, ready to provide clams, small fish, or…

Manhattan Beach Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The visit which sticks out in my mind when I think of the Manhattan Beach Pier was neither my first, nor my most productive visit. It was simply a typical August morning about a year after the pier…

Cayucos Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Don’t believe everything you read. On a visit to Hearst Castle I had read that the fishing at Cayucos was generally poor—and so, I avoided it for years. I would drive right by the town as I headed…

Queenfish

Croakers: Family Sciaenidae Species: Seriphus politus (Ayres, 1860); from the Greek word seriph (a kind of locust, an island near Greece, or a kind of wormwood—take your pick. Evidently, the scientist who gave the fish its scientific name, a Dr. Ayres, never specified why he…

Stearns Wharf — Santa Barbara

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required What’s with these travel writers anyway? Santa Barbara seems to get more than its fair share of articles in newspapers and travel magazines and I guess that’s natural for a city that officially calls itself “America’s Riviera.” Still,…

Malibu Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required On a visit to this pier in 2013, I happened to pick up a Malibu paper for some late night reading back at the motel. The most interesting reading that night was the real estate section, which listed…

Goleta Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required “Proceeding down the length of Goleta Pier is almost like walking along a rustic, folk version of a Parisian quay… The course along the pier is full of events and interest. There’s much that’s worth pausing over and…