Spiny Dogfish Archives - Pier Fishing in California

Oceanside Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required The date was August 25, 1966, just nine days before my bride and I would tie the knot. The plans were finished and hopefully everything was ready to go. It was time to relax and this would be…

Ventura Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required 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 the case one evening in Ventura. Just two hours previously I…

Commercial St. Dock — Eureka

Public Access Area — Status Unclear — Fishing License May Be 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…

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…

Pacific Spiny Dogfish

Dogfish Sharks: Family Squalidae Species: Squalus suckleyi; from the Latin word squalus (shark) and suckleyi honoring George Suckley (1830-1869), a naturalist and Civil War surgeon OR Squalus acanthias (Linnaeus, 1758); from the Latin word squalus (shark) and the Greek word akanthias (spines). Pick A or B—but…

Del Norte Street Pier — Eureka

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required It was at this small pier that I witnessed one of the most unusual if not fulsome sights that I have seen on a California Pier. I had arrived early one morning in July of 1997 to try…

San Francisco Municipal Pier aka “The Muni”

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required There are times when I don’t particularly like people to know that I am “The Pier Fisherman.” That’s generally true when I’m out on a pier and my fishing skills are stinking up the joint (in other words,…

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…

Newport Pier — McFadden Wharf

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required It’s nothin’ fancy, but it will do Sun is rising, day is new Birds are singing a sinful tune It’s nothin’ fancy, but it will do It’s nothin’ fancy, roll out the folding chairs Leave your worries over…