White Seabass 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…

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…

Oceanside Small Craft Harbor Fishing Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Talk about a contrast. The Oceanside Pier is huge and can handle several hundred anglers at a time; this small pier can maybe handle a dozen or so anglers but it would feel crowded. The bigger Oceanside Pier…

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…

White Seabass

Croakers: Family Sciaenidae Species: Atractoscion nobilis (Ayres, 1860) from the Greek words atrax (spindle) and skion (from sciaena, an old name for a European croaker) and the Latin word nobilis (noble). Known as Cynoscion nobilis until the 1990s. White seabass taken at the Ventura Pier…

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…

Imperial Beach Pier

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required Students of history should remember that Friday, November 22, 1963 was the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. For those who were alive during those days, the weekend that followed was a haunting melodrama still vivid more…

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…

Ocean Beach Pier — San Diego

Public Pier — No Fishing License Required I should have been there (but I wasn’t). The date was July 2, 1966, the official opening day for the Ocean Beach Pier. Included in the 7,000 people who crowded the pier that day were local politicians, city…