California Fishing Piers Where You Don't Need a License

You don't need a fishing license to fish from a public pier in California's ocean or bay waters. Minimum sizes, bag limits, report cards and seasons still apply, and you're limited to two rods and lines per person. Step off the pier onto the sand or the rocks, and you need a license.

The public pier rule

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) keeps a list of public piers where no license is needed: see CDFW's public pier FAQ. Our pier pages state the rule this way:

• No fishing license is needed on a public pier in ocean or bay waters.
• Minimum sizes, bag limits, report cards and seasons still apply.
• No more than two rods and lines, handlines or crab nets per angler on a public pier.
• A license is required to fish from the beach, including to land a fish hooked from the pier, per CDFW's beach fishing page.

Local rules add to this. Several cities ban overhead casting, and some limit fishing to marked areas.

Los Angeles and South Bay

• Santa Monica Pier: open daily 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; fishing allowed on the pier.
• Manhattan Beach Pier: 928 ft; fishing allowed year-round; bait shop with gear rentals on the pier.
• Hermosa Beach Pier: open daily 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and can close for weather; no overhead casting.

Orange County

• Huntington Beach Pier: 1,850 ft; free and open daily 5 a.m. to midnight.
• Newport Pier: about 1,032 ft; open 5 a.m. to midnight. During grunion runs, a license is required.
• Balboa Pier: open 5 a.m. to midnight; on CDFW's list of license-free piers.

San Diego County

• Oceanside Pier: open 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. About 90% is open; the west-end hammerhead stays closed (City update, April 15, 2026). Bait shop and fish-cleaning station on the pier.
• Crystal Pier, Pacific Beach: fully reopened July 7, 2025, after storm repairs.
• Imperial Beach Pier: no above-rail casting; two poles max (a drop line counts as one); no fishing in closed areas. Fishing from the beach needs a license.
• Ocean Beach Pier: closed to the public pending replacement. As of August 2026, construction was targeted no earlier than 2029.

Santa Barbara and Ventura

• Stearns Wharf: fishing only in the City's Designated Fishing Areas; two rods or lines max.
• Goleta Pier: open to foot traffic only as of June 2025. Don't fish in the Goleta Slough no-take marine protected area next to the park.
• Ventura Pier: reopened June 29, 2024. The pier is license-free, but you need a license anywhere in the state beach.

Central Coast

• Pismo Pier: more than 1,200 ft; rod rentals and bait sold on the pier. Digging Pismo clams on the beach needs a license if you're 16 or older.
• Cayucos Pier: lit for night fishing. About 15 ft of storm-damaged deck was removed in late 2025, so fenced sections or closures are possible; follow posted signs.
• Santa Cruz Wharf: open daily 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. It reopened in January 2025 after its end collapsed in December 2024 storms, with the far end closed.

Where you still need a license

The exemption covers public piers in ocean or bay waters, nothing else:

• Marina del Rey jetties: a valid sport fishing license is required on the jetties.
• Tomales Bay: fishing from a skiff, kayak or the shore isn't pier fishing, so the exemption doesn't apply.
• Parker Strip: a stretch of the Colorado River, not an ocean or bay pier, so the exemption doesn't apply.
• Beaches next to piers, and the state beach around the Ventura Pier.

Buy a license through CDFW licensing before fishing anywhere the pier rule doesn't cover.

This guide is general information, not legal advice; rules change, so check the linked pages and posted signs.