Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica · near Santa Monica / Los Angeles · Los Angeles / SoCal
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Best season
- Year-round · mackerel reliable
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- No
- Licence detail
- NO LICENSE needed — public ocean pier. The iconic tourist pier also fishes; free at the end past the amusement area. Crowded but genuinely productive for mackerel and perch.
What is here
- Features
- No license required · Fish beneath the famous Ferris wheel · Reliable mackerel on Sabikis · Ultimate tourist-meets-angler spot
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- pier-jetty
- Water
- salt
- Methods
- Bait · Sabiki
- Boat
- shore
- Target species
- Mackerel & jack mackerel · Surfperch · White croaker · Halibut (occasional)
- Intl tip
- No license needed. Fish the ocean end past the amusement park. Sabiki rigs load up on mackerel; light tackle for perch. It's crowded and touristy but productive. Combine with the LA beaches and the pier's attractions. Perfect for a casual first cast.
The guide
The Santa Monica Pier — with its Ferris wheel, carousel, and endless crowds — might be the most famous pier in California, and …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Monica Pier — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.009, -118.498