Ventura Harbor — Channel Islands Sportfishing
Ventura Harbor (Ventura County) · near Ventura · Los Angeles / SoCal
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Year-round; rockfish season typically spring–fall (check CDFW closures)
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+); 1-day licenses at the landing.
What is here
- Features
- Gateway to Channel Islands NP (Anacapa/Santa Cruz) · Big-fish reefs · Half-day to multi-day island trips · Quality rockfish & lingcod
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- ocean-boat
- Water
- salt
- Methods
- Live bait · Dropper-loop · Surface iron · Deep jigging
- Boat
- boat
- Target species
- Rockfish · Lingcod · Calico bass · White seabass & halibut
- Intl tip
- The full-day island trips are worth the extra cost over half-days; buy the 1-day license at the landing and bring layers — it's cooler offshore.
The guide
Ventura Harbor (and neighboring Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard) is the launch point for fishing the rich reefs around Anacapa…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Ventura Harbor — Channel Islands Sportfishing — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.2467, -119.266