Pier Fishing: Its Free but It Can Be Habit-Forming

At 7 a.m. most mornings, after her husband leaves for work and her teen-age daughter goes to school, Susan Cook picks up her fishing rod and heads for the San Clemente Pier.

Cook, a self-described “fishing addict,” fishes there nearly every day, weather permitting.

“Sometimes my husband comes home from work and has to come down here and get me to go home,” Cook says with a laugh.

Pier fishing--from one of Orange County’s seven public piers--is a year-round attraction drawing hundreds of experienced, die-hard anglers like Cook and hundreds of novices looking for an excuse to spend a day at the beach.

You don’t need a license to fish from a public pier in California, according to Paul Gregory, an associate marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game in Long Beach. And you can reasonably expect to catch mackerel, white croaker, queen fish (herring) and shiner perch--none of which has any size or bag limit.

“Beginning in May and June, you can expect to get halibut off the piers, too,” Gregory says. “But you should be aware that there is a limit of five fish. Size limit is 22 inches.”

Other pier fish that have size and bag limits include the Pacific bonito and barred sand bass. “You are allowed 10 bonito, but only five of them can be less than 24 inches,” Gregory says. “And barred sand bass must be at least 12 inches long.”

(For a synopsis of state fishing regulations, you can pick up free booklets at most bait and tackle shops. Or you can write to the California Department of Fish and Game at 330 Golden Shore Drive, Suite 50, Long Beach, Calif. 90802. Fish taken along the Orange County coast are safe to eat, according to Gregory, but that is not true in other parts of the Southland. Gregory points out that warnings against eating contaminated fish are still in effect in Santa Monica Bay and Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors.)

With summer just around the corner, the number of Orange County pier anglers will increase as fish begin to feed in greater numbers, according to Gregory. “Fishing should be much better now that the water is warming up and we are going into summertime,” he says. “The warmer the water, the better. The increase in the water temperature causes an increase in a fish’s metabolism, causing an increase in feeding. So summer is the best time for fishing.”

Don and Shirley Stanley, who run Pier Tackle at the end of San Clemente Pier, say just as many anglers are attracted by the sunny weather as they are by the fishing.

“When it is really busy in the summer, sometimes it is even hard to get a spot at the rail,” Don Stanley says. “During the summer, we’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 7, 8 or 9 p.m. depending on the weather. In the winter, we’re here on weekends, but just part of the day on weekdays, mainly for the old-timers. This is kind of like the old country store. Some people come down here regularly, year-round.”

One such regular is Dan Ryan, 78, a retired restaurant cook who has been fishing in and around the San Clemente Pier area for 52 years. Ryan, who knows most of the pier regulars and who has taught some of the younger anglers to fish, fishes only on weekdays to avoid tourists.

Most pier regulars are early risers, fishing from 7 to 9 or 10 a.m., then heading home or to work. Ramona Eyman, a slim, stylishly dressed angler, stops off at the pier nearly every morning before she goes to work in Laguna Beach. “I go to work late enough so that I have time in the morning to fish before I go,” says Eyman, who is dressed for work this morning in a chic denim skirt, matching jacket and leather boots.

“You should see her when she is out fishing in the surf in her bikini,” says Ryan. “That’s how she lures the fish.”

Most of the regulars like Ryan, Eyman and Jim Stevens, who retired from Lockheed in 1984, look out for each other. “Sometimes we get 25 people out here and they all know each other,” Stevens says. “At this pier you can put a (tackle) box and pole down and leave it and no one steals it. You can’t do that at most piers.”

Most anglers credit Daze Sherrill with helping to provide the family atmosphere at San Clemente Pier. Sherrill ran Pier Tackle for 13 years before Don and Shirley Stanley bought the shop about a year ago. When the pier was damaged and the tackle shop was destroyed during a winter storm in 1983, Sherrill kept the fishermen supplied with bait that she sold from a van parked at the end of the pier.

Sherrill, white-haired and deeply tanned from many days in the sun, still works at Pier Tackle with the Stanleys. For Sherrill, married for 43 years to a successful attorney, working at the shop is a labor of love. “She doesn’t accept a penny of money for her work,” Shirley Stanley said.

Sherrill’s husband, Maury, says: “We have three children, all grown. So this is great for Daze. Besides, she doesn’t play golf.”

COUNTY PIERS AT A GLANCE

SEAL BEACH PIER: At Ocean Avenue and Main Street. Owned by city. End of pier is locked at 10 p.m., but anglers can fish from other parts of the pier all night.

HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER: At Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street. Owned by city. Pier closed since July, 1988, when engineers declared it unsafe because of damage from storm that tore off the pier’s end, including a restaurant. Reconstruction and reopening plans are uncertain.

NEWPORT PIER: Off Balboa Boulevard, between 20th and 21st streets on Balboa Peninsula. Owned by city. End of pier closed until June 1 for reconstruction of pier restaurant. Until then, fishing is limited to segment of pier not affected by construction. Open 24 hours a day.

BALBOA PIER: Off Balboa Boulevard at Main Street on Balboa Peninsula. Owned by Newport Beach. Open 24 hours a day.

ALISO PIER: Off Coast Highway near Aliso Way in South Laguna. Owned by county. Closed for repairs. Reopening date is uncertain.

DANA POINT PIER: Inside Dana Point Harbor at end of Dana Point Harbor Drive. Owned by county. Closes at midnight.

SAN CLEMENTE PIER: Off Avenida Del Mar near Avenida Victoria. Owned by city. Closed from midnight to 4 a.m.

PIER FISHING: No license is required to fish from a public pier. No overhead casting is allowed. Anglers are advised to let lead weights dangle beneath the pier, then swing tackle out as far as the sinker will carry. Experienced anglers suggest bringing an ice chest stocked with soft drinks. As you consume the drinks, you make room for the fish you catch. Don’t leave fish lying in the hot sun to spoil. Fishing supplies--and advice--are available from the people who run bait and tackle stores near or on the piers.