Fishing Crystal Pier (Pacific Beach, CA.)

Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach is one of my most favorite piers. It seems you will always catch at least something here even on a bad day. When I fish crystal pier I always bring my special set up, Shade chairs are a great way to protect you from the sun and gives you a seat instead of standing all day.

Motel and Store:
Once you are on the pier you'll notice there is a motel built in the pier letting you rent a room over the water if you want. As soon as you pass the motel part of the pier you will then see a very small bait and tackle store and the entrance to the fishing area. The bait store is always ran by one guy who must live there because every time I have gone to that pier he is there morning till night. The store carries snacks, drinks, and some bait and tackle, you can also rent a pole from him if you don't want to bring yours or don't have one. The only thing that I wish he would carry is ice.

Fish to catch and spots to fish:
On the pier you can see surfers on the right and swimmers on the left, but the swimmers and surfers aren't allowed near the pier. If you fish close to shore, that is where you will find the perch and croaker, which are great fish to pan fry. Towards the middle of the pier you will still find perch and croaker, but also sardines and mackerel. At the end of the pier you can try for the bigger shark and sometimes yellow tail. All throughout the pier you will find sting ray, shovel nose guitar fish, smelt, lizard fish, halibut and even a small leopard shark here or there. People have caught many different kinds of fish here, but I mentioned the ones that I see the most.

Barred Surfperch

Shovelnose Guitarfish

Yellowfin Croaker

If your looking for a place to fish without a boat or fishing license in San Diego, Crystal Pier is the place to be. That's right I said NO FISHING LICENSE, most piers in California do not require you to have a fishing license. So even if you have never fished in your life you can just show up empty handed and rent a pole from the pier store and your on your way to catching a meal.

The only draw back to this pier is that it closes at sundown, unless you are staying in one of the rooms of the motel, then you can fish all night. But just because the pier closes doesn't mean you have to go home, if you have a fishing license you can go surf fishing on the beach.