How to Fish San Diego: A Beginner's Guide to Piers, Surf, Bay, and the Sportfishing Fleet

San Diego might be the most fishable city in California. Within its borders you have open-ocean piers that do not require a fishing license, surf beaches where corbina root through the sand on every incoming tide, two protected bays full of halibut and spotted bass, kelp forests holding calico bass and sheephead within a mile of shore, and one of the oldest and largest sportfishing fleets on the West Coast running boats to bluefin tuna grounds and Mexican yellowtail banks. The weather is seventy-two degrees and sunny most of the year. The water is fishable twelve months out of twelve. And the variety, from a five-dollar pier rod rental to a three-day long-range tuna trip to Guadalupe Island, is unmatched anywhere on the Pacific coast.

This guide covers the practical how-to for each of those fisheries. For the full destination overview, seasons, species calendars, where to stay, and charter fleet details, read our complete San Diego fishing guide. For the fly fishing side of Southern California rivers, see our Mammoth Lakes guide.

Pier Fishing: Free, Easy, and Productive

California law says you do not need a fishing license to fish from a public pier. That makes pier fishing the single most accessible entry point in San Diego, walk up, drop a line, catch fish.

Where to Go

Ocean Beach Pier is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast at nearly 2,000 feet. It has a T-shaped end that adds another 550 feet of rail space. The deep water at the end holds mackerel, bonito, and the occasional yellowtail. The mid-section produces halibut over sandy bottom. The inshore stretch catches surfperch and croaker. There is a bait shop on the pier. No license needed.

Shelter Island Pier sits inside San Diego Bay, which means calm water and a different species mix. Spotted bay bass, sand bass, halibut, and mackerel are the regulars. This is the pier closest to San Diego's sportfishing fleet, the Marlin Club is down the street and the harbor atmosphere is pure fishing culture. Best at night with cut squid or sardine on the bottom.

Imperial Beach Pier is the southernmost pier in California, practically on the Mexican border. It produces surfperch, corbina, yellowfin croaker, and the occasional halibut on sand-crab rigs. The crowds are thinner than OB Pier.

Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach is picturesque, there are cottages built on the pier, and it produces mackerel, bonito, and surfperch. Fishing is allowed from the outer section.

Embarcadero Marina Park Pier (downtown) is short but sits in productive bay water. Good for spotted bay bass and small halibut. Walk from the Gaslamp Quarter, fish for an hour, walk back.

Gear and Rigs

Bottom rig for bay piers (Shelter Island, Embarcadero): A standard Carolina rig, 1/2-ounce egg sinker sliding on the mainline above a barrel swivel, then 18 inches of 15-pound fluorocarbon to a #2 or #1 circle hook. Bait with a strip of squid, a chunk of sardine, or a piece of shrimp. Cast it out, let it settle, and wait. Spotted bay bass and halibut pick up the bait off the bottom.

Sabiki rig for mackerel and baitfish: At Ocean Beach Pier, mackerel school thick from spring through fall. Drop a sabiki rig (Hayabusa, size 8 hooks) down and jig it. You will fill a bucket in minutes. Keep the smaller ones as bait and eat the larger ones, fresh mackerel grilled the same day is underrated.

Surf rig for perch and corbina (Imperial Beach, OB): Use the Carolina rig with lighter weight, 1/4 to 1/2 ounce depending on current, and bait with live sand crabs if you can dig them from the beach. Sand crabs are the number one bait for surfperch and corbina in Southern California. Hook them through the shell on a #4 or #6 baitholder hook. If sand crabs are scarce, use mussel meat or small pieces of bloodworm.

A 7-foot medium-action spinning rod with a 3000-size reel handles everything from the pier. A Penn Battle III 3000 combo or Daiwa BG 3000 combo are both built for saltwater. Spool with 15-pound monofilament or 20-pound braid (PowerPro or Sufix 832) with a 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. You do not need heavy tackle on the piers, the fish are not that big, and lighter line gets more bites.

Surf Fishing: The Corbina Game

San Diego's beaches produce year-round surf fishing, and the target species that separates beginners from locals is the California corbina. Corbina are golden-bronze bottom feeders that cruise the wash zone in knee-deep water, rooting through sand for crabs and worms. They pull hard, they are beautiful, and catching one on purpose, rather than by accident, means you understand how the surf works.

Where to Go

Coronado Beach is wide, clean, and produces excellent surfperch and corbina in the troughs between sandbars. The Silver Strand stretch south of the Hotel del Coronado is less crowded. Note that sand crabs can be inconsistent here, bring backup bait.

Imperial Beach is productive for corbina, yellowfin croaker, spotfin croaker, and perch. The south end near the Tijuana River mouth can be excellent when conditions are right.

Ocean Beach offers good surf fishing alongside the pier. The jetty at the mouth of the San Diego River creates current and structure that holds fish.

Torrey Pines State Beach north of La Jolla is a quieter option with good perch and corbina fishing, especially on early morning high tides.

Tackle and Technique

The standard Southern California surf rig is an 8'6" to 9-foot medium-action spinning rod paired with a 4000-size reel. Spool with 15-pound monofilament (Berkley Trilene XL or Izorline XXX), mono has more stretch and abrasion resistance than braid in the sand and rocks of the surf zone, and the fish are line-shy. A setup like the Okuma SST 8'6" with a Shimano Stradic 4000 is the local standard. On a budget, the Okuma Celilo 8'6" with a Daiwa Regal 3500 gets the job done.

The Carolina rig is king. Thread a 1/4-ounce sliding egg sinker onto your mainline, tie to a small barrel swivel, then add 24 to 30 inches of 8- to 10-pound fluorocarbon leader to a #4 or #6 baitholder hook. Use lighter weight in calm surf, heavier in bigger waves. The sinker should hold bottom but slide freely when a fish picks up the bait.

Sand crabs are the go-to bait from late spring through fall when they are plentiful. Dig them from the wet sand at the tide line, look for the V-shaped wash pattern as waves recede. Hook small crabs through the shell, two or three per hook. When sand crabs are gone (winter months), switch to mussel meat, bloodworms, or ghost shrimp.

Cast into the troughs, the deeper channels between sandbars where fish travel. You can see them as darker water between the whitewater of breaking waves. The best fishing is on an incoming tide, especially the last two hours before high tide, when fish push into the shallows to feed.

How to Catch Corbina, Surf Fishing San Diego Surf Fishing How To: Catching Fish from the Beach in San Diego

Bay Fishing: Halibut, Spotted Bass, and Calm Water

San Diego Bay and Mission Bay are two of the most productive urban bay fisheries in the country. The water is calm, the access is easy, and the fish, particularly California halibut and spotted bay bass, are cooperative.

San Diego Bay

Shelter Island and the surrounding docks are classic spotted bay bass territory. Fish soft plastics, a 3-inch Berkley Gulp Sandworm in camo color on a 1/4-ounce Owner Ultrahead jighead, along dock pilings, riprap, and eelgrass edges. The retrieve is slow, let the jig sink, twitch it once, let it sink again. Spotted bass are ambush feeders and they eat on the pause.

Embarcadero and the downtown waterfront produce halibut over sandy bottom adjacent to eelgrass beds. Use a Carolina rig with a live smelt, anchovy, or sardine (available at local bait barges) and fish the transition between sand and grass. Halibut bury in the sand and ambush bait that crosses overhead.

Quivira Basin (where Mission Bay meets the ocean) is a hotspot. The current flowing through the channel concentrates bait, and halibut and bass stack up. Fish the outgoing tide.

Mission Bay

Mission Bay is shallower and warmer than San Diego Bay, which makes it excellent for wade fishing and kayak fishing. The channels between Fiesta Island and Crown Point hold spotted bay bass, halibut, and corvina. The jetty at the mouth of Mission Bay produces halibut, bonito, and mackerel.

For kayak fishing, launch from any of the public ramps, paddle to the channel edges, and drag soft plastics or live bait along the bottom. A 7-foot medium-light spinning rod with a 2500 reel and 10-pound braid is the right setup for kayak bay fishing.

Key Tip

Fish the moving tide. The worst time to fish San Diego's bays is dead slack, the water stops, the bait stops, the predators stop. Incoming tide is generally best because it pushes clean ocean water (and bait) into the bay. Time your trip for two hours before and after a tide change.

Offshore: The Sportfishing Fleet

San Diego's sportfishing fleet is legendary. H&M Landing and Point Loma Sportfishing have been running boats since the 1930s and 1940s. Fisherman's Landing operates long-range boats that run multi-day trips to Mexican waters for bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, and wahoo. For a beginner, the half-day trip is where you start.

Half-Day Trips

A half-day boat (4 to 5 hours) typically costs $50 to $80 per person. That includes your rod, reel, tackle, bait, and fishing license (the boat's license covers all passengers). You show up at the landing, buy your ticket, board the boat, and the crew handles everything. Deckhands will rig your rod, show you how to cast, and gaff your fish when you hook one.

Half-day boats fish the kelp beds along the Point Loma coastline, targeting calico bass (kelp bass), sand bass, rockfish, sheephead, bonito, and mackerel. During summer months, the boats may push farther offshore when yellowtail or barracuda are in range. The fishing is bottom-oriented, you drop a jig or bait to the kelp and reel up.

What to bring: Sunscreen, a hat, layers (morning fog burns off by 10 AM), snacks, and water. The boat has a galley for food and drinks. Seasickness is possible, take Bonine or Dramamine the night before and morning of if you are prone. Fish from the stern (back of the boat) if you are worried about motion.

San Diego Half-Day Sportfishing, Kelp Bed Sea Bass

Three-Quarter and Full-Day Trips

For yellowtail and larger species, the three-quarter-day ($100 to $150) and full-day ($150 to $250) trips run farther, to the Coronado Islands (Mexican waters, passport or fishing license required) or the offshore banks. These trips target yellowtail, bluefin tuna, dorado, and white seabass depending on season.

Yellowtail season peaks May through October. The standard technique is fly-lining a live sardine, hooking it through the nose on a 2/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook with 25-pound Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon leader, no weight, and letting it swim. When a yellowtail hits a fly-lined sardine, the reel screams and the fight is on. Yellowtail are among the hardest-fighting fish pound-for-pound in the Pacific.

Long-Range (Bucket List)

San Diego is the long-range sportfishing capital of the world. Multi-day trips (1.5 to 16 days) run south to Mexican waters, Cedros Island, Guadalupe Island, the Hurricane Bank, targeting 100- to 300-pound bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, and giant yellowtail. These trips are not for beginners on day one, but they are the reason serious anglers fly to San Diego from around the world. Something to work toward.

Knots You Need

Uni Knot, the all-purpose knot for tying hooks, lures, and swivels to your line. It works with mono, fluoro, and braid. The California sportfishing fleet uses it more than any other knot.

Double Uni Knot, for connecting braid to fluorocarbon leader. Essential for every setup described above.

Dropper Loop, creates a loop in your mainline for attaching a hook on a multi-hook bottom rig. Used on the sportfishing boats for rockfish and calico bass.

Improved Clinch Knot, fast alternative to the uni for light-line applications like surf rigs and bay fishing.

Double Uni Knot: How to Tie Braid to Fluorocarbon

Practical Details

Fishing License: No license needed on public piers. For everything else, surf, bay, kayak, boat, California residents pay $58.09 for an annual license, non-residents pay $174.14. One-day licenses are $19.14, two-day $28.59. Available online at wildlife.ca.gov/licensing or at any tackle shop. Sportfishing boat tickets include your license.

Where to Buy Tackle and Bait: Squidco (Point Loma) is a San Diego institution for offshore tackle. Dana Landing Market in Mission Bay carries live bait and bay fishing essentials. Walmart and Bass Pro Shops (in the mall at Mission Valley) have general gear. For live bait, the bait barges in San Diego Bay and Mission Bay sell live sardines, anchovies, and smelt directly to kayakers and small boaters.

Best Times: Pier and surf fishing are best early morning and late afternoon. Bay fishing is best on moving tides (check tide charts for San Diego at tides4fishing.com). Offshore trips run year-round, with summer (June through October) being peak season for yellowtail, tuna, and dorado.

What to Wear: Layers. San Diego mornings can be cool and foggy (the "May Gray" and "June Gloom" marine layer), but by midday it is warm and sunny. Bring a light jacket for early offshore starts. Polarized sunglasses for bay and surf. Wading boots or old sneakers for surf fishing, the sand gets rocky in some spots.

For the full rundown on San Diego's fishing seasons, species, and planning your trip, read our complete San Diego fishing guide.