Huntington Beach
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Fishing in Huntington Beach, California Information and Photos
 

Huntington Beach is the hub of free fishing fun in HB, CA. From the morning when the sun is just coming up and the pier opens to nightfall, you'll find fisherman and women with their rods and reels casing lines to catch some fish.  Why is the sport so beloved by all cultures and ethnic groups'  It's free, first off.  There's not another sport that puts you in touch with nature in the manner that fishing does.

Family friendly - In Huntington Beach the event is a family fun activity costing not much more than the investment in an affordable rod and reel (or you can rent one on the pier) and some bait.  Like fishing throughout California, you don't need a fishing license to fish at the Huntington Beach Pier. 

You don't  need a license  to fish on California piers. You do need a California Fishing License elsewhere, except in the twice a year free fishing days.

During my tenure at the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, I posted a web page for the CVB about grunion, and in so doing unleashed a barrage of telephone calls from the public that Visitor Services Center coordinator Connie Springer and I were forced to answer about how people can go see these little fish. People calling had this amazement that they were going to watch something as a form of entertainment, with some wanting to bring huge tour buses at midnight to see the grunion. 

When the grunion run...you catch them by hand along the shoreline. The tiny, silvery fish are eaten in casseroles, fried and prepared in a variety of ways. But they do not yield large sums of food. Here's the catch--grunion require a day license for those 16 years and older.  So these clever callers wanted to argue about why they didn't need a license to watch the fish, because their kids under 16 were going to do it. Add to that a beach curfew after 10 p.m. and things became a matter of referral for local beach operations and the Department of Fish and Game. We've seen fishermen catch all sorts of things, including stingrays and sharks off the pier. Corbina and perch are some of the favorites but there are seasons for fish and times of day that are best.