Location

This public fishing pier is located in Oceanside, approximately 35 miles north of downtown San Diego. From San Diego take I-5 North to Mission Ave in Oceanside. Go right on Mission Ave, turn right onto N. Myers St. and then turn left on Pier View Way.

General Info

Oceanside Pier is a historic piece of the California coast-line. It is one of the largest wooden piers in California, being 1,942 feet long. The current "version" of the pier was built in 1987, but 4 prior piers were built in the same location. This is arguably one of the better piers in the county as far as fishing is concerned. While not quite what many long-time anglers remember, it is still a very productive fishing pier. It stretches out into the pacific from a 3.5 mile sandy beach. Ruby's Diner is located at the end of the pier, offering anglers and visitors a nice place to sit down and enjoy a meal. 

Schedule and Operating Hours

The Oceanside Pier is open 24 hours a day.

Facilities

There is a parking lot right by the pier entrance, with additional parking spots available along the street (metered). There is a restaurant (Ruby's Diner) and snack bar on the pier itself. Bait and tackle is also sold on the pier. There are bathrooms, fishing cleaning stations, park-style benches and lights along the length of the pier.

Fishing Information

California Fishing Licenses are not required while fishing from the pier. Because of the long length of the pier, there is a large variety of available fish species to catch. Typical surf-line species of fish are available close to shore, including; barred surf perch, corbina, croaker, stingrays, guitarfish, and sargo. From the mid-section to the end of the pier you can catch halibut, sand bass, sand sharks, and more pelagic species like mackeral, barracuda and even white seabass or yellowtail.

The pier is probably known best for its productive halibut and sand bass fishing. Live bait works well, if anglers are able to either catch it or buy it at a tackle shop off the pier. Sand bass and halibut can be taken regularly though with artificial presentations, however a busy pier can make it difficult to cast efficiently. 

Special Regulations

There are no special regulations for the pier, regular regulations apply. The Department of Fish & Game regularly patrol the pier checking angler's catches. Please ensure that you are only keeping fish that are of legal size. The availability of white sea bass can cause problems for anglers, as sometimes they are misidentified and undersized fish are kept when they should have been released.

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