Fishing
Pier Fishing
Hermosa
Known as the “best little beach city,” Hermosa Beach is a thriving community of approximately 20,000 residents located at the southern end of Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County. Its beaches have been ranked among the best in the world and its fishing is known for variety and quality.
Hermosa Pier itself extends 1,140 feet long and 20 feet wide. The bottom of the pier is primarily sand, and the pilings have a heavy growth of mussels. What attracts many larger fish out to the pier is the artificial reef surrounding the last 650 feet of the pier. While the artificial reef attracts several fish, the sandy beaches provide great surf action. For those non-anglers, you can enjoy a beautiful view when you go down Pier Avenue, as the street is lined with palm trees, colorful banners created by local artists and filled with restaurants and shops. Aside from its beauty, Hermosa Pier is an environmentally-friendly destination. Below the street, the city built an innovative drainage system to prevent flooding, improve ocean water quality and reduce water usage. The drainage system captures trash, stormwater and urban runoff that might otherwise end up in the ocean. The stormwater is then recycled to irrigate Pier Avenue landscaping. Improving the water quality makes Hermosa Pier fishing safer and better for anglers.
Anglers fishing off this pier can expect to catch barred surfperch, yellowfin croaker, spotfin croaker, corbina, queenfish, white croaker (one of the Do Not Consume fish), jacksmelt, walleye surfperch, silver surfperch, pileperch, black seaperch, salema, halibut, California scorpionfish, Catalina blue perch, opaleye, blacksmith, Pacific butterfish, sargo, Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel, and Pacific sardine. The last half of the pier will see even more variety. Large game fish include bonito, yellowtail, white seabass and California halibut; sharks and rays are also a possibility.
Hermosa Pier is opened from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. making it available for early and late night pier fishing. This pier offers many lights, benches and fish-leaning stations along the pier. Parking is low cost, but can be difficult during the summer months, so best to start fishing or catching waves very early in the morning before the crowds.