Fishing in Los Angeles: Best Freshwater & Saltwater Spots

By Andy Whitcomb

Jul 17, 2017

Los Angeles holds a surprising amount of fishing opportunities, both freshwater and saltwater. Here is where to start.

There are many options when fishing in California, but you may be pleasantly surprised by the fishing in Los Angeles. Covering some 500 square miles, a Los Angeles angler can fish freshwater or saltwater and target a wide variety of fish. 

If you want to stay freshwater and learn where to fish in Los Angeles, investigating the city parks may be a good place to start. Lakes at Lincoln Park and Legg Park get stocked with trout during cooler months, and other parks receive additional channel catfish stockings during warmer months. It may take some searching but there are bass and sunfish in the L.A. River and urban fly fishing for carp is growing in popularity.  Check out the Fishing in the City Clinics where novices can learn not only fishing techniques, but where the fishing spots in Los Angeles are and what they can hope to catch. 

If you want to try your luck in saltwater, there are several popular piers for fishing in Los Angeles. Venice Pier is 1300 feet long and the Santa Monica Pier extends 2000 feet into the sea. Who knows what may grab your baited hook? Yellowtail, sea bass, or halibut are common targets.

If you want to know where to fish outside the city of Los Angeles, fishing spots such as Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest or Lake Hemet in the Mt. San Jacinto State Park are good option, and both are stocked with trout. I’ve heard great things about Big Bear Lake’s trout prospects for taking the kids fishing. 

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, they had a Free Fishing Day on July 1, but there is still another one to take advantage of on September 2. Before fishing in Los Angles, or fishing in California, make sure to pick up a fishing license, available license agents or online. 
Andy Whitcomb
Andy Whitcomb
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.