Can I Legally Fish Three Species at Once?

November 5, 2020

Fishing for three species at once?

Question: I would like to fish for sanddab, squid and rockfish on the same day. Can I do that legally? I believe it would be legal to first catch sanddab and squid with multiple hooks, and then switch over to a two-hook rig for rockfish? (Michael)

Answer: The setup you described would work. The general regulation is that you can use any number of hooks and lines to catch finfish in ocean waters, per California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 14, section 28.65. But there are exceptions. When fishing for or in possession of rockfish, you may use only one line with no more than two hooks. There also may be geographic limitations. For example, if you are fishing in the San Francisco Bay, you may use only one line with not more than three hooks. See section 28.65 for additional restrictions.

You also must adhere to the regulations for each species you mentioned. There’s no bag limit for sanddab in California, per CCR Title 14, sections 28.48 and 27.60, and no possession limit, per section 27.60(a). And while there’s no general bag limit on the take of squid (see CCR Title 14, section 29.70), there are geographic limitations (see section 29.05).

The limits on rockfish are more complex. When fishing in the ocean you can take no more than 20 finfish, with no more than 10 of a single species, per CCR Title 14, section 27.60. There are a number of laws that aggregate several species into a limit such as the Rockfish/Greenling/Cabezon Complex limit of 10.

Bottom line: There’s nothing preventing you from first catching sanddab and squid using multiple lines and hooks, then switching to a two-hook rig for rockfish. You can fish for sanddab, squid and rockfish in the same day as long as you adhere to the most restrictive method of take for the species you are fishing for or have in your possession.