Tackle Shops in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz sits on the north shore of Monterey Bay, and its two tackle shops both work out of the water's edge. Bayside Marine, in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor at 333-B Lake Avenue, is the area's full-service shop — a deep rod, reel, and lure inventory staffed by people who fish the bay, with reel and rod repair and a commercial-fishing supply side. It opens at 6 AM daily, and on mornings when the boats are running it puts live anchovies out on the harbor's S dock. A mile west on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz Boat Rental keeps a stocked tackle shop — hooks, line, sinkers, and lures, plus fresh and frozen bait — alongside the 16-foot skiffs it rents for fishing the inner bay. Between them they cover both ends of a Santa Cruz trip: gear and live bait for the harbor fleet, and a walk-on tackle counter and rental boat off the wharf.

Northern Monterey Bay is a year-round bottomfishery with a seasonal pelagic overlay. Rockfish and lingcod hold over the reefs from grounds like the Soquel Hole out toward Davenport, open under California's groundfish rules. California halibut work the sandy flats through the warmer months, sand dabs are a reliable bay fishery, and Dungeness crab is the winter draw once the season opens. Chinook salmon is trolled in spring and summer when the ocean season is open — California's salmon seasons are set each year and have been heavily restricted recently, so confirm the dates before you plan around it. In warm-water years, albacore and the occasional bluefin tuna show on the longer offshore runs. Santa Cruz's party and charter boats run from the harbor and the Municipal Wharf.

Select a shop or scroll the map to find the one closest to where you'll fish.

Shops in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz on the map