Stearns Wharf Bait & Tackle

Stearns Wharf has been in Santa Barbara since 1872 — the oldest working wooden wharf in California. The bait shop on it is much younger: the current operation opened in 2005, replacing Mike's Bait & Tackle, which burned in the November 1998 wharf fire. Drew runs the counter today.

Rod-and-bait combos rent at $10 per hour or $30 for the half-day; crab nets at $7 per hour or $28 half-day. Bait inventory covers cut anchovies for halibut, ghost shrimp and pile worms for perch and bass, squid and mackerel chunks for rays and sharks. No fishing license required to fish the wharf or Goleta Pier — the lowest barrier-to-entry saltwater fishing in Santa Barbara.

Wharf species mix: mackerel year-round, perch in winter, halibut and bonito spring through fall. Daily 9-5, seven days a week. See the California tackle directory. See also: Hook Line & Sinker inland on Las Positas and Channel Islands Sportfishing Tackle.