Tackle Shops in Ventura County

5 shops — hours, live bait, and directions.

Updated

Ventura County's tackle shops cluster around the two harbors that launch the local fleet — Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard and Ventura Harbor a few miles up the coast — both jumping-off points for the northern Channel Islands. In Oxnard, Channel Islands Sportfishing Tackle sits inside the Channel Islands Sportfishing landing at 4151 S Victoria Ave: a full tackle store stocking live bait (squid, anchovies, and sardines when available), rental rods, and California fishing licenses for an 11-boat fleet that runs half-day through multi-day trips and serves as an IGFA weigh station. Also in the harbor, Hook's Landing is a fourth-generation family-operated bait-and-tackle shop and ticket agent that carries live bait and books an owner-operated fleet. In Ventura, Eric's Tackle Shop at 2127 E Thompson Blvd is an independent shop a few blocks off the water, known for custom rod building and rod-and-reel repair, with big-game, island, bass, and fly gear; it opens Monday through Saturday and closes Sunday. Down at Ventura Harbor, Ventura Sportfishing runs the landing's tackle shop with live bait and tackle for its northern Channel Islands trips, and nearby on Harbor Boulevard, Hyun's Tackle Shop is a retail and online tackle shop carrying rods, reels, lures, and terminal gear.

The county fishes the Santa Barbara Channel and the northern Channel Islands — Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. Rockfish are the year-round mainstay over the island reefs and dominate the catch counts. Calico bass turn on at Anacapa and the front side of Santa Cruz Island from spring through fall, alongside California halibut on the inshore flats in summer. White seabass turn on from late spring into early summer when the squid show, and yellowtail stage at the islands from spring into fall. Bluefin tuna and other offshore species move within range in summer and fall, and lingcod fill in over the reefs in fall. The northern islands tend to run a few weeks behind the Southern California bight on the seasonal calendar, so the warm-water bite arrives a touch later here than off Orange County or San Diego.

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

Shops in Ventura County

Ventura County on the map

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