Yes, you can carry a gun while fishing in California, but only under narrow conditions. Penal Code 25640 exempts licensed fishermen from the state’s concealed carry ban while they are actively fishing, and it lets them transport a handgun unloaded to and from the trip.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 25640 The exemption does not override loaded-carry laws, open-carry bans, federal prohibitions, or the many location-based rules that cover the parks, reservoirs, and shorelines where people actually fish. Getting the details wrong turns a fishing trip into a criminal case.
What Penal Code 25640 Actually Exempts
The statute says Section 25400, California’s general ban on carrying a concealed firearm, “does not apply to, or affect, licensed hunters or fishermen carrying pistols, revolvers, or other firearms capable of being concealed upon the person while engaged in hunting or fishing, or transporting those firearms unloaded when going to or returning from the hunting or fishing expedition.”1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 25640 That is the whole exemption.
Read it carefully. It covers concealed handguns. It exempts you from PC 25400 and nothing else. It does not exempt you from PC 25850, which prohibits carrying a loaded firearm in public, and it does not exempt you from PC 26350, which prohibits open carry of an unloaded handgun. So the practical question is not whether you can have a concealed handgun on you while fishing. You can. The question is whether you can load it where you’re standing, and that turns on other statutes and on the property you’re on.
The transport half of the exemption is also conditional. You are covered going to and from the fishing trip only if the handgun is unloaded during transit. Stop for groceries on the way home with a loaded pistol in your waistband and the exemption is gone: you are no longer engaged in fishing, and the firearm isn’t unloaded for transport.
You Must Already Be a Licensed Fisherman
The exemption applies to “licensed” fishermen. Anyone 16 or older needs a current California sport fishing license from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to fish inland or ocean waters. Without that license in hand before you carry, PC 25640 doesn’t apply, and you’re exposed to the same concealed-carry charge as anyone else on the street. You cannot buy a license after a stop and claim retroactive coverage.
Where the Exemption Runs Out
Even with a license and a legal handgun, the location can defeat you. Many of California’s best-known fishing spots sit on land where firearm possession is restricted by a rule that has nothing to do with PC 25400, and the fishing exemption doesn’t reach any of those rules.
State Parks and Department of Fish and Wildlife Land
California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 4313 prohibits possessing or carrying a firearm in a state park unit unless specifically authorized.2Cornell Law Institute. Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14, 4313 – Weapons and Traps The narrow authorization is for hunting in designated areas, not fishing. You can keep an unloaded firearm in a locked container in your vehicle or lodging, but wearing it on the shoreline of a state park violates the regulation.
Senate Bill 2, in effect since 2024, added a list of “sensitive places” where firearms are off-limits even to concealed carry permit holders. Parks, state parks, and property controlled by the Department of Parks and Recreation or the Department of Fish and Wildlife are all on that list. A Ninth Circuit panel partially upheld those restrictions in late 2024. As of early 2026, the bans on carry in parks, athletic areas, and DFW-controlled lands are enforceable while litigation continues, so a great many popular reservoirs and lakes are effectively no-carry.
National Parks
Federal regulation at 36 C.F.R. 2.4 allows firearm possession in a national park unit if it complies with the law of the state where the park sits and the person is not otherwise prohibited.3eCFR. 36 CFR 2.4 – Weapons, Traps and Nets In practice, California’s own restrictions travel into Yosemite, Point Reyes, and every other national park in the state. Discharging a firearm inside a national park is separately prohibited except in narrow situations such as self-defense against an imminent threat.
BLM Land
On general Bureau of Land Management public land, state and local firearm laws apply, so the fishing exemption can work on undeveloped BLM land in a rural county. Developed BLM recreation sites are different, and discharging firearms at those sites is prohibited unless otherwise authorized.4eCFR. Subpart 8365 – Rules of Conduct A remote stretch of river is treated differently from a BLM campground with a fishing dock.
Cities and Counties
Local governments layer their own firearm rules on top of state law. Some coastal cities prohibit firearms on piers, beaches, and waterfront promenades. Urban river paths and municipal harbors may fall inside no-carry zones. Before you head to any urban or suburban fishing spot, confirm the local rule with the city clerk or the police department’s non-emergency line.
School Zones
Penal Code 626.9 makes it a crime to possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. Community ponds, park lakes, and urban creeks routinely sit inside that radius. A first offense can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on circumstances.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 626.9
Getting the Handgun to the Water
Transport is where careful fishermen still get caught. PC 25640 permits carrying the handgun unloaded during the trip to or from the fishing spot.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 25640 California’s general handgun transport rules still apply on top of that: the firearm must be unloaded and stored in a locked container, meaning a fully enclosed case secured with a padlock, key lock, or combination lock. The trunk of the vehicle counts as a locked container. A glove compartment does not. Neither does an unlocked bag or a center console. Load and unload at the water, not in the parking lot on the way in or out.
Who Cannot Carry, Fishing License or Not
PC 25640 does not override federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), certain people are barred from possessing any firearm or ammunition anywhere in the United States. Those categories include anyone:
- Convicted of a felony, meaning any crime punishable by more than one year in prison
- Subject to a domestic violence restraining order
- Convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence
- Adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
- An unlawful user of controlled substances
- A fugitive from justice
- Dishonorably discharged from the military
If you fall into any of these categories, carrying a firearm while fishing is a federal offense carrying up to 10 years in prison, and the California exemption is irrelevant.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons California maintains its own prohibited persons list under PC 29800–29900, which largely overlaps.
What a Wrong Guess Costs
Multiple charges can stack from one fishing trip if you break more than one rule at the same time.
Loaded Firearm in Public (PC 25850)
A basic violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $1,000. It becomes a felony if you have a prior felony conviction, the firearm is stolen and you knew or should have known, you’re an active gang participant, or you’re a prohibited person.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 25850 This is the charge most likely to come out of a fishing scenario: loading a handgun at the water in a spot where loaded carry isn’t allowed.
Concealed Carry Without a Permit (PC 25400)
If the fishing exemption doesn’t apply, PC 25400 does. A first offense without aggravating factors is a misdemeanor. The same aggravators that elevate PC 25850 apply here.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 25400
State Park Violations
A Title 14, Section 4313 violation is separate from any Penal Code violation.2Cornell Law Institute. Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14, 4313 – Weapons and Traps A ranger can cite you under the regulation, and prosecutors can add Penal Code charges when the same conduct also violates loaded-carry or concealed-carry statutes.
Does a CCW Permit Help?
A concealed carry weapon permit under PC 26150 gives you broader authority than the fishing exemption on its own.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 26150 With a CCW you can carry during errands and stops, not only while actively fishing. After the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, California can no longer require applicants to show “good cause.” You still have to complete firearms training and clear the disqualifier list, with applications going through your county sheriff or city police chief.
SB 2’s sensitive-places restrictions apply to CCW holders too. Even with a valid permit, you currently cannot carry in parks, state parks, casinos, stadiums, bars, restaurants serving alcohol, playgrounds, libraries, zoos, museums, or DFW property. Because many prime fishing spots sit on DFW land or inside state parks, a CCW alone won’t necessarily let you carry at the water. That litigation is ongoing and the rules could shift.
Before You Go
Three checks decide whether legal carry is even on the table. You hold a current California sport fishing license. You are not a federally or state prohibited person. The specific spot you’re fishing allows firearms. Undeveloped BLM land in a rural county is the friendliest ground. A state park shoreline, a DFW-managed reservoir, or an urban waterfront is not, no matter what PC 25640 says on its own.
Keep the handgun unloaded and locked in a proper container until you’re at the water and actively fishing. Unload and lock it again before you start the car home. If you’re unsure whether a particular lake or stretch of shoreline falls inside a restricted zone, call the agency that manages the land before you drive out. A wrong guess can mean criminal charges, firearm confiscation, and a record that permanently disqualifies you from gun ownership.