l imagine l would have to be fishing on State land. However l do not wanna be handcuffed or fined. l know the constitution was written long before most of the laws that say you cannot do this. Which is the law of the land?
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 1DECLARATION OF RIGHTS


Section 25.The people shall have the right to fish upon and from
the public lands of the State and in the waters thereof, excepting
upon lands set aside for fish hatcheries, and no land owned by the
State shall ever be sold or transferred without reserving in the
people the absolute right to fish thereupon; and no law shall ever be
passed making it a crime for the people to enter upon the public
lands within this State for the purpose of fishing in any water
containing fish that have been planted therein by the State;
provided, that the legislature may by statute, provide for the season
when and the conditions under which the different species of fish
may be taken.

l was just asking what if there was a big earthquake or something. l would like to eat in an emergence.

l believe,the only time you do not need a license to fish is when your on a party boat. l hope someone else can be sure about it.

Sorry buttt, unfortunately in Cali., a license is needed no matter what was written in previous years, so says Ahhhhhhhh'nold ;).< ' ( (( > <

The only place u can fish without a license in CA r public piers, or on the (twice annual) ''Free Fishing Days''.

l am not familiar with Article 1 Section 25 of the state constitution, but l would guess that even if u used it for defense & won in court (which l doubt), it would cost u much more in time & lawyers' fees than if u simply bought a license. Plus, it would cost the state (that is, innocent taxpayers) a certain amount of money fighting the court case. But if u like wasting yours & other people is money, go right ahead.

ADDED:

Okay, l read the text of the law u posted. The part you'd worry about is this sentence:

''..that the legislature may by statute, provide for the season
when & the conditions under which the different species of fish may be taken.''

This part did not prevent them from setting up the closed areas around the Channel Islands a few years back. Requiring a fishing license is a lot less drastic than closing dozens of square miles of ocean which has been heavily fished for decades, so l do not think you'd have a chance in court.

However, if there was a severe natural disaster, l doubt any game warden would be running around ticketing people for subsistence fishing. (In truth, even if there was no disaster, chances r u would not be checked -- the game wardens in CA r pretty thinly spread.)

doubt there is any state in the US that you can fish in freshwater w/out a license..