2 rods on cattle boat

[alanw]

Ok so yesterday on a cattle boat out of Dana Point I had a live bait in the water and decided to toss a waxwing into the kelp. I was told by a crew member that confirmed with the captain that it's illegal to use two poles at the same time in California without some "special" license, or while trolling. I was not about to argue with the captain or crew and quickly complied, but I know this was talked about before. The 2nd rod rule (and 2nd rod stamp) is for inland waters only and you can theoretically use 1000 poles in the ocean if you wanted with some exceptions such as while rock fishing. I'm fine if the boat has a one rod rule but to say it's illegal in CA seems misinformed, unless there's some rules I don't know about that apply while on a charter/sport-fishing boat?