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Piers and Jetties Angling

The first thing to concern yourself with is safety. Do you have enough light to see. Most striped bass fishing is done at night. Make sure you have been to the pier and or jetty in the daylight at both high and low tides and that you are familiar with the terrain. Make sure it is safe!!!

Can you park on it? Do others park there? When in doubt. Don't!!!

Be careful. Make sure you have a good non slip sole to your shoes. If you are wise, and want added footing when fishing jetties, purchase a pair of creepers. Lowa makes a decent hiking and river bed shoe for this purpose. Korkers also, but they are more expensive. They have interchangeable soles for different tasks. Piers and jetties are slimey and you can very easily fall and break your neck. If you are fishing a fast moving outflow and fall off the jetty you could get sucked out to sea. Another indispensible tool to have while fishing jetties at night is a headlamp which allows you to keep both hands free while changing terminal tackle.

Dont wear waders on a jetty or a pier in case you fall in. And carry a personal flotation device with you if possible. Accidents happen!!! Fish with a buddy if possible. Carry as little gear as possible to your destination especially if the jetty is treacherous footing. Make sure you have explored the pitfalls before you journey out there, especially at night.

Now.

Rods And Reels

If your just starting out an inexpensive reel and a 6 or 8 ft. fast to medium action spinning rod will work fine, and you can find a cheap combo for under 50 dollars. Your rod should be capable of supporting 3/4 oz. to 2 oz. lures. The rods with the long handles are better for boat rod holders. If you want a nice pier rod Shimano has many for under $100. A spinning reel like the Penn 6500 SS series is excellent for this purpose spooled with 15 to 20 pound test monofilament.

Jetty and Pier Rigs
A regular double hooked bottom rig is the most common rig used for small bottom fish. You can use inexpensive hooks from Eagle Claw, Mustad, Jeros and others. Purchase pre made packaged snelled hooks with the monofilament leaders on them. You can make them yourself, just put the loop through the hole on the rig and run the hook through the loop on the leader and pull it tight. Your geographic location and season will determine which species to target. Here we are only interested in striped bass.

Fishing Line
Some of the information you read here is redundant. It is basically the same as for all species close to the shore.

The best line size is 15 to 20 pound test. I personally use ande line and trilene big game. 30 pound monofilament doesn't cast as good as smaller size line. If your looking for casting distance try a line made out of Spectra or similar type of braided fiber line. If your using monofilament line and want more distance try using a small diameter high strength line. Elsewhere on this site you will find tips on getting distance with your cast, for obvious safety reasons but dont try to a distance cast off a jetty.

Sinkers
The best sinker to use is the bank shaped kind they are more aerodynamic and dont get caught as easily as a pyramid sinkers do in rocks. Pyramids work best with sandy bottoms.For pier fishing use a 2 oz. but if their is a strong current or the water is rough you will have to upsize accordingly. Generally a 3, 4 or 5 oz sinker will hold the bottom for you in most conditions.

 

Tight lines and screamin reels !!!

 

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All Stripers All The Time!!