# Pier fishing...what have you caught?



## jody7818 (Dec 12, 2007)

So what have you guys caught on piers in the ocean?  

I fished the Panama City Beach pier (the long one...can't remember the name) several times.  I've managed to catch only a few fish that looked like snakes and a blowfish.  It was about the size of a volleyball when it was fully blown.


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## urbaneruralite (Dec 12, 2007)

I don't fish from piers, but I have fished near them from my canoe. I've caught sharks, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and pogies. You can catch everything except the extremely deep blue water stuff from a pier at times.

Saltwater fishing can be seasonal. Not everything is available every time.


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## jody7818 (Dec 12, 2007)

urbaneruralite said:


> I don't fish from piers, but I have fished near them from my canoe. I've caught sharks, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and pogies. You can catch everything except the extremely deep blue water stuff from a pier at times.
> 
> Saltwater fishing can be seasonal. Not everything is available every time.



You've caught sharks from a canoe?  Now that's some serious shark fishing


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## Nicodemus (Dec 12, 2007)

Those snakelike fish were probably ribbonfish.

I`ve caught, black drum, whiting, sheephead, pompano, spanish mackeral, mangrove snapper, blues, and my favorite, which I specifically fish for, flounder.


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## grim (Dec 12, 2007)

nicodemus said:


> Those snakelike fish were probably ribbonfish.



I was thinking the same.  They have really nasty looking fangs and are great king fish bait.


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## D_Happyfeet (Dec 12, 2007)

Off the pensacola beach pier we have caught....

Redfish
shark
blowfish
trout
stingray
spanish mackarel
ladyfish
flounder

We have seen others catching sheephead, kings, and cobia.

Of course the redfish were the best.


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## fishhead (Dec 12, 2007)

check out this website
www.okaloosaislandpier.com


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## Parker Phoenix (Dec 12, 2007)

The only pier I ever fished from was at jeckyll, we caught catfish,shark, and whiting. I did witness some flounder being caught and one HUGE redfish.


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## centerc (Dec 12, 2007)

www.skywaypiers.com


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## Wood Smoke (Dec 12, 2007)

*Pier fishing*

St. Simon's Pier - June 2007 Fishing Report:

Caught:  SUNBURN!!


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## DBM78 (Dec 12, 2007)

I limit out on spanish when the bait is running around the skyway pier in Tampa that usually around April-June every year always catch them on chrome gotcha plugs.


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## 7mm mag 06 (Dec 12, 2007)

small jacks  and some  sheepshead and small snapper around navarre


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## urbaneruralite (Dec 13, 2007)

Not too serious. Anything that feels like its over four feet or so I lean in to real hard to get cut off. If you're sitting on a pogie pod you'll wear yourself out if you try to get every shark you hang into up to unhook. They're a nuisance when you're trying to jump tarpon.

Oh, and its not your usual kind of canoe. Its a Radisson-type canoe called a Sportspal. It won't flip and won't sink. I even use it to snorkel out of and climb in and out easily without dumping it. I don't suggest taking the normal canoe like a Coleman you get as Bass Pro through the surf.

Nicodemus, where you catching pompano off the GA coast? If its predictable fishing I'd sure appreciate some tips. Thats one of my all-time favorite fish.


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## nickel back (Dec 27, 2007)

centerc said:


> www.skywaypiers.com



I love that place......can't wait to go back


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## j_seph (Dec 27, 2007)

I can tell ya what I did not catch, we were at Myrtle Beach this year and I had 2 of my catfish rods w/ 80lb braid on them fishing w/ mullet. Well the other pole had cut squid on it and kept getting bumped, so I'm watching it when all of a sudden my clicker starts slowly going off on the mullet. Well I set the hook and off toward the middle of the Atlantic it goes at about 90mph................................................................................................................................then comes off


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## tcward (Dec 27, 2007)

Caught a bunch of bluefish with a McDonalds soda straw on a treble hook of a pier in Gulf Shores!


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## JerkBait (Jan 1, 2008)

tcward said:


> Caught a bunch of bluefish with a McDonalds soda straw on a treble hook of a pier in Gulf Shores!


 

how much of the straw do you use?




I was at the apache pier in myrtle beach this year and hooked into the biggest fish ive seen alive. A 6-7ft. black tipped shark that i hooked multiple times with my bass rod. he never broke me off just swallowed past my leader and cut the line. it was the coolest thing to feel the power of one of those when i set the hook.  couple guys hooked some kings but they broke off as well.


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## Paymaster (Jan 2, 2008)

tcward said:


> Caught a bunch of bluefish with a McDonalds soda straw on a treble hook of a pier in Gulf Shores!



I do the same.


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## robertyb (Jan 2, 2008)

The pier in PC Beach is (was) the Dan Russell pier. It is being torn down this month and should be rebuilt within 18 months.

I have caught redfish, spanish, kings, cobia, blues, hardtails, catfish, mahia mahia, blowfish, rays, Tarpon, sharks, snapper, grouper, flounder, pompano, whiting, jacks and several other assorted species off of it over the years. I personally know others that caught Tuna and sailfish off it.

Here are a few from last my last trip:


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## Dixiesimpleman32 (Jan 4, 2008)

i used to fish that pier alot 10 or 12 years ago before the storms tore most of it up.man we caught alot fish and had a blast on that pier..im glad to hear they are going to rebuild it.Do you know how long it will be robert?I was looking down off the end of the pier one day guy had a nice spanish on and right when he was going to pull it up a huge cobia atleast 6 foot long jumped on the spanish the bigggest ive seen in person i seen some pics of some bigguns like that.i believe its the best pier in the world to fish when its the orignal length.ive seen most of the fish robert wrote caught plus seen a couple barracudas and seen some people hook up with amberjacks.I personaly have caught 50 or more bonitas there.first cast im ate coming down.


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## robertyb (Jan 4, 2008)

Last word I got was they will tear it down this month and it will take 18 months ( I will bet on 24) to rebuild it. It will be several feet higher off the water than it was and will have a circular end rather than a T on it. No bathrooms planned even though it will be 1550 feet long which is a little longer than it used to be. It is also supposed to have higher railings than the old pier which will make it harder to fish off of. It will also have blowthrough panels running the length of it so storm surges will not destroy it.

I have not fished the Pensacola pier but I think it is the same design.


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## dutchman (Jan 5, 2008)

robertyb said:


> Last word I got was they will tear it down this month and it will take 18 months ( I will bet on 24) to rebuild it. It will be several feet higher off the water than it was and will have a circular end rather than a T on it. No bathrooms planned even though it will be 1550 feet long which is a little longer than it used to be. It is also supposed to have higher railings than the old pier which will make it harder to fish off of. It will also have blowthrough panels running the length of it so storm surges will not destroy it.
> 
> I have not fished the Pensacola pier but I think it is the same design.



No bathrooms?!?! Dang, where am I gonna hide when the lightning starts from time to time?

Oh well...

And I've missed that T for a while now...

The Dan Russell Pier is my favorite. Over the years, I've caught Kings, Spanish, Jack Crevalle, Bonito, Mahi, Hard Tails, Bules, Catfish, and other assorted "trash" fish.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 5, 2008)

urbaneruralite said:


> Not too serious. Anything that feels like its over four feet or so I lean in to real hard to get cut off. If you're sitting on a pogie pod you'll wear yourself out if you try to get every shark you hang into up to unhook. They're a nuisance when you're trying to jump tarpon.
> 
> Oh, and its not your usual kind of canoe. Its a Radisson-type canoe called a Sportspal. It won't flip and won't sink. I even use it to snorkel out of and climb in and out easily without dumping it. I don't suggest taking the normal canoe like a Coleman you get as Bass Pro through the surf.
> 
> Nicodemus, where you catching pompano off the GA coast? If its predictable fishing I'd sure appreciate some tips. Thats one of my all-time favorite fish.




I used to catch em off the Flagler Beach pier in Florida, and still catch em some off Mexico Beach pier, usin` either sand fleas or yellow jigs. 

I`ve never fished off the Georgia coast. That`s gonna change though!!


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## FishingAddict (Jan 6, 2008)

All of the above plus snook, ladyfish and tarpon.  Ive seen kings hooked as well, not very common.  

Don't forget the unusual  and common fish like toad fish, pufferfish, needle fish, cow fish, grunts, jacks, spots, etc.

Had a buddy hook a cormerant once.  Thought it was a fish at first, then he had a kite.  Poor bird.

Snook are my favorites in and around piers.

Best pier I know of is on Sanibel island.  At least is was 10 years ago.


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## FishingAddict (Jan 6, 2008)

Nic- Have you ever taken a rootbeer DOA to a flat and dragged it really really slow?  DEADLY on those flat fish!!


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## zach987 (Jan 21, 2008)

FishingAddict said:


> Best pier I know of is on Sanibel island.  At least is was 10 years ago.



When I lived there the one on the ocean side was always too crowded. I am not saying the fishing wasn't tremendous though.  We used to spearfish near there in the evening after work. Snook and red fish were a plenty.


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## drawdown (Jan 21, 2008)

Nice Fish


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## fishhead (Jan 22, 2008)

Paymaster said:


> I do the same.



If you go to Walmart and find some of those sunglass straps, then cut them to length, they last a lot longer than a straw. they also come in different colors. I personally like chartreuse.


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## potsticker (Jan 23, 2008)

i wuz a pier rat on dan rusell, had my own cart flying gaf, bait bucket sabiki rod and reel. Fished it for years caught limits of spanish on that bobber, straw deal. The last year i fished it, i caught 2 kings about 20lbs each. Everyone catches pelicans and seagulls. We all had that pesty loggerhead gather everyones line. I once hung a tarpon, halfway back to the pier a shark cut it  in half.I think the livelyest thing i caught wuz a girls bikini top. Once you get that live alewia going it wont stop, we tried for a while to retrieve that top but the tide had turned.


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## ThatredneckguyJamie (Jan 23, 2008)

Whiting, spanish mackerel, flounder, trout, bluefish, sheepshead, kingfish, cobia, sharks, catfish, look downs, stingrays, toadfish, bluecrab...geez, I'm sure there are more that I am not thinking of at the moment. We are blessed to have one of the nicest piers I know of here in Jax beach...1/4 mile out.


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