First Pierfishing Trip

[vtfisherman]

Hello all,
I've been reading up on a lot of posts lately and want to thank everyone for sharing all of their knowledge.

In July I had my first experience at pier fishing at MB at Springmaid Pier. Since it was my first and I had no idea what I was doing the fishing was slow mostly. We did manage to catch some good whiting, that tasted great, and also some toadfish, pinfish, and a ribbon fish. The whiting were caught on squid strips and frozen shrimp, but most of the bait used was stolen. All the whiting were caught on fishfinder rigs about 100-200 feet from the wave breaks. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

After reading several posts I've learned alot about fishing piers and am anxious to try some things out. However, there are several things I still have questions about, and was hoping some of you might help explain. I’d like to catch some flounders, and maybe hook up with some macks, blues, or anything else willing to put up a stronger fight. However, I’m not sure where I should be fishing, what I should be using, and what I should be looking for while I’m out there.

Also I noticed there were no updates on Springmaid Pier fishing in this forum. Is it not a good pier to fish? I know there is an artificial reef about 50-150 from the pier on the south end. How far along the pier is it?

Like I said I am a newbie to pier/surf fishing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[clinder]

welcome aboard vtfisherman!! flounder on piers love to hang out right around the pilons on the down current side. just drop a live mud minnow or finger mullet or live shtimp. if he is there he will get it quickly. walk from pilon to pilon dropping the live bait down each one for a couple of minutes each. if you have any specific questions just ask either myself or someone else on the board will be happy to help.you can use the private messege link at the top of the page to send me a specific question anytime. again welcome aboard,happy learning and hope you have great success. :)

[Railroader]

Welcome aboard the board, VT....

You will learn a bunch of good info if you stay and hang out a while. We are all still learning, no matter how long we have fished...that's what keeps us going back time after time.

Besides, time you spend fishing is not taken from the total time of your life....... :)

So, go fishin' as much as you can, and enjoy the forum. Keep us posted with your progress!

[macadoo]

Welcome VT.... Try out all of the piers in the area. Apache is 1206 feet long. Lots of friendly people there. Have heard very little on the other piers. State park seems to do good with flounder.

[vtfisherman]

Thanks for the tips. Do flounder typically hang out close to shore, around the break line, almost everywhere?

One big question I forgot to post above is about bait schools. While fishing we spotted some huge bait schools, some that were probably several 100 feet across. If I remember correct, some of the men were calling some of the schools menhaden(?). Also a school of something came directly underneath the pier. There were fish jumping around like crazy in what appeared to be the 12-14" range. Could these be Spanish Mackerels?

Once again thanks for the quick reply. All suggestions welcome!

[macadoo]

The ones under the pier may have been mullet being chased by Spanish or Blues. The other school you mentioned was menhaden. Great King bait.

[MBsandflea]

macadoo, I wouldn't break out the crab stuffing for the flounder too soon if you are planning on catching them at the state park. As far as piers go, the state park tends to follow a little behind all of the others in catch rate for anything. The people are nice and the atmosphere is good, add the lowest rate to fish a pier in the area and you'll understand why people fish there. It isn't because it's a great pier, average at best. You'll catch more fish elsewhere, but you're hit or miss with the people.