# Pier the end or half way vs the surf



## buckstand (Sep 17, 2014)

Yes I know... another rookie questions (s)

Am I reading this correct: to catch Drum and Puppy Drum the odds are much better on the end of the pier. To catch spot, blues, sea mullet, pompano half way out the pier is good. Is there an advantage to fish off a pier rather than chunking a big surf rod in the surf? Does the pier offer the structure that attracts fish that the surf does not offer? or is it just deeper water out on the pier end.

I just try to find bluer water and start fishing in the surf. 

Thanks for the lesson 

:fishing:


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

You can catch pups as easy or easier from the surf and middle of the pier as the end,maybe easier.. Big drum are fished from the end,but are often hooked from the middle of the pier.. Water can be deeper on the end,but not always.. Sometimes there are outsucks on the sides of the pier,or off the corners of the end,that are formed by the pier as a structure..Plenty of fish such as flounder and sheephead use the pier as structure,so it does offer some.. Glassminnows and other bait sometimes use the pier structure as well.. I like fishing piers as opposed to the surf,but fish both when opportunity offers.. Bluer water is not always the best for catching pups and big drum,many times the opposite is true....


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## buckstand (Sep 17, 2014)

I'm a little confused when you say "Bluer water is not always the best for catching pups and big drum, many times the opposite is true...." but I have always been told to find the troughs, cuts and deeper irregularities in the surf (deeper water). Or are you meaning don't throw 600' past the breakers but instead fish closer in, like in the foam

btw: is there anyway to take the double post off the board....I feel like such a moron for double posting, sorry :redface:


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

*I posted this in another thread . . . Hope it helps !*









*Tight Lines !!!*


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## kurazy kracka (Oct 14, 2008)

buckstand said:


> I'm a little confused when you say "Bluer water is not always the best for catching pups and big drum, many times the opposite is true...." but I have always been told to find the troughs, cuts and deeper irregularities in the surf (deeper water). Or are you meaning don't throw 600' past the breakers but instead fish closer in, like in the foam
> 
> btw: is there anyway to take the double post off the board....I feel like such a moron for double posting, sorry :redface:


I believe he's saying that drum prefer a nice stirred up surf vs clear n calm


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## buckstand (Sep 17, 2014)

Cool...thanks guys 
and thanks for the illustration ez2cdave


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

buckstand said:


> Cool...thanks guys
> and thanks for the illustration ez2cdave


You're very welcome . . . 

Tight Lines !


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## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

kurazy kracka said:


> I believe he's saying that drum prefer a nice stirred up surf vs clear n calm


That is sometimes the case but sometimes not. I like flat calm water so I can catch bait easy. A lot of drum guys like muddy stirred water when drum fishing. I have caught in both and between. My favorite drum water is the one the drum like when I am there.  I've caught more pups in stirred up water then clear though.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

gilly21 said:


> That is sometimes the case but sometimes not. I like flat calm water so I can catch bait easy. A lot of drum guys like muddy stirred water when drum fishing. I have caught in both and between. My favorite drum water is the one the drum like when I am there.  I've caught more pups in stirred up water then clear though.


 I've caught plenty in blue water,but MANY more in mud or sanded a bit to a grey or green color.. My best results have been in water that was mud (menhaden mud) in a sw wind,have stacked them up in that many times... Doesn't necessarily have to be tons of wind,it can be calm and still catch.. Bait is a plus,menhaden in particular,haven't had as much luck with mullet as menhaden.. Plenty of luck catching on mullet,moreso than menhaden.. BUT,the presents of menhaden in the surf can many times be a godsent!!!


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## buckstand (Sep 17, 2014)

Lets hope the Menhaden Gods are smilein' on me week after next


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## SovangW (Oct 13, 2014)

ez2cdave said:


> *I posted this in another thread . . . Hope it helps !*
> 
> View attachment 13502
> 
> ...


Is this in reference to a specific pier? I fish the oceana pier on atlantic beach


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

I think it depends on time of year. When It gets hot I think Whiting hit closer to shore but in the spring migration I prefer further out near the end. For Spot, just go where folks are pulling them up. 
I prefer a little closer to shore for puppy drum--sometimes even in the 1st gut. I think in general in the fall, surf fishing is better than in the spring. Sometimes in april when the fishing from the surf is still
dead you can go out on the pier and catch fish. But in the warm season and even in the fall, when the pier is dead, you can go to the surf and find a hole and do well. Not all fish move on with the migration.
There are local fish that just stay in local waters, providing fun even during the dog days of summer--like trout, whiting and so on. I am very interested in fish migrations. I used to think that Bluefish
migrate north and south, and they do to some extent. But I also think that in some areas along the east coast, Blues just migrate offshore to warmer water when inshore waters get too chilly. Its a lot 
closer to find warmer warter by swimming 30 miles east than it is to travel hundreds of miles south.


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