# Need Advice...who doesnt



## SmallmouthHntr29 (Jun 3, 2011)

Ok first im glad to have even found something like this, lol. ok i just got into pier fishing last year and i did ok i guess..caught 13 sand sharks about 15-16" long and a few croakers. but i just think theres more oppurtunity if i knew different rigs instead of the bottom rigs..can someone please tell me a few more rigging styles i could use to increase my variety a little bit? i use a 9' pinnacle rod and reel and im investing in a good 12' tc2 rod. thanks


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## SmallmouthHntr29 (Jun 3, 2011)

btw i fish off of 2nd ave pier if that makes a difference


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

Try the carolina or fishfinder rigs. Do ya fish pier 14


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

On those rigs the fish can take the bait and run without feeling tension from the sinkers.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

For whatever reason, I do much better off of Springmaid (if you look off the right side of the pier it's the next one you see, ~3-5 minute drive). Some people have pointed out that the 2nd Ave Pier is in a bit of a u-shape on the shoreline and so fish pass right by it since they don't care how far from the shore they are; they just keep swimming. I've been fishing 2nd Ave and called my buddy on Springmaid where they're killing them and I'm sitting there doing nothing. And the water seems to be a bit dirtier on average there as well. The surf is *flat* and the sand is hard packed. But take that for what you will. 

The dogfish are common while the water is still cold, and the small blacktips sharks are common when the water is warmer...there's no shark actually called a sand shark but when someone says it they're usually referring to a doggie. Sharpnose are also pretty common. Croaker will eat about any bait you put out on the bottom that they can fit in their mouths. They themselves make decent cut bait for blues, weakfish, and the like and even with small pieces they don't seem to bite cut croaker, so that's a plus, unless the fish you want are after something they will eat. 

Anyway there are plenty of fish to be caught on the bottom. If you're sitting there with pier house frozen "bait shrimp" and not catching anything, or anything worthwhile, you need to either A change baits or B change spots. 

Your 12' rod might be a bit big for the piers, and depending on the action it'll be oblivious to small table fish biting fishing the bottom. If it's a spinner you're on your way to a great way to fish which is jigging tree rigs for Spanish and blues.


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

I use a 12' ugly stik BW on the pier and surf. Works ok but On pier 14 there's a flag that i have to avoid hiting. Im not afraid of getting my rig stuck up there as i am to pay for killing the h3!! Out of that flag.


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## SmallmouthHntr29 (Jun 3, 2011)

jigging tree rigs? do tell...and by the way thanks for all the advice guys, if you ever need freshwater bass fishing tips gimme a shout! and one more thing reddrum, if i use squid on a slip egg sinker rig, does it float on its own or do i have to do something to mnake the squid float off the bottom a little bit?


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

SmallmouthHntr29 said:


> jigging tree rigs? do tell...and by the way thanks for all the advice guys, if you ever need freshwater bass fishing tips gimme a shout! and one more thing reddrum, if i use squid on a slip egg sinker rig, does it float on its own or do i have to do something to mnake the squid float off the bottom a little bit?


Check this out. 
http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?75558-Spanish-Tree-Straw-Rigs-101

For what it's worth I've never seen anyone catch anything worthwhile on squid down here. Also using a Carolina rig off the pier is a bad idea unless you're flounder fishing by the piling as your line will get washed into other peoples, some days very quickly. A Fishfinder rig is about the same thing except with a snap swivel threaded onto your line in place of the egg sinker, and then a pyramid sinker is clipped to the snap swivel.


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

I use both rigs and never tangle with others unless the fish runs that way. Smallmouth the squid should float on there i use them sometimes not as much as mullet.


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

Saw the tree rig. I have like thirty straws in my room that i got while eating mcds. I dont put bait on this right. Can i cast it underhand with a twelve foot rod. Would this work in the surf with less rigs.


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## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

u need to be somewhere that u can work the rig up and down

think of this rig as having 4-12 lures. i have caught bluefish and weakfishl without jigging it but usually u want to row the rod up and down for best results.


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

So i just drop this next to the pilings on a pier.


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## LaidbackVA (May 17, 2007)

Most people that are using the jig rigs use 12' to 15' rods so they can jig up and down away from the pier. You laid the rod on the rail and hold the rod in place with one hand and pump the handle up and down to make the rig fludder down.

ron


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

Thanks ill try this with my twelve foot rod next time on the pier. How many hooks should i use for this rig.
:fishing: :beer:


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Reddrum_sc_mb said:


> Thanks ill try this with my twelve foot rod next time on the pier. How many hooks should i use for this rig.
> :fishing: :beer:


6 to 8.


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## Reddrum_sc_mb (May 30, 2011)

Thanks


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