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The mass structure in bridges, seems to almost be a fish's dream house. All the structure offers them protection, and ambush points for bait. Plus the pilings act as homes for many types of bait, including white baits, muscles and crabs. With that variety of bait, you can bet there is a variety of fish that will venture to bridges. Most bridges are over rivers, which can mean a good flow of water, plus shade for anglers. It almost seems too good to be true. Try not to target fish that you have never caught in the open, under a bridge. Learn how the fish act first, when they run, and how they move, start slow, then work your way up to fighting them around structure. Whether it be snook, redfish, jack crevalle, ladyfish, mackerel, black drum, small sharks, tarpon, sheepshead, and many more depending on the time of the year, there is just so many species that could be hiding in the mazes, and the only way to find out, is to get out there and catch em'!
However, fishing the bridges takes an extreme amount of skill, and good tackle is the key. When fishing directly into the pilings, you should use AT LEAST 15# braid or microfiber line, and sometimes, you can get away with 25# leader. Spoken from a minimalist. When targeting bigger, stronger fish in the pilings, upgrading would be something to consider
The 2 set-ups that i am currently using, are a Diawa Capricorn 2500 reel, on a Quantum Medium action Tournament grade IM8 graphite rod. The other combo, is a Penn Slammer 260, also on a Quantum Medium action Tournament grade IM8 graphite rod.
Now to the fun part, the lures. Hard-baits, soft-baits, live bait. My main focus of the lures will be in the artificial categories.
The DOA lures have great selections. The shrimp, is a killer lure that can catch anything that swims. It can be worked many different ways. It can be dragged along the bottom for lethargic fishing in wintertime, and can be snapped in quick, short erratic motions. Bigger DOA's, like the Bait Buster, and the Swimming mullet, can be fished for bigger snook, that will occasionally hang around the bigger bridges. TerrorEyez are a long time favorite of snook fishing. There fast moving, and have caught snook ranging from 10 - 30+ Inches!
I myself, am not a hard-bait fan, but some people i know can swear by them. Rapala makes several well known baits, X-raps are one of the most popular snook baits. They are made in 2 different sizes, and in variety of fresh, and saltwater colors. Mirr0lure also makes an awesome hard-bait.
For casting around, but not directly into the pilings, try casting a silver or gold spoon. Especially if you are new to using artificial baits, they will catch fish just as easy, (Too easily) as live bait would, plus you can cover allot more ground. I have even ran into a couple unsuspected red-fish around the bridges with spoons. If you can get into a small school of jacks or mackerel, you can have a blast all day throwing the spoons.
As hard as i try...i can't find a reason to tell someone its a "Bad" tide, to fish in the rivers around bridges. I have fished every tide, every moon, and have found somthing lurking the in the structures. Keeping a log of when you caught your fish, might be benifical to you in the future. One thing that i like to try and avoid, is floating sea grass. On occasion, it will be everywhere, coming in and falling out with the tide, and can make fishing quite uncomfortable. Most of the time, i can avoid most of the grass by fishing the last of the outgoing, and the first bit of the incoming.
Some of the mean low tides in the winter and fall, really appeal to me. One of my favorite bridges, has 3 deep colums, and 2 shallows on each side. On the extreme low tides, you can walk out to the channel part of the bridge, where it is very deep. Other than the depth, with only 3 columns deep enough for water, after those MLT (Mean low tide) the current RIPS its way back in. The skinny part where the water flows through acts as a funnel. Channeling the bait through the skinny part of the funnel in the fast moving water, most of the time, the fish will wait on either side just scooping up the bait as it flows through!
TIP: When found in this situation, it is best to cast your bait up current, and let it flow back, letting the current do the majority of the work!
This miny illustration below might help you to picture the "Funnel" Effect in your head. (NOTE: I actually pulled a small snook from this miniture expression.)
Heavy incoming tides can also bring in many species of fish. Mackeral and jacks will chase in the white-baits, snook will enter the mides of the docks, and tarpon will often roll out of reach. If you can get into a school of jacks, the action might only last a few minutes as there working there way into the river, then by about half way through the incoming, they will disappear and flee out. When jack crevalle are around, there is no mistaken. Small pops and violent water erruptions will be frequent, and a small popping topwater would be the best bait. Redfish also seem to appear more for the incoming tides. Smaller jigs, spoons, or a live shrimp will fool them.
Hope you enjoyed the article as much as a enjoyed writing it!
Jon Mulliken - P13A
