Thread: Amateur looking for advice

I will be in town 9/3-9/10 and hope to catch some fish off the pier. What would you recommend that are must haves in my tackle box? Jigs, rigs, tubing, etc. I have a sabiki rod. What colors work best this time of year? Thank you in advance for your help!

Start with the search function then come back with more specific questions. That's a very broad question that could take pages to answer. Tons of great info in the archives

If you've never pier fished before, I would spend your first day walking the pier, seeing what others are using, see what's biting, and ask questions. It really depends on what you decide the target species will be. As DD said, the search bar at the top right is a huge help.

Here's a problem as I see it. Some very new fishermen, new to saltwater fishing, at least, may not have a frame of reference from which to build enough of a knowledge base to be successful on the first few days of fishing. It's just as natural for them to want to be immediately successful as it is for experienced fishermen to tell them "watch what others do and ask questions".

So here's my advice to them - Begin by targeting the fish that are "in", or the ones being caught from that specific pier during that week. Use this site to reach a general determination: <h1>North West Florida Pier Fishing</h1> A fisherman has to target a specific fish or fishES, depending on what's biting and WHAT they eat/strike.

What do you need to fish from the pier? A pier cart is nice, but it may be impractical to the novice. Why don't you try this - Get a rolling ice chest that has a long handle (or one that extends). Bungee-chord your tackle box to the ice chest after half-filling it with ice. In your tackle box you'll need a fillet knife, long-nosed pliers with a wire cutting feature, a smaller knife, fluorocarbon leader (about 12 - 14 lbs) extra line, single-strand wire (for fishing for kings, spanish and blues) , hooks - treble, J-shaped and circle hooks, Gotcha lures (for Spanish, primarily) egg sinkers, barrell swivels (black). You should get a measuring tape and keep it in the box to make sure that when you put your catch on ice, it's legal.

Before coming to the pier, I'd stop by a bait shop and get a couple of dozen live shrimp, mostly because everything eats shrimp! Utilize a Carolina rig (go to YouTube or search here for directions).
Look at WHERE other fishermen locate themselves on the pier. You won't usually see King Mackerel fishermen fishing in the surf. Likewise, fishermen targeting near-shore species (whiting, flounder, black drum, pompano) won't usually fish in deep water. So go where the fish are!
Don't fish with a glob of squid. Ever. They may want to sell you squid, but there are better baits. You spend hundreds getting to the beach and on accomodations and food - don't use cheap bait.


Get to the pier early. Many times, a great run takes place at first light and it's over before some fishermen get out of bed!

There are a million opinions, ideas and suggestions, which is why there's really no one good simple answer to "what do I need to know to catch fish" from the pier. Do as much research as you can on the various species, see if there are tutorials on YouTube, check out this forum for previous discussions, ask questions from other fishermen on the pier, observe them as they fish, know what's biting from regional websites, from pier personnel and from the bait shop.

Most of all, get as much knowledge as you can, as quickly as possible and you'll find that success breeds success.

Excellent post Sirius. I'll back you all up on using the search feature. I'm as bad as anybody else about wanting a quick easy answer, but it's like the old farmer said when he saw a giraffe for the first time---"There ain't no such animal."

Find out what's biting at the time of year you'll be there. Decide what to fish for. Look for information specific to that particular fish.

There is a wealth of information on this forum. Take full advantage of it---and good luck.

Squid is no good except for swordfish, snapper and trash catfish. Get a package of shrimp flavored FishBytes.

And calamari!

Originally Posted by eym_sirius

Here's a problem as I see it. Some very new fishermen, new to saltwater fishing, at least, may not have a frame of reference from which to build enough of a knowledge base to be successful on the first few days of fishing. It's just as natural for them to want to be immediately successful as it is for experienced fishermen to tell them "watch what others do and ask questions".

So here's my advice to them - Begin by targeting the fish that are "in", or the ones being caught from that specific pier during that week. Use this site to reach a general determination: <h1>North West Florida Pier Fishing</h1> A fisherman has to target a specific fish or fishES, depending on what's biting and WHAT they eat/strike.

What do you need to fish from the pier? A pier cart is nice, but it may be impractical to the novice. Why don't you try this - Get a rolling ice chest that has a long handle (or one that extends). Bungee-chord your tackle box to the ice chest after half-filling it with ice. In your tackle box you'll need a fillet knife, long-nosed pliers with a wire cutting feature, a smaller knife, fluorocarbon leader (about 12 - 14 lbs) extra line, single-strand wire (for fishing for kings, spanish and blues) , hooks - treble, J-shaped and circle hooks, Gotcha lures (for Spanish, primarily) egg sinkers, barrell swivels (black). You should get a measuring tape and keep it in the box to make sure that when you put your catch on ice, it's legal.

Before coming to the pier, I'd stop by a bait shop and get a couple of dozen live shrimp, mostly because everything eats shrimp! Utilize a Carolina rig (go to YouTube or search here for directions).
Look at WHERE other fishermen locate themselves on the pier. You won't usually see King Mackerel fishermen fishing in the surf. Likewise, fishermen targeting near-shore species (whiting, flounder, black drum, pompano) won't usually fish in deep water. So go where the fish are!
Don't fish with a glob of squid. Ever. They may want to sell you squid, but there are better baits. You spend hundreds getting to the beach and on accomodations and food - don't use cheap bait.


Get to the pier early. Many times, a great run takes place at first light and it's over before some fishermen get out of bed!

There are a million opinions, ideas and suggestions, which is why there's really no one good simple answer to "what do I need to know to catch fish" from the pier. Do as much research as you can on the various species, see if there are tutorials on YouTube, check out this forum for previous discussions, ask questions from other fishermen on the pier, observe them as they fish, know what's biting from regional websites, from pier personnel and from the bait shop.

Most of all, get as much knowledge as you can, as quickly as possible and you'll find that success breeds success.

good post Sirius. The forum is great if you know it exists. But most new pier guys I run into out on the pier have never even heard of it, so naturally they're walking and asking questions. That's how I started out and by going to bait shops and asked what was being caught at the particular time of year.

i don't know when the original poster said he was coming down but it's getting close to time when fishing is going to pick back up. Good luck!

That is a very helpful post sirius, but I would not recommend NWF (except for 'entertainment purposes') as it is highly erratic in reporting and generally unreliable as it is a simple regurgitation of calling each pierhouse to get the most general of "what is biting" information.
Instead, recommend calling the specific pier you want to fish (GSPPier @ 251-967-3474) and ask specific questions about what is biting.
Also watching this forum for almost daily reports ;-)

Hope find all this helpful!

Something else for the novice fisherman - A mistake that I see them make all of the time is that when they use fresh-dead or frozen shrimp when fishing for whiting or other near-shore species - they'll leave the bait out in the sun. Shrimp spoil quickly and most of the near shore species locate their prey-targets by smell. That decaying smell will attract hardhead catfish, but that's about it. Keep the bait fresh by keeping it in your cooler.