Thread: OB pier fishin'

got hooked on some pier fishin' last year fixin' to go back for more. my boy caught a ton of little ones the guys on the pier said they were pinfish. they were pretty good eatin'. we rented poles but they were too big so we are bringing our crappie rigs this year. might bring a catfish pole & see if we can land a shark too. we hooked a blacktip last year but the line broke trying to pull it up over the rail. what kind of fish can we catch next weekend?

you don't want to bring a shark over the rail. big fine!!!

Looks like the Spanish are biting. Do a search on bubble rigs on here and read up. Your crappie poles will do fine. There were some blues and big hardtail, too, not sure if they are still around. Start early, like before dawn. Heat is brutal.

Pinfish are a lot like bluegill in that getting bigger ones to clean is the name of the game. If you catch a gulftopsail catfish (long trailing fins) they are clearly edible too. Look for recipes in that section of the site and you will find that few fish are not edible, even remora, but some are harder for average people to clean and cook (like rays).

Go to J&M tackle on Canal, ask them what you need very nice and knowledgeable people. DO NOT bring a shark over onto the pier. BIG fine.

One of the lesser known names for pinfish is Sailor's Choice, but, as stated by midwestexile, finding them big enough is the challenge. That said, I have caught some real studs offshore while bottom fishing---back in the day when you could get a bait to the bottom without being eaten up by those ghost red snapper. Cook, 'em whole and they taste a lot like fish---good fish, nice and firm.

thanks for the help guys. we didn't get to make it down had too much going on with work. we will be down for labor day w/e. maybe something will be biting.

kinda late posting but we had a blast labor day weekend. went out with a friend & fished on a couple rigs & caught bunch of spade, snapper & a trigger and a few spanish maks. hooked into a nice toothy critter than snapped off my rig. went to the pier & caught a ton of pins, hard tail and another snapper. had so much fun we went back oct 1st-4th with my new penn battle 2 5000. the weather wasnt with us so the boat was a no go. we headed up to the pier & caught pins, hardtails & a spade. my buddy hooked a few spanish & his hand