July should provide plenty of “fireworks” when it comes to pier fishing. There should be plenty of bait on all of the piers and a variety of fish to catch. It is the easiest and best time to catch fish if you can endure the heat and humidity. If you go fishing early morning or late evening it would be a great opportunity to put some kids on some fish with very little effort. Kids have short attention spans and want to enjoy success. There should be enough action off the piers to keep them entertained and provide positive experiences of success.
Some of the easier fish to catch on the piers would be blue runners, small jacks and juvenile mackerel but catching bait is even easier. For summer pier fishing you should dedicate one rod as a bait rod. It should be a light spinning rod with about 10 lb monofilament main line. This will be your sabiki rod all summer long. The game fish are eating the bait that is present and it makes sense to catch your own bait. Any economical spinning combo will do. I suggest a #4 Size Sabiki in green for the majority of the bait that will be around. Scaled sardines, threadfin, cigar minnows and little goggle eyes should be around. Other bait to catch could include dork jacks, gold dots, and Spanish sardines. They all work. I would also suggest getting a live bait bucket or a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator to keep your baits alive. Don’t get greedy and put too much live bait in a bucket. It may kill them all. If a baitfish caught on a sabiki is bloody or hits the ground, don’t keep it. Throw it back in the water. Keep only the liveliest ones.
Live bait will work on the blue runners, mackerel, jacks crevalles, snook, tarpon and barracuda. For the toothy species I continually suggest a long shank hook. Specifically, the Mustad Hook model 3191 in size #2. It is a great all around hook for the smaller live bait. Use a Mustad Hook model 9174 NP-BN in size #1 or 1/0 for smaller live bait and a 5/0 for palm sized bait when targeting bigger fish like snook or tarpon.
If you want to use artificial lures I would suggest the classic bubble rig for a lot of action with the smaller and more aggressive fish like runners, jacks, and mackerel. The bubble rig is a clear plastic bubble that can be filled with some water and then rigged with a piece of monofilament leader and a crappie jig or small spoon for casting. This rig is great because the bubble allows a small lure to be cast very far and the bubble creates commotion during the retrieve. The fish are attracted to the noise and bubble trail and they hit the trailing lure. It is a simple rig that always puts anglers on fish.
Cuda tubes are another old school lure that still works. It is basically a long piece of brightly covered tubing rigged internally with wire and a small weight followed by a treble hook. It imitates hound fish and barracuda love them. Cast them far and burn them in as fast as you can. You can’t outrun a barracuda! Barracuda are underrated gamefish, but are fast, strong and can sky rocket out of the water when hooked.
Last but not least don’t forget a drop net! If you can’t flip the fish up the side of the pier then I strongly suggest you purchase a drop net. It is a basket net that allows you to get your larger catches up the side of a pier. A gaff hook is rarely the answer anymore. There are too many fish with size regulation and closed seasons. If you gaff a fish that is the wrong size or out of season you will put yourself in a bad situation with fines.
If you need anything, come see me at T&R Tackle in Lauderdale by the Sea. Tight Lines!
Josh Manso
aka “King of the Pompano Pier”
T & R Tackle Shop
Lauderdale By The Sea
(954) 776-1055
facebook.com/tandrtackle