By John Montagnino
Every fall on Florida fishing piers is different. Some years there’s plenty of bait around the pier, sometimes just a little, and sometimes no bait at all. So what’s the best thing to do? Take a walk up and down the pier and see if you can find the bait. Start from the surf and see if there are any mullet or pilchards around. Walk up to the end of the pier and check out what’s happening around the end. Look at fisherman and see who’s catching bait.
Dropping live baits on bottom is great for snook lurking under the pier. Hook small mullet and pilchards up through the nose and drop it next to a piling or right under the pier. Remember to leave your drag loose. Look around the edges of the pier and under the pier to see if the baits are condensed. If they are, the snook are under them on the bottom.
Free lining baits: Hook the bait up through the nose or a little above the anal fin. Hooking bait just right above the anal fin the bait will swim down and stay down.
On clear calm days look for pods at the end of the pier and a few pilings down from the end. On days when the water is murky the best thing to do is to fish the surf. Live shrimp with a split shot under the pier and leave it there. If there’s still bait around and no bites on live pilchards or mullet give live shrimp a shot.
John Montagnino is a fishing guide and author of “A Fisherman’s Secrets to Successfully Catching Snook On Florida Fishing Piers.” It is available for $2.99 at Amazon.com.
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