Are fishing piers useless?

[sleemie]

There's a nice lake in my area that has a fishing pier...it's not quite a traditional pier that extends out and you're surrounded by water, it's set up more where you're basically on shore where the land is behind you and the water out in front, but.  

It looks real nice, but my first thought is that everyone and their momma has been fishing there and either there won't be any fish there, or the ones that are there have probably been caught and thrown back and will be hard to catch.  

Is this true, or can you do some good fishing from such a location?  If you can, what's the best way to work it.  I've read that the lake has bass, flathead catfish and something else I can't remember.  

[Matt Fly]

Does the area show alot of pressure, like trash all over the place,  Trash cans full?  Is it a easy access pier, paved road, trail to walk.  Public bath rooms?  What do they target.  Is there chicken liver tubs, shrimp boxes, and torn plastic worms, worm boxes.  These are clues as to what they might be targeting.   Is the water deep or just shallow.  Can you plant some brush to enhance its appeal?  You never know what can be caught unitl you watch other people or give it a try yourself.  Most of these people may be live baiters and not bass fishermen.

Are people normally catching perch, brim, then thats a good sign.  Is bait fish present?

[Jeff P.]

Since I don't have a boat yet, I have fished all Summer from fishing piers that are just like the ones you described.  I almost exclusively fished these waters in the evenings and nights this Summer with my Brother-in-Law.  We caught bass pretty well, also had some luck with catfish as well.

Things to consider are:  what is the lake structure like (is it chunk rock and rip-rap, sandy or muddy bottom, gravel), is the water shallow or does it get deep, is there any brush or vegetation, is there a food source for the bass?  These factors will help dtermine if the bass will come to the area.

I had the best luck fishing soft plastics.  Some action on topwater, but I mostly fished plastic worms, senkos, hula grubs, as well as a jig with a Yum chunk trailer.  I didn't have much luck in my area with spinnerbait, buzzbait, crankbait, or flukes.

Try fishing slower, and be patient.  Fishing piers can be good places to fish.

[sleemie]

mmmh, don't know the answers to most of that.   The area is very accessible, very clean and well maintained.  They have a John Boat rental place about 100 yards or so to the left of the pier, which I plan on renting one day to go fishing in. They also sell a lot of fishing supplies...lures, minnows, night crawlers, etc.   I don't know how deep the water is right in front of the pier, but it doesn't appear to be very shallow...i'm guessing you can cast out far enough to probably hit about 10-20 foot depths.    There's no brush or anything that's accessable from the pier.  Although I'm on a Bass fishing forum, I don't really care what I catch, I just want to catch some good sized fish, something worth keeping.  When I go fishing I'll usually bring two rods, one to target bass with and the other one I'll just throw a worm on, maybe some prepared bait for a cat or a minnow for crappie, depending on where I am.

The night or early morning is probably better while no one else is around, and I hear bass are more acctive at those times.  

[Will]

Fishing piers can be lots of fun and can sometimes have lots of fishing pressure, here are some things you can do to get the fish to bite.

1) Try fishing what others are not, wacky worm and drop shot are both good choices since most fisherman don't fish them yet.

2) Go down, finnesse worms and smaller diameter line

3) Slow down your presentation

4) Don't be afraid to pitch, flip, and cast into the nastiest cover availible

5) Quiet presentations

[Axis]

you say you dont care what you catch, as long as it is fair size. I have used a public fishing pier near my home to catch some great catfish. Those flatheads will give you the best fight of anything in that lake. If you are going to fish for them, you might want to make sure you have some sturdy equiptment. To catch the flatheads, you need to catch a bream about 3-6inches, clip one fin off one side of the fish, tail hook it and cast it out. If the dock is high off of the water, this could cause a problem trying to land the fish, but I have managed a 38 lber with another person and a net. If you dont have any luck with live bream, catch a small one, cut the head off and sling it out there, the body of the fish also makes a nice bait, but make sure your hook is in the bait well for a guarenteed hook up. I love using this method, you can catch a fish that is 3lbs or one that is 80lbs, good luck, if you get a bite,,,, VERY tight lines ;D

PS. You can EASILY lose your rod to the drink if you get a bite, I have seen many shot into deeper water. Use of a rodholder isn't optium IMO because most of the time the tension will snap the line when the fish takes off. either that or your pole... good luck!!!!

[onebigfish]

I have been to two piers in my area...one was 15+ feet off the water and one that was 5 feet off the water.

At the first one(15+ feet high), we did not catch anything.  It was difficult to fish horizontally, but may have been better jigging, I don't know.

At the second one, we caught crappie, bass, and catfish.  It was a bit more productive.

...for what it's worth...