One of my favorite things to do on this earth is fish from the end of a pier, preferably in salt water. First, it soothes the soul, and second, you never know what you might catch.
My first experience with pier fishing came on Uncle’s Sidney’s pier on Bogue Sound in Morehead City, NC, across from Atlantic Beach. I fished and crabbed there for hours on end. I never caught anything big – though I did net a 3-pound oyster toad once on my crab line. If I was lucky, I caught a few decent spot, but I loved it. Just me, the seagulls, gentle waves lapping at the side of the pier, and an occasional tug at the end of my line.
Last weekend in Deltaville, I spent several hours doing what I love – fishing from the end of the pier at our rental cottage. It was a deep-water dock, maybe 7 feet at high tide. I used shrimp and strips of Fishbites. The fish ate the shrimp, though the Fishbites served as something like a chum line. I caught two, keeper grey trout (which Nancy and I had for sandwiches), a speckled trout, some white perch, pinfish, and some decent sized spot. I didn’t see any rockfish chasing bait, but I’m sure they were out there. A highlight was when a pair of dolphins swam by, just a few feet off the end of the dock, gulping baitfish as they bobbed along.
Pier fishing isn’t complicated. A medium spinning outfit with 10-pound test line, a 1-oz. sinker, and a double drop rig with size 4 hooks will get the job done. A quick falling low tide is my favorite time to fish.
But when I am on a pier or dock, time stands still. It is one of the great joys of life.