Collection: Pier Fishing Tackle

Sabiki rigs, casting spoons, bottom rigs and sinkers for fishing off a pier.

A pier is the best value in saltwater fishing. No boat, no ramp, no fuel — and you are standing in water that would take a thirty-minute run to reach otherwise. Kingfish, Spanish mackerel, pompano, snapper, sheepshead and tarpon all get caught off piers on both coasts.

Three things make a pier trip work.

Catch your own bait. A sabiki rig dropped into the bait school around the pilings gets you live greenies, cigar minnows and pilchards, and live bait is what turns a slow day into a good one. A cast net is useless in thirty feet of water; a sabiki is the tool.

Reach the fish. Most pier fish sit beyond easy casting range. Heavier casting spoons — one ounce and up — get you out there and get down to where they are holding.

Hold bottom in current. Water moves hard around pier pilings, and a rig that washes back into the structure costs you tackle. Carry more lead than you think you need.

One thing people learn the hard way: bring a drop net or a pier gaff. Landing a decent fish by lifting it fifteen feet on your line will break it off every time.