Three Tips for Fishing at Bridges

Bridges are natural-born fish havens. Their pilings provide structure, they’re often built at choke-points where the current is accelerated, and those with lighting draw in fish after dark. If you wanted to improve the fishing in any given area, it would be tough to come up with a better way than building a bridge. That said, of course bridges aren’t always a fish-catching panacea. How you approach angling around them counts – so here are a few bridge fishing tips that will come in handy for a wide variety of species.

1. Try fishing the up-current side of bridge pilings. Many people think that fish hide from the current, behind the pilings. This is true for non-active or semi-active fish, but actively-feeding fish will often be located up-current of the structure, to get the first shot at incoming food. So don’t just fish the down-current side of a piling and then move on. Note: this is especially true just as a roaring current begins to ease off from the peak of its flow.
2. If you’re fishing for species that chew on the crustaceans growing on bridge pilings (like sheepshead or black drum), try chumming the waters with the mussels and barnacles growing there naturally. Bring a hoe, an edger, or a similar yard tool with a long handle, and use it to scrape and smash some of those shelled critters. As the bits and pieces drift off, they’ll call in the fish from afar.
3. When fishing at night, look for and fish around the light-line. This is where the artificial light disappears and the darkness begins, and it’s usually a very distinct, visible line. It’s also where the predators like to prowl. The small baitfish and critters can’t see them when they’re on the dark side, and they can dart in and attack when a tasty morsel wanders to close to the edge of the light.

BONUS TIP for Bridge Anglers: When you’re fishing from atop a bridge, present your offering all along the structure by sling-shotting it under the bridge. Simply cast (gently) straight out away from the bridge, then abruptly engage the reel while swinging your rod downwards. When the lure or rig disappears from view as it pendulums underneath you, release it. Listen for the splash, then use the count-down method to allow it to sink to the desired depth.