How Wind & Tide Affect Pier Fishing (No Matter Where You Live)

Have you ever wondered how the tide and wind affect pier fishing?

Growing up, I did a lot of pier fishing, but I never knew how it was affected by the tide or winds, so I was really inconsistent.

Some days I would catch a lot of fish and come home with dinner, while other days I would go home skunked.

Does that sound familiar?

If it does, you’re going to love this video.

Tides and wind affect pier fishing a lot and if you know how it causes the fish to behave, you can use that to your advantage to catch more fish.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• How fish react to both low and high tides
• What offshore and onshore winds do to the water and the bait (and therefore, the predator fish)
• How to use this knowledge to catch more fish
• And much more

Check it out below.

How Wind & Tides Affect Pier Fishing [VIDEO]

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I’ve been doing a lot of pier fishing recently and have really been able to dial in the trends and become more consistent.

Keep reading to see how these environmental factors affect pier fishing…

How Tide Affects Pier Fishing

When it’s high tide, there is more water closer to the beach, so the baitfish and predator fish will move closer to shore.

That means that you can usually catch them all along the pier, so look for structure in the middle section of the pier that might not be as crowded as the end.

When it’s low tide, the baitfish and predator fish will usually move farther away from shore.

When this happens, the best fishing is usually done towards the end of the pier where the water is deeper, or near dropoffs at the middle of the pier.

At low tide, I like to fish the end of the pier for pelagics such as mackerel and bluefish, and I like the fish the dropoffs near the middle of the pier for fish like pompano, black drum, and whiting.

Usually, there are two dropoffs along a pier: before and after the sand bar, and they can both hold fish.

How Wind Affects Pier Fishing

When the wind is blowing from offshore to the land it is called an onshore wind, and when it’s blowing from land to the water it’s called an offshore wind.

Let’s break these two down:

Onshore wind

Pro:

• Bait is blown inshore, so pelagic species are often closer to the shore

Con:

• Onshore wind cause more waves, which may cause it to be harder to catch bottom feeders

Offshore wind

Pro:

• Offshore wind causes fewer waves and increased water clarity, which may cause it to be easier to catch bottom feeders

Con:

• Bait is blown offshore, farther from the pier

Conclusion

When fishing from a pier, you definitely want to see what the tide and winds are doing to help you decide where to fish, and what types of species to target.

During high tide, fish will usually be scattered along the length of the pier, while at low tide, they’ll be congregated in the dropoffs and at the end of it.

When there’s an onshore wind, bait is pushed closer to shore, so pelagic species like mackerel will come in closer.

However, it usually means the water is more choppy and dirty, so it might be tough to catch the bottom feeders like flounder and black drum.

When there’s an offshore wind, bait is pushed farther from shore, so it might be tough to get to pelagic species, but it will be clear and calm, which makes it easier to catch the bottom species.

Have any questions about pier fishing?

Have you found anything different to be true when it comes to pier fishing?

Let us know in the comments below.

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