Join the Discussion "Do you fish bridge pilings?  Have any tricks to share?  Tell us about some of your catches around bridge pilings." Ronnie
More of this Feature
• Part 1: Why bridge pilings are good • Part 2: Bass, crappie, white bass and bream
Related Resources • Fishing Under a Bridge • Bass Fishing At Night • Rhonda Rabun and Scott Lunsford with Lake Hartwell bass • West Point June Tournament Bass Pictures
Past Articles One Year Ago - 7/15/02 - Bass Fishing At Night Two Years Ago -7/09/01 - Where, When and How to fish the Drop Shot Rig Three Years Ago - 7/10/00 - Catching a Hawk Four Years Ago - 07/05/99 - You Say Croppie, I'll Say Crappie Five Years Ago - 07/06/98 - July Fishing - How to beat the heat Six Years Ago - 07/07/97 - Lure Hype on TV

Topwater plugs worked around pilings can often draw fish from down deep to the surface. Start by working the plug right beside the piling, but try the areas between them for suspended bass. Try to make the plug act like a bass chasing a baitfish and others will come to join in on the feast.

Jigs and Texas rigged worms can be fish in similar ways.  Cast the bait upstream and swim it back along side the piling. Probe for ledges and cross members on the pilings and work the jig and worm around it slowly.  Give the fish time to hit if they are holding there.

A slider rig, a flat jig head with a small worm attached, is my favorite bait for finesse fishing around pilings.  I rig a 1/16th ounce head on 8 pound PLine and thread on a 4 inch curly tail worm.  That jig is cast upstream and I let it swim by the piling, as close to it as possible. Many times it will draw strikes when nothing else works.

For crappie I like to work a live minnow or small jig right beside the piling, often fishing the back side of the upright to fish the eddy. Crappie will hold at a specific depth and you can often see them on your depthfinder.  Drop the jig to them, or work it down slowly if you don't see them, pausing every two feet or so and jiggling the jig to draw a bite. Fish deeper and deeper until you find the fish.

White bass and hybrids will school around bridge pilings. They don't relate to it as closely as others, so fish all around them with crankbaits, topwater and jigs to find the school. Always watch for surface activity and cast to it if you see fish breaking the water.

Bream will usually be right beside the piling, so drop a live bait down beside it and lower them until you find the fish. Bream seem to like the very bottom of the piling if it is not too deep, and also hold on the corners anytime a crossmember or ledge comes off the piling.

Another benifit of fishing pilings is that you can usually stay in the shade during the day, and at night they offer good places to tie your boat and drop a lantern over the side. 

Find some bridge pilings on your favorite fishing hole and give them a try.

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