Bite Atlas

Fish tight to the pier pilings with live fiddler crabs or shrimp on a 1/0 hook with a short 18-inch fluorocarbon leader. Use just enough weight to hold bottom. They hit light — set the hook on the second tap, not the first.

Fish-finder rig with a 3 oz egg sinker, 30 lb leader, and a 3/0 circle hook baited with half a blue crab or cut shrimp. Cast near the jetty rocks on the incoming tide. Let them eat — circle hooks set themselves.

Standard double-dropper rig with No. 2 hooks and a 2–4 oz pyramid sinker. Bait with sand fleas, fresh-peeled shrimp, or Fishbites. Work the clean side of the current, not the dead center of the cut. Short casts outproduce long bombs here.

Free-line a live pin fish or finger mullet with no weight on 20 lb fluorocarbon leader along the current seam during dusk or after dark. Fish the change in current direction, not the center of the flow. Set the drag loose — they'll run.

When the tide pushes in and you see bait flipping on the surface, throw a 1 oz silver spoon or Got-Cha plug on a 7.5 ft medium rod with 12 lb braid. Fast retrieve, no pause. The bite is violent and short — be ready with a second cast.

At night under the pier lights, free-line live shrimp on a small 1/0 hook with 15 lb fluoro leader. Let it drift naturally into the shadow line. They're leader-shy — the lighter you go, the more you'll hook.

Throw a cast net in the sandy areas near the jetty base for pilchards and greenbacks. Or use a sabiki rig off the pier to load up on bait. Avoid casting the net near the rocks — you'll shred it.