“I was a little intimidated as I found myself a spot on the crowded pier, but as I walked up to the pier rail, I realized it was a friendly crowd, and I learned the rhythm of everyone fishing so close to eachother. It was a pretty great place to spend a summer afternoon. Catching wasn’t half bad either!”
Salmon fishing from shore, beach and pier is as simple as casting a metal jig and working it back to you.
For those of you that are looking to catch a salmon without the use of a boat, you are in luck! There are many productive salmon fishing spots across the West Coast that can be accessed from the shore, beach and pier. Here in our home waters of Puget Sound are countless public piers and salmon are caught on many of them with shocking regularity. Prepare yourself for the next trip by grabbing a couple choice salmon lures, each of which we highly recommend if you are salmon fishing on foot.
Puget Pounder is our top recommendation for salmon fishing from the pier.
The slender profile of the Puget Pounder makes this the perfect metal jig for pier fishing. Chinook Salmon in particular tend to swim a little deeper then their other salmon cousins, and a Puget Pounder decends quickly and has a salmon-catching flutter that is unmatched from the pier. For most piers in Puget Sound, we are fishing with 1.5 Ounce and 2.5 Ounce, however the heavier sizes do have their place when currents are strong.
P-Line Laser Minnow offers the flash and flutter that salmon can’t resist.
The P-Line Laser Minnow has become one of our most universal salmon jigs. It’s flash and flutter is super enticing to Chinook, Coho and Pink Salmon, and is one of the most popular beach fishing lures in Washington State. From many of our beaches, the 1 Ounce size is preferred. From the pier the 2 Ounce is more appropriate.
The Buzz Bomb is an old-school yet effective lure for casting.
The Buzz Bomb is the granddaddy of metal salmon fishing jigs. This lure has been catching salmon from beaches and piers across the West Coast for a couple generations. We are a big fan of their newer holographic finishes, but their classic colors are still producing salmon catches big-time! We have a couple helpful hook rigging tips for these ever-so-popular salmon lures.
Cast out a float and herring setup as an alternative to jigging.
While jigging with Puget Pounder, Laser Minnow and Buzz Bomb metal jigs is by far the most popular and simplest technique for catching salmon from shore, beach and pier, consider trying a float and herring setup. Herring is the most common forage for feeding salmon, and suspending one under a float from the beach is extremely effective. Grab a couple 1 to 2 Ounce floats, a banana sinker as a float weight, and a herring leader and suspend either a cut-plug herring or whole herring. A longer rod is preferred to lob this setup as far as you can into the current.
