Fishing the Rocky Shorelines

The northeast’s beaches and shorelines are commonly classified as "rocky terrain." In fact, a big part of the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts coastlines offer an enormous number of boulders, rocks and gravel, which create a wonderful habitat for predator fish and their prey. The angler fishing nearby beaches and their connected rock piles cannot ignore another man-made rock structure.

Jetties were built for a host of very important reasons. Sensible reasons include reducing beach erosion, controlling storm surges, and designing a causeway to lead into a river or salt pond. These are all excellent reasons, but the most significant fact to a fisherman is that they each house fish sometime.

Striped bass feel comfortable in fast-moving and turbulent water. This is chiefly because their prey becomes bewildered in the foam, making them easy to kill. Other hunters such as bluefish, weakfish and false albacore also take advantage of these water conditions. Jetties breed this kind of turbulent water by forcing waves to collide into the rocks too soon, before they reach the beaches (where they lose a little of their power). It is not unusual to find a lot of these predators feeding ferociously on baitfish right up against the jetties, where the water is in fact the most violent.

Alongside the above-mentioned species, blackfish and porgy also make the most of the jetties. Rocky structures are great homes for crabs, mussels, periwinkles, and whelks. Scup and tautog live in these areas for the same reasons; they offer protection and food. They are able to wander the jetties and feed on crabs and mussels, and can hide in the rocks from predators.

Similar to the nearby beaches, it is often smart to make plans to fish jetties as close to time for high tide as possible. Generally speaking, you will find that you have deeper water to use at this time, and fish will tend to be more focused. If your selected jetty is part of a land bridge leading into a river or pond, you will frequently find baitfish escaping predators into the channel during this time.

Blackfish and porgy are generally uncomplicated to catch, as they hardly ever wander very far from the rock walls. They can survive without effort there in the rocks. You can cash in on this by making shorter casts and not using needless weights to exhibit your baits.

Applying the right equipment in these situations is very important. You will find out what rod and reel combination fits your kind of fishing on the jetties. It is vital not to ignore safety when fishing the rocks, though. Those that fish here recognize that one of the most essential pieces of equipment for navigating the rocks is a high-quality pair of cleats. The rocks stay soaked a good part of the season and have a propensity to grow moss and algae, which can cause an angler to fall without warning. Falling into the surf is a definite possibility, just like breaking an ankle, arm or leg. A personal flotation device (PFD) is another noteworthy safety article. With the development of inflatable PFD’s, these features no longer "get in the way" or "are just too bulky." You can currently wear a PFD around your waist, and just have to pull a ripcord to use it.

Clearly, if you have not yet fished from the jetties you have missed some outstanding fishing opportunities. While some days the beaches will put forward the most fish, and other days the jetties will. The main thing is that now you can fish both places in one expedition. If both seem to be lacking bluefish and stripers, then you can entirely shift gears and opt for blackfish. This is just one more brilliant selection to supplement your surf-fishing approach. A day of fishing that you’d rather forget could easily become a trip to remember for the rest of your life.

James Swift is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys writing informative and educational articles on fishing. He has writen a variety of articles including information on fishing supplies such as Shimano Fishing Reels, Daiwa Fishing Reels, and Penn Reels.