Gafftop catfish put up quite the fight!
They may be on the small side, but these silver weakfish tend to be plentiful and are very tasty!

While most of my fishing charters are shallow water oriented some folks would rather fish for a broader mix of fish than just the seatrout and redfish we typically catch on the flats. When I receive this request or when I know I’ll be hosting non-casting clients, it time to head to my favorite deep-water docks, dredge holes or bridges.

Dock fishing generally is approached with popping floats and a live shrimp suspended below them. Cast your bait near the structure and wait for the float to disappear and set the hook. When necessary I’ll do the casting while the clients do the catching!

Dredge-hole fishing allows for both casting and vertical drop styles. Most anglers do well simply dropping their bait straight down. Often I’ll pinch the tails from a live shrimp and thread the critter onto a jighead using the newly formed opening.

Bridge fishing is almost completely fished in a vertical fashion. The biggest issue with fishing bridge pilings in snagging the rocks, rubble and construction debris on the bottom. The trick here is to drop to the bottom and raise your bait up a foot or so. A live shrimp head pinned to a jig-head works well. If the “bait steelers” give you a hard time try threading the shrimp onto the jig-head like I mentioned above.

Spotted seatrout, weakfish, mangrove snapper, ladyfish, white perch, sheepshead, pinfish, puffers and are commonly caught at these locations. Of course, you might still hook into a redfish, black drum, grouper, or shark as well!