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There are many written rules about fishing, yet in my experience its anything goes. There are some things that are constant. Stripers like moving water and they like structure. A bridge is a place where they can find both. Stripers love to hang around pilings and will always have their nose pointed toward the current. If the tide is incoming, or out going, cast your bait up-current of where you think they are and let it drift into them. Stripers are traditionally lazy. They are waiting for something to come to them so take advantage of the situation. It could be the up-current side of the bridge or the down- current side. Either way, they will be among the pilings waiting for something to come to them. Fish accordingly. If I'm fishing the up-current side I'll cast out and let it drift toward me and the fish. If I'm fishing the down-current side I drop it among the pilings and let it drift out. It works. Be prepared to lose some hooks either through snagging or break offs after a fish has gone into the pilings. The fish you DO get are well worth the trouble. It is important to allow your bait to get deep during it's drift into the bridge. Sometimes I will use a bobber placed about five feet from the bait so it will hang down deeply as it drifts in. More often than not the bigger stripers are at the bottom of the water column and the smaller fish nearer the top. It helps to use a bobber over structures so you can get some depth yet stay above structure which would snag your line.
The other problem you encounter fishing a bridge is it's height. More often than not you'll hook up with a fish that's too big to pull up to where you are. Many fishermen use grappling hooks attached to stronger lines to snag the striper an pull up. The problem is that the snagging hook can injure or kill the fish which is especially tricky when the fish is just short of legal size. Some fishermen will walk the fish along the bridge to the end where they can go down upon the rocks to retrieve the striper. The difficult part is getting around light poles and avoiding traffic. The one sure way to overcome this problem is to copy the techniques of bridge fishermen in the South. They use small nets at the end of a rope. The device is lowered to the water and the fish is manuevered into the net. The striper is then raised to the deck with little or no injury to the fish and no strain on your line. I created a net out of metal ring to which I attached a net. This along with a forty foot length of rope has allowed me to land many big fish that I could not have landed otherwise.
Fishing a bridge can be a great place to catch some stripers especially when your time is short. However, there are some particular dangers to be aware of. First, make sure it is legal to fish off the intended bridge. Second, always be sure to be aware of the traffic. Many motorists will not be expecting a jubilant fisherman to jump out in front of them late at night. You will also need to be aware of any and all nocturnal animals you might encounter. Skunks, racoons, stray dogs, can all make your trip a miserable experience. I've had racoons come right up and start eating from my box of sea worms, and I've been cornered on a bridge by a skunk that could not get across the grated part of the bridge and seemed to think that I was the reason for his aggrevation. Beware the human animal too. Once on a bridge, I was standing by the side of the road replenishing my bait. Two cars full of youths drove by and threw their pizza crusts at me as they passed. It happened so fast I didn't know what happened until I saw myself covered in pizza sauce. The two women these cowards hit at the same time were hurt during the same attack. On another occassion, the morning Boston Herald delivery person amused themselves by throwing the daily edition AT me!. At first I thought they might be a fellow fisherman being charitable to a kindred spirit. The morning the Herald nearly took my head off as it tomahawked by and into the water below convinced me otherwise. Be careful, don't let your guard down. You could get injured or lose your life. It's only a fish!