THE SECRETE LIFE OF JETTIES

Understanding how current interacts with these manmade structures is the key to cracking their code.

- JERRY AUDET

There are few pieces of structure as iconic as jetties. These rocky manmade points dot both coasts, providing thousands of unique and productive fishing opportunities. Jetties act like an oasis where vegetation, mollusks, crabs, bait and gamefish accumulate. They are beloved by all anglers, and many of us cut our teeth by fishing from them. If you're interested in becoming a better jetty angler-from shore or boat here are some tactics to help up your game.

JETTIES MEAN CURRENT

Jetties are built in areas with current running parallel to shore. They are designed to break up this flow, slow it down, and reduce shoreline erosion as a result. They vary dramatically in size and composition; some are short and loosely cobbled together, while others are extremely long, with carefully placed, tightly packed boulders and poured concrete.

Regardless of what it looks like, the presence of a jetty is a fail-proof signal that there is moving water along that stretch of shoreline. While the flow is not always dramatic, it usually acts as a conveyor belt, pushing bait and other forage right up along the edge of the rocks.

Predators key in on current, letting it deliver food directly to them or using it to their advantage to overwhelm and take down prey. Because of this, you can count on any given jetty being visited by tarpon, striped bass, redfish, bluefish or other gamefish at some point during the tide cycle.

While it's safe to assume current will play some role in a jetty's productivity, every jetty is unique. Each will have its own list of top fishing factors, and current is only one component. For example, wind speed and direction will influence some jetties far more than others. Or a specific bait migration might be critical to one jetty and completely unimportant for another. Here's what to look for.