One night I was on Dania Beach Pier with a few friends fishing for snook. We were using the typical live shrimp on trollrites casting out and reeling in slowly working both sides of the pier. No one was producing any strikes.
Vinny, who is a night time regular on the pier had his rod in his right hand holding the rod over the rail and walking one step at a time with the pier railing like he is on a tight rope for a circus act. Out of curiosity, we ask him what he is doing and he said, "I am walking the dog." Vinny loses 3 fish in a matter of 15 minutes and then catches his legal keeper. We caught on to the trick of getting some bites and then catching a few keepers ourselves.
It's a silly name for a fishing tactic but it is very effective. You use a basic sliding sinker rig, slide your line through a 1 ounce egg sinker and tie on your leader. Your leader will use a 14 to 16 inch piece of fluorocarbon 30lb or 40lb test. One end is tied on a small black barrel swivel and the other end to a small black or brown "size 1" hook. Not a 1/0 hook, "size 1."
You must use live shrimp because dead or cut baits will not be effective. Hook your shrimp through the head starting underneath the shrimp's head going out through the top by the horn. Make sure you do not stick the hook through the shrimp's dark spot which is the brain or you will kill the shrimp.
Let's start off in the middle to get a visual and then from point A to point B. When you look over the pier railing straight down at the water, look for pier pilings. Let's say you have a piling to the left and a piling to your right. We will start at the piling to the right and that will be point A. Drop your rig down on the bottom next to the piling on your right. When it hits the bottom you hold your rod over the rail in your right hand with the rod tip down. Place your index finger on your line and lift the rod tip up just a little. Imagine that you are lifting your sinker off the bottom just a few inches. Slowly walk one step at a time to the next piling with the shrimp as if you were trolling that shrimp at super slow speed just at the edge of the pier. Walk slowly from piling to piling. Once you get to the next piling point B; reel up, go to the other side of the piling or flip the rod to your left hand and walk back to point A.
Using this technique you can cover the whole pier. You can use the same technique using a ounce trollrite with your shrimp. There are a lot of snook swimming under the pier in the dark looking out into the light waiting for prey to swim by. You're just walking the dog. That's exactly what it is. During this process, use one arm over the pier holding the rod in your hand.
This may be used on both sides of the pier north and south. If you get hung up on the bottom just walk back the other way and gently pull up at an angle.
What I would do when using medium to large shrimp on a ounce trollrite is start casting out and reeling in slowly working the surf area hard. If that doesn't produce any results, I would drop the trollrite with the shrimp next to the piling and start "walking the dog". If you take a shrimp and cast it under the pier and let it sit and wait for a fish to eat it, you'll be waiting all night. You will get better results by working the pier starting at the surf and working your way up toward the end. You try casting out the shrimp and if that doesn't work, quickly move on to "walking the dog". With these two tactics you can cover the outside and inside of a pier.
When "walking the dog" and you get a bite; slowly raise the rod up. Don't jerk it hard. I remembered times when I would start at one piling and when I got to the next one; had to reel up. I would slowly raise my rod up and there would be a snook following the shrimp. I would drop my arm so the rod tip goes down and the shrimp would sink. The snook would turn and suck it. It's crazy to see them coming out from under the pier.
More info can be found at the authors website www.snookonpier.com , also writen in the Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1106989.html?story_link=email_msg
For more information on snook tactics on piers go to Johns website at www.snookonpier.com