In the past I have fished the coast very seldom (but will be doing much much more)and needed a good trip to teach me some important lessons.

1. Piers and jetties are LONG. Being over 60, I NEED A CART to carry all of my stuff.

2. Having a cart will allow me to carry more equipment allowing me to respond better to changing conditions.

3. Live bait works better than dead bait. My new cart will have at least 2 built in live bait tanks. I plan to use the 5 gallon insulated water drums sold by rubbermaid that you see on contractor trucks. Drill a small hole near top for a BubbleBox air bubbler to keep bait alive. Easy to drain water from to change water. Drain out the spout, add in the top. Can be used as a seat if desired.

4. I need to practice throwing my bait net. I get some bait. but not efficient YET.

5. Meet more people who live on coast to call me, or check with to see if/when the fishing is hot.

6. Buy one of the drop ring type landing nets for the pier.

7. Carry a rope and bucket for getting water from the side of jetty or pier.

8. Buy a couple of "Launcher" fishing corks to be able to reach out there for fish that are always "just out of reach".

ANY AND ALL OTHER IDEAS TO MAKE MY FISHING EASIER AND MORE PRODUCTIVE ARE APPRECIATED. NO IDEA IS UNWORTHY OF POSTING - DON'T ASSUME I KNOW ABOUT IT - THANKS

I guess you are pier fishing correct ??? If so get a dip net for retrieving fish from 30' feet down. Speks have soft mouths, I have lost them from lifting them 1' over the side of my boat.

the cart u can get on from either lowes or homedepot,,there called garden wagons but u can make them into fishing carts easy as i did,, the drop net the cheapest ive found them are a texas tackle unlimited off 45&fuqua there i belive 25 there,, also they do not come with the rope so u gotta buy ur own, academy has cheap good quality rope,, i did this to mine,,, also i fogot to mention about the cart,, the one from academy is pretty heavy to lift by urself so lifting into the truck would not be possible by urself ,, might wunna try custimizing one of them big radio fliers ive seen some pretty neat ones.. for the rod holders go t either lowes or home depot n buy a piece of pvc pipe they come in 10 footers i believe and u can mae about 12 rod holders 10 inchs long,, even tho u probably wouldnt need that many,,

I have a garden wagon - the kind made out of mesh steel and has balloon tires. Its heavy-er, but as I said, I already have it. The sides are hinged on one side and swing out. I might get out the welder and hinge them to fold down, thus increasing its square footage of cargo area, maybe acting as a bench to sit on. Plenty of SCRAP PVC here on the ranch.

Is the landing net for a high pier any different than a ring net for crabs??

The crab net you are thinking of is very similar if not the same. It would work just fine.

Thanks - it helps to have multi-task fishing stuff.

depending on what fish you are targeting you may look into a pier gaff also. If you have a welder & torch all you need is some 3/8" Diameter round bar a piece of 1 1/4 pipe about 1' long and make a BIG treble hook. Attach to 3/8" rope & your in business.

I've always found that lighter is better.

I wonder if I could make a pier gaff using rebar. I have a bunch of that lying around and have a forge and anvil - HMMMMM I even think I could do the bends on my bending brake - just need to flatten the rod to a sharp point and file a barb.

my husband tooka dolly and made it into what we use to haul but i cna tell yu that a cart is much better but should also be light weight cause as you age your back also ages and you do need to lift the cart into the truck to haul it around. also word to the wise the jetties are no place for senior seniors. my husand is 63 and this past june slipped on the freeport jetty. dislocated his finger which had to have surgery to debrid it . surgery cost about 30 thousand by the time all said and done now we only pier fish and until the gulf piers are back we go to padre island off courpus. my silly husband has this idea that the gulf waters are cleaner and not as polluted as the bays. i then ask him that if fish migrate then how do you know when you catch a fish that has been in the bays and he just glares at me.

Climbing around OFF the flat tops of jetties is much safer done with a walking stick with a sharp metal tip and metal cleats for your shoes called "Stabilicers". Also - ASSUME ALL ROCKS ARE SLIPPERY, until proven otherwise.

Do you or your husband know how to throw a cast net?? If fishing the jetties, you should learn how. Free bait!!! Also see my post about a portable live bait well.