Better time of day for bubble rig?

First time ever pier fishing this morning. I'm pretty sure I jinxed the entire GSP (sorry about that). All I brought was a bubble rig, as was recommended by the folks at J & M. Are there certain times of day when a bubble rig works better? And also, is there an area on the pier that is more bubble rig friendly and/or productive? The LAST thing I want is to get in anybody's way or muck things up for y'all who know what you're doing. Any tips is much appreciated. Gonna head back in a few hours. BTW, everyone I talked to this morning and early afternoon were very friendly!

Some of the friendliest folks around, might try the search option and read earlier posts on bubble rigging, I am sure you will find the answer you are looking for. Good luck.

Welcome to the forum! Lots of info on here about the best time and place to fish the bubble rig but it all boils down to a "just depends" I've had better luck a little after the sun comes up until almost dark, and from inshore of the T all the way to the octi. An exciting way to fish, when the bite is on it's a frenzy. Good luck, The GSSP is great, lots of good folks here.

I love the bubble rig Love to see fish strike it on top of water You can catch most everything on it and it s easy to use Don t getdiscourage if you haven't done too good with it the pasted few days I haven't either For some reason there haven't been many spanish lady fish small kings hardtail etc around that usually strike it. Just throw it out and bring it back in short jerks Vary the speed of your retrieve every now and then Best early morning or late evening Just past the restrooms on the booth sides is a good area You can venture out to the octigan on the west side usually if not too many king fishing I was there this morning at sunrise til around 10 Didn't catch a fish on it Won't be there tomorrow but plan to be there early Friday morning If you re there just come up and say hi I pull a pier cart with big gray sand tires I'll be glad to help you any way I can

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Originally Posted by smellytele

Are there certain times of day when a bubble rig works better?
And also, is there an area on the pier that is more bubble rig friendly and/or productive?

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Some folks would say "the best time to use them is when the fish are biting them." LOL
Generally that is early and late in the day (my theory) being when the shadows are long or nonexistent fish like mackerel are more apt to come nearer the surface to feed.
Also at cloudy times (like after a rainshower) or when the seabreeze or thunderstorm kicks the surface up into whitecaps.

Most of the time they seem to work best in the area about 1/4 to 1/2 way between the outer platforms.
The water is 12'-18' deep there and perhaps the fish can see (hear) the bubble rig better at those depths depending on lighting and water visibility.
I often start in the middle (near the handicap access) and work my way out deeper or in shallower depending on the conditions and what others are catching (or NOT catching ;-)

Hope this helps!

Also, it would be worth another trip to J&M to get some white Looney Jigs for when the mackerel are not biting the bubble rigs on the surface.

Thanks! I don't think I've met a group of more friendly and helpful people!

Oh, and is a bubble rig effective from the shore as well or around the jetty?

You can sometimes catch the heck out of the ladyfish from the beach on a bubble. Just depends.
Vary your retrieve, some days the Spanish want it ripping fast, other days jerk-reel-jerk-reel, other day slow but steady.