This paper presents a laboratory study on bridge pier protection with surface guide panels (SGP) in clear-water experiments. The SGP is installed by piercing a set of two vertical panels partially into the water, with some interior angle and leading opening, setting at a distance ahead of the protected pier. The suitable installation of the SGP can effectively adjust the flow pattern to reduce the downflow motion and the horseshoe vortex ahead of the pier. We consider some dominant factors to set up SGP for pier protection, including the interior angle θ, leading opening Ow, distance between panel and pier L, submerged depth of panel Pd, pier diameter D and water depth H. After evaluation of these parameters through laboratory tests, the optimal setup conditions of θ=60o, Ow/D=0.1～0.2, L/D=2～2.5 and Pd/H=0.7 are determined. Under these conditions, the usage of SGP leads to a best performance on decrement of the maximum scour depth at pier up to 90% with ignorable side effects on the SGP scour.