The spoon will reflect lots of light in high clarity water and mimic a baitfish. If nothing bites after 10 minutes, try the grub and jig. Cast into the trough and let it sink to the bottom. Then begin to retrieve it by bouncing it on the bottom. Make sure to pause often to allow fish to pick the jig up off the bottom. Jigs work great in moving water along jetties and inlets. If you see baitfish that are active on the surface, then this is a great opportunity to try a topwater popper. Cast out and make it zig-zag on the surface with pauses every so often. Fish often hit on the pause. If you don’t see any active fish, this is still a great lure to make them curious and see what all the commotion is about.
Heading to the beach with the correct assortment of surf fishing gear is critical. You’ll need to be able to safely handle fish of all sizes, as well as the tools to setup your fishing gear properly. To cut your frozen bait, you will need a fillet knife between 6 to 9 inches. This will also serve as the same knife you use to fillet the fish you catch if you want to keep them for eating. You will also need a pair of good pliers. These are absolutely essential. You will be dealing with fish that have teeth, and fish that have very small mouths that are too small for your fingers. Using pliers to remove a fishhook is the safest and best way to remove it. We recommend 6” to 12” pliers with a line cutter, crimper, and wire cutter, like the 6.5” pliers from our Freshwater Kit. These additional features will help fix and maintain your surf rigs.
You should also have a towel to keep things clean and take care of your surf fishing equipment. A wet towel will also help you to get a good grip on fish that you catch, allowing you to handle them safely. Having a pair of bolt cutters on hand is also a must for safe handling if the hook is swallowed. When dealing with hooks and wire, you might need to cut the hook or a piece of wire off if pliers don’t suffice. Accidents do happen, and you may need the bolt cutters to cut the hook in a first aid emergency. For fishing with multiple rods, you will need sand spikes. Place them securely in the ground so they don’t move under pressure. These are a must for fishing with multiple rods, help keeping them secure and off the sand. For other useful tips check out Take Me Fishing’s Expert Surf Tips.
Once you find an area to fish, the best time to surf fish is almost always when the tide is moving. Movement creates current, and fish rely on current to bring them easy meals. To plan this, simply look at a tide chart of your area. It’ll tell you the predicted times for high tide and low tide. Plan to have your line in the water about 2–3 hours before high tide [emphasis mine]. In general, high tide brings fish in closer to the beach and hopefully to the areas you scouted beforehand. This is often the best window of time to fish on the beach, but the true answer is it depends. It could be the outgoing tide that starts putting you on the fish. For example, fish tend to position themselves on the outside of the inlets of creeks, bays, and waterways when they empty during the outgoing tide. Some areas produce best on the incoming tide, others on the outgoing, and some do well (or poorly) during both.
We highly recommend surf fishing using two poles per angler. This will allow you to target multiple species without the difficulty of managing many rods. Being able to stand in between both rods will allow you to react quickly when a fish bites, significantly improving your catch rate. Have one pole rigged with a heavier rig for cut bait and one pole sporting a smaller rig for shrimp or squid. Use the larger rig to target larger species, and use the smaller rig to target smaller species. When it’s time to cast, walk into the water to maximize your casting distance.
After you cast your bait, let it sink to the bottom. If you find that the waves and current are too strong and carry your weight back to shore, you will need to keep adding weight until it stays on the bottom and doesn’t move. Once it finally hits the bottom and stays, slowly backup with your bail open, gradually releasing line from your fingers but keeping it taut so that the line doesn’t catch in the waves. Close the bail and put the rod in your sand spike, then gradually reel in the line until it is tight and creates a bend in your rod. Then wait. Fish are heavily attracted by the scent of your bait, so give it time for the fish to find it, but be ready because sometimes it can happen very quickly. It’s often the case that larger fish will take longer wait times, while smaller fish take shorter wait times.
When you arrive at the beach, you will need to find a spot to cast your bait. Fortunately, fish have preferences of where they like be and don’t swim around aimlessly. If you can identify these areas where fish like to congregate, then you will significantly increase your chances of catching fish. These fishy areas include sandbars, troughs, points, seams, and cover. You can start searching for these before you even go fishing. Search your beach using programs and apps like our Places to Boat and Fish Maps, Google Maps, Navionics, and Fishbrain. Calling your local fishing store for this information is also very useful, as it is their business!
A sandbar, also called a shoal, is an underwater ridge usually made up of sand or gravel. The most effective method for identifying a sandbar is to stand on the beach at low tide and watch the waves and locate where they break. If a sandbar is present, the waves will break over the bar. Sometimes at low-tide the top of the bar will be exposed and easily visible. If multiple bars are present, then waves will reform and break again when they encounter the next bar.
When using online maps and photographs to locate sandbars, don’t rely too heavily on the information unless it is very recent. Sandbars are made of sand, so they are constantly shifting. It is not uncommon for a sandbar to exist one year and the next year be gone or in a different location. Most sandbars are found within casting distance of the surf, typically 20-30 yards out, but you will rarely target fish on the sandbar itself. Instead, you will use the sandbar as a reference point to locate the deeper channel that forms between the sandbar and shore, called the trough, as well any channel or drop-off beyond the sandbars.
A trough, also known as the slough, is the deeper water that forms between the shoreline and the sandbar, as well as the deeper water that forms between sandbars if there are multiple sandbars. If the sandbar is found about 20-30 yards out, then the trough will be found about 10-20 yards out. The trough is where you will target your fish. Troughs act as a highway for all species of fish to swim along the channel looking for their prey. As the tide moves, the sandbar creates lots of turbulence that pushes small baitfish and other bait into the deep trough.
Smaller fish under 3ft will usually be in the white wash right past where the wave breaks. This is not on the sandbar, but on the slope where it drops down. If a school of baitfish is present, then predator fish will use the trough to trap and corral the baitfish to feed on them. The best places to fish around a sandbar are near the entryways, called a seam or cut, and points. Seams and points are sometimes called “the spot on the spot” because these are the best spots for fish to ambush their prey. They will usually be the most productive spots in the trough and sandbar.
A seam, also called a cut, is an entryway where water can flow in and out of the trough. This is usually marked by the absence of sand on a sandbar. You will notice that while waves break over the sandbar, they do not break over the seam. A seam is a great spot to fish, as it typically sports the largest number fish anywhere on the beach. A seam condenses traffic in and out of the trough. Be aware of points as well. Points are the shallow area of the beach that jut out (like a point).
They tend to gradually recede as they continue away from the beach, as opposed to the rest of the coastline that gets deeper, faster. When there is a point that extends into a trough, this acts as a barrier that fish will use to their advantage. Target the sides of points where deeper pools form, also called pockets, but do not target the point itself as the area is too shallow. Make sure to walk the beach and search online maps for other types of structure as well. Sandbars and troughs are often times the most difficult pieces of structure to find, but structures such as rocks, jetties, bridges, and piers will all be much easier to find.
Complete guide on freshwater fishing rigs that will help you enjoy your fishing trips. Getting your rig set up right can be affected by the anglers’ tying experience.
There are many types of rigs that you can use as an angler. It all depends on several factors including, the type of fish you want to catch and the equipment you are using.
It is also affected by the prevailing weather conditions as well as where you are going fishing, a lake, river, pond, dam, or ocean.
A simple rig is the starting point for most anglers. It’s cheap and very easy to tie and you can probably catch your first fish with it!
The simplest way to attach a hook is to thread the line through the eyelet of the hook and then double back on itself, pulling enough line into a palm-sized section.
Wind the tag end around the rest of the line several times and finish by securing it with a whipping knot A plastic clothes peg comes in handy to secure it while you make your whip.
Spinner RigsThat’s great for worms, maggots, and small baits, but won’t grip larger baits, such as ragworms or lugworms, unless it is measured out on the bend of the hook.
The next step up is a running rig, where you tie a sliding loop at one end of your line and attach this to the swivel at the other end. Which should have some length of strong nylon or cotton between itself and hook, so that it can freely slide and swivel.
An Uptide (mullet) rig is a simple running rig that will hold larger baits, such as mackerel strips or whole pilchards. You need a minimum of two swivels: one to tie the loop in your line, the other to join the nylon/cotton section to the hook and your bait.
The best way to attach a bait is to thread it through the eyelet of the hook and then cut off any excess with a pair of sharp scissors.
When a fish bites down on the bait, it straightens the hook in its mouth and most cases won’t have the strength to set itself free.
The only time you need to strike is when it makes off with your offering, so unless you’re after big fish, let them eat the whole bait – it’s the only way to be sure.
At least one running rig should be in your box at all times, as you never know when a fish might bite, and taking the time to prepare a proper trace is not always an option.
At least one running rig should be in your box at all times, as you never know when a fish might bite, and taking the time to prepare a proper trace is not always an option.
One word of warning: tackle shops buy their swivels by weight, so unless you tie your own, you could find yourself with a hook and no trace!
The next step up is the ledger rig which is also called a ‘hair loop’. It’s rigged similarly to an uptide, but without the free-sliding swivel in between the hook and nylon/cotton trace – just a short length of line that joins them together.
Ledger rigs are best for when you’re float-fishing in seawater – the swivel will corrode if it’s left exposed to saltwater.
Many anglers prefer to have their bait or lure close to the lure, so they use a hair rig (also known as a hair loop).
This is nothing more than a loop of line tied in the middle of your trace, which allows you to add on spinnerbaits (for spinning lures), spoon lures, and even lightweight “wigglers”. You can also add more swivels if necessary – for example, when rig fishing with several hooks.
The most common is simply a length of strong mono (nylon-coated fishing line) with a swivel at one end and the hook at the other.
A closer version replaces the swivel with a snap mechanism – on some it may be necessary to push the hook through one of the eyes, but on others, it is simply a case of opening the snap.
The free-swinging version does away with both swivel and snap in favor of a bobbin, which hooks onto your line to stop your bait from swinging about. This type is used when fishing for salmon or trout in rivers.
Typically, a hook trace is of at least 3ft (1m) in length, of which 1-2ft (30-60cm) will be made up of the mainline and the rest looped through a swivel to form a running rig.