surf fishing...

[ricky9]

well since most of the piers are down by the miami area...i decided to try surf fishing. I know little of this form of fishing, so i was wondering if someone could tell me what type of fishes bite close to shore...and the techniques behind casting the bait out far

[BoatlessFisherman]

Hello Ricky here is some info from another time that I sent to someone it may help you.

Bait that is good to use:
Cut squid
Shrimp whole or pieces Live or dead
Mullet cut or small fingerling mullet whole
Live pilchard or sardines and also cut pieces, best if fresh

Basic Rigs that can be used:

Chicken rig: 3 to 4 ft long with multipal hooks 2 to 4 hooks weight is on the bottom of rig.
This rig is good for catching surf fish like Croakers and Whitting and numerous others, I use peeled pieces of shrimp.

Basic Bottom rig dead or live - best for dead: Weight placed on fishing line and then swivel then leader line and then hook. Leader should be anywhere from 2 to 3 ft long and be 3 to 8 times heavier than the fishing line in all cases with the use of a leader.

Another Bottom rig best for live bait:
attach 12 inch line to bank weight or Pyramid weight and than to swivel. Then take line and put through swivel add bead and then tie another swivel to fishing line than tie leader line to swivel and than tie hook to the leader line. To hook live bait reference my site abc's of fishing.

Spanish Mackerel live bait rig:
Tie fishing line to a mono or steel leader and than place long shank hook on 1/0 or 2/0
For how to hook bait go to my site abc's of fishing and use the live pilchard methods.


Knots that are helpful to know:
Improved Clinch Knot
Uni Knot for attaching hooks, my favorite, can also be used to attach two lines called a double Uniknot in this case reverse knots on lines and than pull the two knots down to tighten.

Typical Fish
In the Surf but not limited to the surf can be in deeper water

Snapper
Whitting ( Gulf King fish )
Croakers
Blue runners
Jacks ( Crevalles and yellow ) some can be 10 15 lbs but average 2 to 5lbs
Grunts numerous spesies, you will know these fish by its red colored inside of mouth and the grunting sound it makes.
Pompano
Permit
Tarpon
Snook you can catch but is out of season so no keeping at this time and there is a size limit.

These fish would be caught in deeper water and off piers:
Snapper
Spanish Mackerel
Bonitas
Bluefish
Shark
Hog fish
African Pompano
Maybe a King Fish Mackerel
and Black fin Tuna

At a Inlet you have rocks:
Snapper
Grunts
Moonfish or Lookdowns
Ladyfish
Croakers
Whitting

Bait that can be caught are:
Pilchard with a Sabbiki rig
Sardines with a Sabbiki rig
Thread Herring with a Sabbiki rig
Speedos with a Sabbiki rig
Grunts with a small hook and weight with shrimp - fun for the kids.
Dork jacks with a Sabbiki rig
Mullet with a cast net

Traditionaly you would not use bait on sabbikis but I find sometime a little itty peice of squid or shrimp and allow the sabbiki to be still in the water just under the surface catches bait when they are thinner in numbers like scarce

The Boatless Fisherman.

[BoatlessFisherman]

As for Casting I learned by trial and error, Longer rods help and I think Conventionals cast the farthest.

[rhorm]

Surf fishing has been good to me and keeps one from thinking all the fish are on the end of a pier when lots are right there in the surf. I talked to a old timer here @ sunshine ace hardware that shared his experiences fly fishing from the surf He told me in the morning he walks out to the sandbar and casts in not to cast a shadow (opposite on the east coast) about 25 feet and then moves to the shore in the evening and gets lots of snook action. Point is that lots of fish feed in the trough between the sandbar and shore and they are closer to ya than you think. good luck and tight lines. Get a long rod if you don't want to get in the water but, if you are willing to wade a light setup will be lots of fun.

[ricky9]

thank you guys for the info...def pointed me to the right direction with this

[BoatlessFisherman]

What rhorm said is very true, you don't have to get way out there to get fish.

Thanks Rhom for that input, I did not even think about that.

Around the lauderdale by the sea area I fish the troughs and pull 2 and 3 lb snapper, Huge Croakers and whitting which are very good to eat, Snook of all sizes, Jacks and Blue runners, and many other fish.

Hobe Sound Beach is Great and here again you just need to be in the trough.

[BoatlessFisherman]

Yes so true Robalo, I have and still fish that beach and sometimes they are solid every cast from 5lbs to20lbs I have caught there but I am sure their is alot bigger that I did not get.

You can watch them surf the curls when nice rollers are coming in.