New at Surf Fishing

[David32809]

Hello all. I'm new here on this forum. I have been reading and searching alot on the net about surf fishing. Found some really interesting articles and have learned alot but am confused on somethings. I have tried surf fishing a few years ago. Just put some shrimp on a hook with a weight and hoped for the best. Not much luck at all. Hopefully this year I will be able to do alot more fishing.

One thing that I aconfuseded with is shock leaders. I understand the concept cause I have lost a few rigs with my line popping in the past. But what haven'tnt been able to understand is after you tie on the shock leader to the main line then what? Do you put the terminal tackle on the shock leader or do you have to tie on an additional leader with the terminal tackle. I haven't found any info with this with all of the searching and reading the past month.

I noticed some info stating that you tie the terminal tackle straight onto the main line. I have used premade leaders for bottom rigs tied onto the main line then when casting the main line pops and the tackle is somewhere in the ocean.

Any ways I am fishing with an 8Shake spheresphere med/heavy rod Shake spheresphere Alpha 070 reel. I know this is not nowhere the top of line but my dad gave this to me a few years ago for a present when I mentioned that I would like to try surf fishing. If I like and get the hang of surf fishing then maybe I will invest more $$ into a rod and reel. But for now this is what I am going to be using and $$ is on a limited budget right now.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Xpierrat]

Yes in most cases you tie the end of the shock leader to the swivel of the terminal rig

[Red Sled]

the general rule of thumb is: the mainline of your fishing rig needs to be the same as your shock leader (or very close to it)

shock leader in lbs = wt cast in oz , so if you throw 5 oz weights = 50lb mono shock leader and fishing rig body.

-or-
if using 4 or 5 oz wts, you can just use 50lb powerpro for your mainline and tie a few earl-brinn rigs with 50lb mono and use a glove or innertube as a fingercot so you dont get sliced if the spool slips on the cast.

check out the "easy cast" on the tube and rock salt your baits ( to toughen them up and keep them on the hook )and you will eventually have success if there are fish around

[Tripleclean]

Also one thing about surf fishing, You can pick up the babes! I bring coffee and paper cups, extra chair and cooler for seats. You catch more than fish, think tourist chicks between 20-40. All it takes is a smile, then what do you catch, then go to I'm having this party tonight or what ever.

[David32809]

Thanks for the information.

[Snookmeister]

The thing about fishing the surf that takes time to understand is that not all beach front in created equal. Fish tend to concentrate on certain areas of the beach. Any areas in relatively close proximity to a pass or inlet are going to be the areas I focus on. Also look for signs of life, bait pods, birds etc. Look for anything different along a seemingly featureless beach front. Maybe and area where the swash channel is deeper or the bech itself is steeper. I like to fish areas of beach with more shells, harder bottom, near groins or Jerttys, any sort or variation is something that will attract fish.

As far as rigging goes it depends what you at trying to catch. When I am fishing in the surf I am targeting snook or seatrout for the most part. Most of the time the fish are going to be between the bar and the beach in the swash channel where the waves crest and break. One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when fishing on the beach is that they put their baits out too far. Most snook etc are gong to be no more than 50ft from the sand. Tarpon and sharks are usually going to be on the outside edge of the bar, generally speaking unless the bait is super thick in close. I just fish with white jigs And jerk baits, topwaters and swimmers in mullet or pilchard patterns with standard inshore type of set up. For live bait I use grunts, mullet, pilchards, and killifish. Like I said, usually the fish are in close so I am going to be just freelining my baits. Hope some of this helps!

[pass]

well done .what a good forum here .i like it .thanks a lot .

The thing about fishing the surf that takes time to understand is that not all beach front in created equal. Fish tend to concentrate on certain areas of the beach. Any areas in relatively close proximity to a pass or inlet are going to be the areas I focus on. Also look for signs of life, bait pods, birds etc. Look for anything different along a seemingly featureless beach front. Maybe and area where the swash channel is deeper or the bech itself is steeper. I like to fish areas of beach with more shells, harder bottom, near groins or Jerttys, any sort or variation is something that will attract fish.

As far as rigging goes it depends what you at trying to catch. When I am fishing in the surf I am targeting snook or seatrout for the most part. Most of the time the fish are going to be between the bar and the beach in the swash channel where the waves crest and break. One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when fishing on the beach is that they put their baits out too far. Most snook etc are gong to be no more than 50ft from the sand. Tarpon and sharks are usually going to be on the outside edge of the bar, generally speaking unless the bait is super thick in close. I just fish with white jigs And jerk baits, topwaters and swimmers in mullet or pilchard patterns with standard inshore type of set up. For live bait I use grunts, mullet, pilchards, and killifish. Like I said, usually the fish are in close so I am going to be just freelining my baits. Hope some of this helps!

[troytday]

Rule of thumb for a shock leader is for every ounce of weight is 10 lbs of shock leader. I run the length of the rod to the reel and 5 turns of line. So if your rod is 10 foot. You would have 23-25 ft of shock leader. I normally use 30lb mono due to always throwing 2-3 ounce pyramid sinkers. Ifyou ever need a partner to teach you just send me a email and we can meet up. I have over 34 years experience in the Florida surf.