Top Ten Surf fishing Tips


1. With surf fishing, remember that fish hover around the shore, so make most of your casts parallel to the sand. Don’t send your cast out too far.

2. The best tides range from half rising to half falling – especially when early or late in the day. It's just alot easier this way.

3. If your fishing an inlet, fish in the outgoing water which brings the bait out to sea. This will get the most bites.

4. Find a beachfront – they have a lot of structures such as holes, pockets, rocks, reefs, etc. Fish like to hang out in these structures. Also find spots where channels lead to deep water – these will often times hold game fish.

5. Fish aggressively by walking back and forth and fishing in areas that appear likely to hold fish. You may find boils of feeding fish in hot spots.

6. Watch the birds! They are one of the best indicators of fish in the area.

7. An oldie, but goodie; use the freshest live-bait possible, and change it often. You really want your bait on bottom, with a lighter weight. This will give you the best chance for stimulating strikes.

8. When using lures, use ones that can be cast easily. Switch out often to get to different depths, and experiment with the speed of retrieve.

9. Use finer-diameter monofilament line because it gives better action to both natural baits and artificial lures. When you are done fishing, make a long cast and use a towel to wipe the line off as you reel it back in. This will remove any debris and crud and clean the line.

10. When you finally hook a big one, keep it in front of you as you wind it in – running as you need to. As you bring it close, it will make a few runs out – just drop your tip and let it go. When it gets really close, use the power of the waves by reeling in when the waves are coming at you..

Here's a few more Surf fishing tips:

1. Fish bite the best right before a storm, weather change, or front! This has been attributed to the falling barometer.
2. If the surf is too rough to fish, cast fishing lures at the inlet, or take your surf fishing gear to the Ocean Pier.
3. A hurricane type sinker holds better per ounce than the traditional pyramid type. If it is extremely rough try a sputnik type surf sinker.
4. To catch more fish always keep your fishing bait moving slightly across the bottom so you can cover more territory and make your bait look more life-like.
5. A light easterly breeze brings fish to the surf
6. If you want to catch stripers, fish early in the morning, dusk, or after dark. Use bloodworms or artificial lures such as Atom's Plugs, Rattletraps, MirrOlures, Windcheaters or Swimming Shad Lures.
7. As with most fishing, it's best to go early in the morning and right before dark.
8. If you use squid for fishing bait, always cut it into an attractive tapered strip and hook it only once so it dangles off the hook.

Definitely go with sand crabs in my opinion! They work everytime.