Help with fishing the surf

[Texas Aggies]

Still new to the saltwater fishing scene. I see people out now wading the surf. What artificials are they throwing? Am I correct in assuming rays arnt a problem in the surf or do I still need to be shuffling? Thanks!!

[Ibtsoom]

Shuffle Shuffle dude...better yet buy some ray guards -- rays are an issue everywhere! Saw 20 or 30 of them while running over the sand bars at the pass last Sunday. As to what to throw I'll have to leave that up to the guys that frequent the surf. If it's calm enough I imagine I would be throwing tops and switching to plastics when the surf kicked up a bit but I'm not out there that much. Good Luck!

[Moonpie]

There's no hard rule about what lures to toss in the surf.
Popular lures are gold and silver spoons, mirrolures of various colors, soft plastic tailed jigs of various colors, topwaters like She-dogs/Skitterwlaks/etc, plugs like Ratlletraps and Rubberbacks, and of course live baits like shrimp, mullet, or croakers.
The classic gold spoon is a great starter lure as it relatively cheap, is easy to throw, and easy to work.
No need to spend eleventybillion dollars on lures. Get maybe half a dozen and go get wet. See what works for you.

Good luck.

[dbarham]

check offshore buoys and winds and cams and GO!!

[Swells]

Combat surf fishing is fun, and yes at times of the year the stingrays or cow-nose ray might be breeding in the surf. The cow-nose ain't no problem through. I just wear Crocs or reef shoes in the surf.

If you can drive the beach and not get stuck, look for rips, channel guts, birds working, and bait moving ... sometimes you'll see dolphin, shark, or tarpon jumping. Stop the truck and run like heck into the water and dang the stingrays! When the trout, reds, or whatever are feeding good, anything shiny will get a hit. I usually throw metal like spoons, the Kast-Master, the Little George, and various jigs. That's Combat surf fishing!

Others fish by stopping somewhere and setting up camp with a surf pole on bait using a pole holder pounded in the sand, and using a trout pole for chunking. I use poppers and such in the still mornings, and work deeper throughout the day until 5:30, when you can use about anything ... but the surf dictates what to use. You can't throw a She-Dog in 2-3 foot surf. But for a lack of a better name, that's Grandpa Style Surf Fishing.

A word to the wise, later in the summer there is a crop of bull shark that come in so I don't pack bait or fish out there on the first or second bar. No sir, I back my trout or red all the way into the beach in case Mrs. Chark wants it. Call it Sissy Surf Fishing but I ain't crazy!

Chark Surf Fishing is a big rage and while I catch a few babies every year, these folks tend to camp overnight with Coleman lamps or even pack firewood while waiting on 4 to 7 foot long monsters. Who knows, you might like it but you need big offshore reel to do the job right. A kayak is good for getting the bait way out there.

[imhammer]

For trout in the surf I throw Tops in all sizes until I find what they want......Corkies......Tops......Mirrolures......T ops.......or maybe Tops!
Super spook, Super Spook Jr, Slitterwalks, She Dog, He dog, Top Dog.

[stingray]

Dang I'm just glad I'm reading this post, "Swells" thats some very useful info..Thnaks!!
I usually just chunk a 6" Gulp New Penney on a 1/4 oz jig 2nd bar is as far as I can get

[stingray]

oops THANKS!!

[plugger]

2 foot or less wave height is ideal...usually has "trout green " water and you don't have to be wave jumping. The fish are running in the guts, so cast diagonally or parallel to the guts. Fan casting will be needed to reach the third bar as the sun gets high and the fish pull out deeper,usually. They can still be in the second gut during the day. A little lesson unfolded one day in the surf fishing with two experienced fishermen throwing all of the above mentioned lures and not doing so great. A Vietnamese guy was with his family , the kids splashing around, and he had a Zebco 33 rinky-dink rod/reel. We 3 were taking a break by the truck and he keeps walking up to us asking if we would like the trout he caught.... he kept doing this until his 9 year old son came with him wanting his dad to keep the one he had, a nicer 3 1/2 pound or so trout. I was flabbergasted as he was whipping our butts and followed him to the surf. He was standing in comfortable waist deep water throwing a little brown/white belly curly tail about 1/2 " long on that Zebco. Those trout were eating those things like popcorn. You would have had to use a light spinning reel to cast those to not get a backlash. All those big fancy baits weren't doing the trick. I learned a lesson. Remember several years ago when that guy landed a trout on a FLY down south that was bigger than the state record, but, because he released it, it wasn't acknowledged as a new record despite witnesses , boga weight and pictures ? The International Federation of Fishing or whatever it's called recognized the catch ,though. So, sometimes small is good. Elephants eat peanuts. Good luck !!

[imhammer]

Nice job Henry, but I will still be chunkin' tops 90% of the time. 1 fish on top is worth 5 on anything else to me.

[XtremeAngler]

I always throw tops first. Then, if the water is pretty clean and clear, I like to throw a pearl/chartreuse saltwater assassin. If its a little sandy, I'll switch to pumpkinseed/chartreuse. As mentioned before, a gold spoon can be awesome. Bring extras of everything in case a mackerel gets ahold of it

[mjh]

Thats nice info to know.

[Ibtsoom]

Nice job Henry, but I will still be chunkin' tops 90% of the time. 1 fish on top is worth 5 on anything else to me.

Chip you don't like top's do ya???

[Texas Aggies]

Thanks guys I appreciate the help. Hopefully it will be nice and Ill have a chance to go out tomorrow after work. I'll let you know how it goes.

[imhammer]

Chip you don't like top's do ya???

Whats tops......I think my son has some of those!

Thanks guys I appreciate the help. Hopefully it will be nice and Ill have a chance to go out tomorrow after work. I'll let you know how it goes.

Looks like it is going to be a little rough out there tomorrow!
See the swell heights in the afternoon.....2.8'-3.1'....Ouch! Need them to be 1.5 or less.

http://www.stormsurf.com/locals/galv.shtml