Help with fishing the surf

[Swells]

In May I prefer a 3/4 oz. gold Johnson Sprite spoon. When the water heats up by mid-June I will switch to Plum-Treuse Assassins and in real clear water DOA's

Agreed, love the Johnson spoons, and the penny-colored plastic shrimp always work for me too - although them Gulp bait STANK - they catch but they smell, I mean. LOL.

Went out with some "Sweet Cheeks" and got rejected but a guy with some frozen 3-inch baby mullet and 4-inch shad was knocking the Spanish Macks left and right. Some days, it does help to use bait if you want something for the dinner table, match the hatch as they say. -sammie

[shutout]

In May I prefer a 3/4 oz. gold Johnson Sprite spoon. When the water heats up by mid-June I will switch to Plum-Treuse Assassins and in real clear water DOA's

[SUPER SPOOK]

yea,what they said!

[bountyhunter]

In the surf my number one go to bait is a Corky Devil, followed by a standard Corky. If the water is "trout green" and the sky is clear I like the "Day Glow" or Pearl/Char color. If the water is a little off colored then I go darker. Later in the day or if the Corkies aren't working I'll switch to a Brown Lure's Devil Eye in Rootbeer and if the water is really clear I'll go with a Bass Assassin in Woodpecker.

Note if you get there before day light, take a good light or use your headlights to charge up you "Day Glow" Corky or Devil, it will glow in the dark and kill them before the sun comes up.

[plugger]

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.

I agree, catching fish on topwaters is the pinnacle of fishing excitment. What a rush. But, we were talking general surf fishing information. How about getting a blow up in the dark and not seeing anything.... clack, clack, clack.....WHAM-SPLASH ! I'd rather see it though.

[GGF]

My go to plastic in the surf is anything red with a white tail. Gulps are fine, but you will catch a lot of trash. The whiting will eat them one centimeter at a time.

My favorite technique is a top water cast from the second bar down the beach to the back side of where the last waves are breaking on the beach. Work it back to you along the first gut.

I'm always amazed at how many solid trout work that first gut in 1 to 2 feet of water 20 feet off the beach.

[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

[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.

[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???

[mjh]

Thats nice info to know.

[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

[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.

[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 !!

[stingray]

oops THANKS!!

[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