Jimmy HubbsSurf fishing is basically a method to catch fish though standing on the shoreline or wading in the surf. This kind of fishing may be confused with pier fishing, yet they’re considered to be 2 various methods. Both artificial lures and live baits are used by people who love surf fishing. Most surf fishing activities are done in saltwater.
Typically, the best baits you should use for surf fishing are live ones, which are found along the shoreline. Sand crabs are the best baits you can consider. If you’re surfing during summer time, you may find deep holes that they dug. Most of the time, you may find them washed up on the shoreline and it’s fine since fish would swim to the surface to catch anything alive or dead. If you’re out live bait, you may use freshly cut baits, clams, squids, mussels, shrimps, and frozen anchovies.
See to it that your baits are sort of firm, or else they might slide right off of your hook. In addition to that, get rid of any scales on cut baitfish so the hook can pierce it. For the basic rig, you’ll require something that’s capable of sinking the line without placing undue pressure on it. Fish can be scared off once they feel the weight on the line. A lot of people would use sliding sinker rigs or fish-finder rigs once they surf fish.
Surf fishing using lures enables you to skip the bottom rigs, baits, and sinkers. If you are tired of the crabs stealing your baits on the bottom, such beach fishing lures will allow you to avoid them easily and expand your range in surf, enabling you to cover more shorelines and move to throw your lures where you might see birds diving on a school of fish.
Surf fishing lures come in numerous varieties. You will find top-water poppers and plugs, grubs, bucktail jigs, jerkbaits, and soft plastic swimmers. Depending on your preferences or needs, choose the ones that will give you convenience when you go surf fishing.
Fun Outdoor Quiz
Types of Surf Fishing Baits You Can Use
Baits that are proven to be effective in surf fishing reflect the natural food sources at the shore, which fish are accustomed to eating. In several cases, you may scavenge for live baits on the beaches before you go surf fishing. Or, you may also check with the local bait shops around your area for the best bait products you can buy.
Shrimp
Saltwater species enjoy eating dead or live shrimps, which made them attractive baits for red fish, blue fish, grouper, and some known sport fish. If you use dead shrimps, get rid of the tails and heads before baiting them up on your hook. This kind of approach appears to be successful. You can also use live shrimps for your bait. Just hook the shrimp though the dorsal back plate so it will remain alive and would move its legs.
Crabs
Small crabs are the best baits for each sport fish at the shore. Just trap your crabs through attaching a raw chicken to the fishing line. Throw chicken parts into small and shallow pool or bay or consider parking it on the beach’s edge near the dune grasses. The small crabs would come running. Try gathering them by hand as well as keep them in a plastic bucket. Punch the holes in the lid for ventilation, yet make sure that you keep your lid in place to avoid escape. Cast the crab or you can also cut it for chub baits.
Mullet
It’s a kind of fish that most sport fish would eat in the wild. You can cut it to chunks for casting and get rid of the tail and head. To catch mullets, use a net before you start surf fishing.
Sidewinder Crabs
These are great surf fishing baits. You will find them near jetties and rocks in any marine environment.
Sand Fleas
Mole crabs or sand fleas are crablike and small animals that frequently wash ashore in the waves and dig in the sand. You can dig out the sand fleas with small rakes and you may store them in the bucket with wet cloth over its top. Throw wet sand at the bottom of your bucket first, yet never submerge sand fleas in the water. You can bait up your hook with sand fleas intact.
Squid
Most saltwater fish see squid as a delectable bait. You may purchase fresh or frozen squid at majority of saltwater bait shops that are near the shores. You can use whole, small squids or cut up bigger squids to strips.
Menhaden
Another baitfish that perfectly works with bluer fish, striped bass, and sea trout is menhaden. You can purchase menhaden at many seaside bait shops on the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast. Then, cut it up into chubs and hook it.
Ghost Shrimps
These can be bought at local tackle shops or suctioned by hand in wetland places during low tide. The current world record of corbina was caught with the use of ghost shrimps. They work great for croaker, perch, and corbina. Some surf fishermen like putting them in a container filled with saltwater. If you will keep them in a refrigerator or a cool place, they’ll live for about 6 days.
Clams
They can be a good surf fishing bait. However, they have short shelf life unless you dig or buy fresh clams. Once clams die, they’ll deteriorate and slide off the hook. The frozen clams work yet more apt to slide off your hook compared to fresh meat. Eliminate the clam meat from the shells.
Artificial Lures
Plastic grubs often work well for corbina, perch or croaker. Grubs come in 2 styles and these include swim tail and curly tail. Flies also work great in the surf, fished on Carolina Rig. The small bright spoons may work great to attract slab-sized perch, halibut, corbina, and croaker. The hard suspension baits work best in surf for big perch, halibut, and croaker.
Karin Williams
William Fowler
