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View Full Version : New to surf fishing... Help



ChannelCat3
05-24-2007, 08:52 PM
What kind of rigs are out there for surf fishing? What would I use to catch halibut, or Yellow Fin Croaker, etc.. Terminal tackle, Pole?

jplee3
05-24-2007, 10:01 PM
What kind of rigs are out there for surf fishing? What would I use to catch halibut, or Yellow Fin Croaker, etc.. Terminal tackle, Pole?

I'm not very good at it, but I'll throw in what I've seen and heard:
Try carolina rigging or dropshotting with baits. For lures, you can use hardbaits (i.e. luckycrafts) or swimbaits - no swivels... just tie on straight. You can also try dropshotting swimbaits and grubs... AND even luckycrafts, if you're either willing to gamble or 110% sure it won't get caught up on a rock or something.
Use LCs, swimbaits, grubs, or live bait (anchovies, sardines or smelt if you can get them) for halis and sometimes sandbass. Krocs also have been known to work well. Kastmasters too.
If you're into dead/fresh bait, use mussels, ghost shrimp, gulp camo sandworms, sandcrabs, razor clams for croakers, perch, corbina [use no more than 4lb test]... Remember, lighter line generally = more hits & nibbles. But when fish are in a feeding frenzy, they really could care less.

Hope that helps a little.

sandiegojoe
05-25-2007, 11:26 AM
Howabout at a beach break with a lot of wave action and some kelp?

I surf at trails in san onofre a lot, and it's such a pain to go back and forth to the rv, that I figure I might as well fish when I'm too tired to surf. Any tips on a good weight to use, a line/setup that makes it less likely to get caught in the kelp?

jplee3
05-25-2007, 12:27 PM
Howabout at a beach break with a lot of wave action and some kelp?

I surf at trails in san onofre a lot, and it's such a pain to go back and forth to the rv, that I figure I might as well fish when I'm too tired to surf. Any tips on a good weight to use, a line/setup that makes it less likely to get caught in the kelp?

That kind of fishing is pretty tough to do. You'll generally want a heavier setup in conditions like those. It's hard to use swimbaits/lures/etc with conditions like that because the action of your lures gets killed by the waves/swells/etc. You'll probably want at least a 2-3oz sinker (pyramid if you know the bottom is sandy, torpedo if it's rocky or there's a nearby reef). A sturdy 8+ pole with 15+ monofilament (or 20+ braid) will help. I hear braid cuts through the kelp easier too. Get some sand spikes to hold your rod(s) and try to keep the line *above* the breaking waves. Cast out just beyond the breakers. Use frozen/dead bait OR live if you can get it (grunion/smelt/herring/tomcod/anchovies/etc). You could probably even toss out gulp products - I'd recommend tossing the gulps as close to shore as possible but beyond the breakers. Squid and mussels are always good to have on you as well. You'll want to dropshot or do a dropper loop setup for further out. C-rig is OK for just beyond the breakers.

Oh yeah, you should also try this sometime:
http://www.surfboardfishing.com/

just hope there aren't any sharks around :D
bwahahahaa