Fishing Tackle: Do You Know How to Surf Fish?

Surf fishing is a kind of popular game fish all over the world, and many people fall in love with it. But you may ask that why I can’t catch as much fish as others. In my opinion, the main reason is that you know little about the skills of surf fishing. As we all know, different fishing styles have different skills, imagine if you use the skills of lake fishing to surf fishing, can you a successful surf fishing trip? Today, we will discuss the tips of surf fishing, and I hope it can be helpful for you.

Make a survey before fishing

No matter you are the first time to surf fish, or first time to fish in a new spot, you should take a walk along the beach at low tide, and make some notes:

1. Make a note of where the gullies, hollows and banks are.

2. Does the nature of the seabed change at all? Sand, shingle, mud...?

3. Any sign of shellfish beds? Cockles, razor fish, mussels, etc?

4. Any patches of weed and rough ground?

5. Are there any tackle-robbing (but fish-attracting) obstructions you need to be aware of?

6. Take this exploration one stage further by casting a bare lead (no hooks) from the low water mark. Bring it in slowly and you'll be able to feel changes in seabed conditions and contours.

Trust me, the data you get will make you have a wonderful surf fishing.

Fishing tackles

No matter what kind of fishing you like, appropriate fishing tackles are always playing an important role, and the gear you decide to use should be based on the target species you want to catch. For surf fishing, it's easy to get started with just a few rigs, some natural saltwater bait, and a surf rod and reel combo. Here are some tips for you to choose the fishing tackles:

You can use lighter gear and shorter rods for smaller species, while larger species will require heavier gear and a longer rod. For example, you may want to use a 7 to 9-foot medium heavy fishing rod for smaller species. For these larger species you should use a surf rod that is 12 to 15 feet in length with a heavy duty saltwater spinning saltwater spinning reel that has been set up with 20 to 25-pound line.

For fishing in the surf, you will want to use a fish finder rig, two-hook bottom rig, or the popping cork rig. These rigs will help you get your baits in the portion of the water column where the fish are feeding.

Please remember to bring more fishing sinkers like pyramid sinkers, egg sinkers, and a few teardrop sinkers in your tackles box for surf fishing, and the weight of the sinkers should be about 6 ounces. The Surf fishing is the sport of catching fish standing on the shoreline, and the current can be fast and strong sometimes, so you need the sinkers to help you put the baits into the right place.

You’d better choose the circle hooks for surf fishing. Use circle hooks in sizes 7/0 or 8/0 with larger baits that are used for species such as striped bass. For smaller species, you can downgrade the size of your circle hook to between a 2/0 and a 4/0, depending on the size of the bait you are using (with larger baits use larger hooks).