How to Surf Fish With Lures
Surf fishing with lures is a great way to enjoy angling with minimal expense. A surf-casting rod and reel, an assortment of lures and a fishing license, if required, are the only items needed for a pleasant morning or late afternoon of fishing. No pier fees, no boat charters or bait to buy. The angler merely wades into the surf and casts a line toward the horizon. Success in the surf requires some knowledge of tides and wave patterns, as well as practice in presenting different types of artificial lures.
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Things You'll Need
- Surf-casting rod and reel spooled with 15- to 20-pound line
- Assorted lures
- Sand spike to hold the rod while changing lures
- Tide chart, available from local tackle shops
Instructions
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1
Check the tides with a chart from a local tackle shop. Surf fishing is typically best an hour before until an hour after high and low tide, when the waves bring in bait fish that draw the game fish the angler is after.
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2
Choose a lure design based on the type of fish you want to catch. Flounder, for example, are bottom-feeders, and will strike long, fluttering baits that hug the bottom with a weighted sinker in the head of the lure. The voracious bluefish goes after white and red plugs with treble hooks that dart through the water like a terrified bait fish.
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Use a lure size that most closely resembles the bait fish in local waters. For example, if shore mullet are no longer than an index finger, don't tie on a lure that is 8 inches long and better suited to offshore trolling. Predator fish in the surf won't know what to do with it.
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Tie the lure directly to the main line using a clinch knot. Instructions for tying this knot are linked in the Resources section. Use a sand spike jabbed into the beach to hold the rod and reel while changing lures. The sand spike, which is just a tube of PVC pipe, should be far enough away from the shoreline so it won't loosen and wash away as the tide changes.
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Study the surf and watch where the waves break. A wave crests and foams at the point of a sandbar. Immediately behind this point is a trough where the water stirs up plankton and small organisms that bait fish need for food. The bait fish move in after the wave passes and predatory fish pursue them.
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Cast the lure to the spot right behind the breaking waves. Try different wave breaks and locations along the surf if the first area doesn't produce a strike after three to four casts.
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Retrieve bottom-swimming lures using a jerky, stop-and-go crank on the reel handle to mimic a wounded fish. Retrieve bait fish plugs and torpedo-shaped lures with a fast, steady motion to imitate a darting fish trying to navigate the surf. Fat and oval-shaped lures are a compromise between bottom-fishing lures and darting plugs. These types of lures should be worked with a slow crank of the reel handle, punctuated by the occasional twitch of the rod tip.
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