Surf Fishing Tips To Target & Land More Fish
There are several essential surf fishing tips known by successful surf anglers everywhere that allow them to target and land more fish consistently. They are the tried and true tips passed on by the old salts to new anglers who decide to try their hand at this exciting sport.
Of course you should realize that it takes a little bit more than a few of the secret tips known to the guys that have been around for awhile. They’re not really secrets unless you don’t know them but they are essential to getting the kind of results they get.
Surf fishing is unique in many ways to other forms of fishing. Techniques to fish in the surf from the beach requires a different set of skills and knowledge. Once you master the skills and have that knowledge you will be able to improve your results dramatically.
So What Are These Surf Fishing Tips That Are So Essential?
Before I get into some of these tips you should realize that there’s no better way to improve your results than by spending time at the edge of the surf honing your abilities. All the best tips in the world only become effective as you put in more time.
Each area that you fish will be a little different. You have to become familiar with the unique differences that apply to that spot. The techniques don’t change, only the ones you use and how you apply them.
What You Should Learn Before You Can Be A Successful Surf Angler
- How many sandbars are within reach of your casting distance
- How deep is the water between the sandbars
- Are there any breaks through the sandbars
- What species of fish are in your waters during different times of the year.
- What bait preferences do the fish have where you fish
Let Me Explain Why The Tips Listed Above Important
How many sandbars are within reach of your casting distance?
The water between each sandbar is the area that you will be targeting. Depending on your location and the time of year different species will locate in different sections of water. You may not be using the right techniques or targeting the right sections of water for the fish you seek. Some locations may only have one sandbar within within casting distance. Other locations may have as many as three sandbars within casting distance.
Once you learn to read the water you will be able to determine where the sandbars are and how many are within reach of your casts
How Deep is the water between each sandbar?
The depth of water between the sandbars will give you an idea of the fish species you can expect will locate there. Knowing this will determine the surf rigs, tackle, bait and techniques that you should be using.
Determining the depth of water between the sandbars is a little more difficult to learn. It will come with experience and a little guess work. It does vary of course with the tides. You can make a good educated guess by studying the difference between high and low tide. As I said earlier learning to read the surf is the way to figure things out.
Are there any breaks in the sandbars?
I have to repeat myself here again. If you know how to read the water you will be able to know if there is a break in a sandbar. This is crucial because a break in the sandbar is a hot spot for predator fish to ambush bait. It’s also used as a highway for fish to swim between sandbars.
There are times when the fish will just be stacked up around the break. If you can find a break in a sandbar you are in for some excitement.
What species of fish are in your waters during different times of the year?
Some saltwater fish are migratory and some will be there year round. If you aren’t familiar with the species of fish that are there you are just fishing blind. Once you have learned which species of fish to expect, you can decide what rig to use, the proper bait and the best techniques to target them.
What bait preferences do the fish have where you fish?
Ok, there certainly are a variety of baits that are known for the species where you fish. That’s fine but you should be observant to the prevalent bait in the water at that particular time. The famous cliche is “match the hatch. In other words if the fish are feeding on mullet you probably don’t want to be fishing with shrimp.
They’re both good baits to use at any given time. If you know what the fish are feeding on then use it. If you’re not sure bring a few different kinds and set out a couple of surf rods with different baits and see what happens.
There you have it. Several surf fishing tips explained to improve your surf fishing experience. The tips I mentioned are just a few of the keys to target and land more fish.
If I peaked your interest sign up for my free introductory surf fishing course or download my surf fishing guide to this exciting sport.
Best Regards,
Randy Meyers
