It seems simple enough. Grab your rod and reel, pick up some frozen shrimp and toss your line into the surf. All that's left to do is sit back and wait to fill your cooler with fish tacos! After all, that's how it works in all those fishing videos we watch on YouTube! Sometimes that does work. However, it's more likely we just got lucky. More often, we just sit there and never see the rod bend. So what are we doing wrong? Here are a few simple things we can do to improve our chances when fishing the surf. 1. Reduce your Gear: Sometimes fish are hungry and they will bite anything. When they are not, they are often wary of all that metal that just dropped into the ocean. We want the fish to focus on the bait, not the rig. Using light tackle can help. Reduce the size the size of the weight so its the lightest it can be in the conditions your fishing. No sense dropping a 6oz weight if a 2oz will hold just fine. Reduce your hook size. No need to tie on a 7/0 if a 1/0 will catch the fish. Reduce the rig. When purchasing a store bought rig, buy the one with the least about of hardware. Another option is to learn how to tie your own rigs. There are many tutorials online that teach how to make a double drop rig. It can save you money in the long run. Video: Surf Fishing Mistakes made on Oak Island 2. Fish Where the Fish Are: When we arrive at the beach, we tend to fish at the first open spot we find. If we drove there, that spot will be right near the parking lot. If we are lucky enough to be staying at an ocean front beach house, we tend to fish right in front of the house. After all, why carry all that tackle around? The fish are in the ocean, right? Not necessarily. Fish like structure. They like docks, piling, and rocks. Fish like any place they can either hide from bigger fish or find fish hiding from them. When fishing the surf, you don't usually have this kind of structure. Instead, you have changes in the sand. Visit the beach at low tide and you will see where some places the sand will be deeper. This is called a hole. Sometimes there will be a long, deeper channel where water funnels off the beach and back into the sea. This is called a trough. This is the type of structure both the fish and fisherman are looking for. Returning to the beach at high tide and fishing the holes and troughs will increase your chances of finding the fish. There are visual examples of holes and troughs in the video, Surf Fishing Mistakes made on Oak Island Video: 5 Reasons I'm Not Catching Fish on Oak Island 3. Target your Species What would a fisherman say if someone asked them what they where trying to catch? The most common answer would probably be, "I'm trying to catch a fish!" It's a good answer but it's not the best answer. A better answer would be more specific. "I'm trying to catch bluefish", "I'm trying to catch whiting", "I'm trying to catch a pompano". All three of these species, bluefish, whiting and pompano, can be caught on similar rigs using similar bait. However, when you target the species, you can modify your set up which will increase your chances of catching that particular fish. For example, all three species mentioned, bluefish whiting, and pompano can be caught on the same rig using the same bait. However, pompano tend to be more wary of heavier tackle. They also don't mind being right up in the wash. When targeting pompano, using light rigs, adding floating beads, using smaller hooks, and fishing in the wash will increase your chances. Video: Bad Luck Fishing at Oak Island
4. Dealing with Bad Luck As the old saying goes, I'f it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Sometimes even when we do everything right; when we use the right gear, when we find the structure, when we target the species, we still don't catch fish. It's understood, there are no guarantees. However, there's another old saying, you can't catch fish sitting on the couch. Plus, even if you don't catch a fish, there's nothing better than standing in the surf with a rod and reel and the anticipation of the bending of the rod. Fishing on Oak Island, NC
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Ian SandsFish along with Ian Sands of 'Sands in the Surf' on beautiful Oak Island, NC. We’re fishing the surf and surrounding areas targeting everything from puffer, to blues, to black and red drum, to sharpnose and bonnetheads. Archives
February 2021
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