You got a rod and reel and a bucket of bait. You cast your line into the surf and wait. Any minute now you’ll feel that huge hit and reel in the fish of a lifetime. At least, that’s how it plays out in your head. You wait and wait but the big hit never comes. You are lucky enough to catch a few small fish but nothing to write home about. In the end, you return home with an empty cooler, blaming the fish for not biting. Afterall, you did your part. It was the fish that weren’t participating. While there can be some truth to the fact that the fish weren’t participating, there are some things you can do to increase your chances. By knowing and following a few simple tips, you can go from just getting lucky to actually getting on the fish. In fact, these tips might even help you land that big fish you dreamed about. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get started. GearChoosing the right gear can have big impact on your ability to land a fish. This is particularly true when it comes to targeting a specific species. For example, you would want to use 10lb mono lie and a #1 hook to catch a shark just like you wouldn’t use a 7/0 hook and steel leader to catch a pompano. While there can be a wide range of gear used when selecting for a specific species, there are some general choices one can make when the targeted species aren’t so specific. Hooks and Weights One of the biggest mistakes I see new surf fisherman make is using too big a hook and too small a weight. We run a fishing seminar through the Oak Island Parks & Rec. The second half of the class involves going down to the surf and actually fishing. Often, the people who are enrolled in the class have little to no surf fishing experience. The first thing we do when we hit the beach is look over everyone’s gear. It isn’t uncommon to see rigs set up with hooks as large as 5/0 and weights as small as 2oz. This simply isn’t a good set up. The hooks are too big to catch most fish found in the surf and the weight is too light to be able to cast with any distance. For a standard rig set up, you can’t go wrong with a #1 or #1/0 hook and a 4oz weight on a double drip set up. Less Hardware A second consideration when deciding what rig to purchase is the rig’s hardware. Store bought pre-made rigs come in a variety of styles. Many are simple rigs, just a line, a clasp for the hook and perhaps a bead or two. However, sometimes you can find rigs that come with so much hardware, they start to resemble a Christmas tree. Items such as extra or overly sized beads and wound steal wire leaders are in general unnecessary. Not only will these overly produced rigs cost more of your hard-earned money, the extra hardware will look unnatural to the fish. A weary fish is going to bypass anything that looks suspicious. So, keep the phrase ‘less is more’ in mind. It’s better to keep it simple, save your money, and catch the fish. Watch Your Line There is a salutation fisherman often use. It is the expression, ‘tight lines. It means, good luck for if the line is tight, you probably have a fish one the other end. Tight lines isn’t just a salutation. It’s also sound advice. When your fishing line isn’t tight, a fish can often take your bait without getting hooked. And, if they do get hook, it is easier for a fish to wiggle off a hook if the line isn’t tight. If your weight isn’t heavy enough to hold your bait in place, or you line isn’t reeled in enough to tighten the line, you risk losing fish. Improve your chances of hook ups by keeping those lines tight. A sure-fire way to make sure you don’t catch a fish is to cast your line without using bait. You may think that’s an obvious statement. Bait is an integral part of fishing. That’s why it is so important to watch your line. While it is true that if a big fish hits your line while your rod is in a sand spike, you’ll take notice. However, little fish can easily pick at your bait, and unless your watching your line, you may not even notice. In that situation, you may have your rig sitting in the water without bait. One way to prevent this from happening is to watch your line. Look to see if the tip of your rod jiggles. If it looks like something is pecking at your bait, hold the line to feel for the bite. If you feel some pecks and then after a few minutes feel nothing, it might be time to check your bait. Structure Long before we moved to Oak Island, we would rent a beach house and visit as tourists. We would walk to the closest beach access where I would set up my rods and fish. I think this is a fairly common practice. People with front row beach houses set up and fish in front of that house. People staying a little further from the beach, set up and fish at the closest beach access. Although this practice might be convenient for you, it doesn’t mean the fish are doing the same. Fish don’t care about easy beach access. What they do care about is structure. Structure is anything on the beach that provides a space for bait to hide. The pier is considered structure. Small fish and crustaceans seek shelter among the pilings. The surf however, doesn’t typically have this type of man-made structure so small fish and crustaceans seek out a different type of shelter, primarily in the form of holes and troughs. A hole is a pocket in the sand where the water is deeper than the surrounding area. A trough is a pathway of water between the shore and a sandbar. Both of these types of structure provide some shelter for small bait fish and crustaceans to hide from larger fish. For the same reason, larger fish seek these types of structure, looking for something to eat. If there is no structure and the surf is flat, there may still be fish around. However, if there is a hole or a trough, your chances of finding fish can increase. Perhaps the easiest way to know where to find a hole or a trough is to walk the beach at low tide. Take notice of any holes or troughs you see. Then, return a high tide and fish that spot. Placement Sandbars Even if you’re not sure if there is a hole or a trough, it can sometimes be obvious where a sandbar is located. To identify where one is, watch the wave. Waves crash when the water gets shallow. If there is a sandbar, the wave will crash as it reaches the shallow water. If this is happening further out and then the wave crashes a second time, this indicates that the water was shallow, then got deeper, and then got shallow again. This is a great indication of structure such would be the case with a sandbar, hole or trough. Fish will gather in front and behind these sandbars. Casting right before or right after the breakers can help improve your chances of catching fish. Distance Have you ever seen a fisherman wade way out to cast his line? Perhaps he wades out till the water reaches his chest. Than he casts with all his might and sends the line half a mile. Afterall, nobody thinks that big fish are right near the shore but that type of thinking would be a mistake. There is a common misconception that in order to catch fish, you have to cast out far. While it is true that some of the larger species of fish are out in the deep, a majority of fish are only a few yards off the beach. In fact, they guy who waded way out to cast his line, just cast over the fish’s heads. Fish, including big fish, are closer than you might think. Rule of Thirds The tide is always changing and with it the depth of the water. As the tides change, so do the locations of the fish. At high tide, a trough or hole might be an ideal location to find the fish. However, as the tide recedes, the water may not be deep enough to hold fish. If you are unsure of where the fish are, or simply aren’t having any luck, try changing your distance by using the Rule of Thirds. Here’s how it works. Consider how far from the shore your rig would go if you cast it as far as possible. Say, for example, you believe the further you can cast is about 60 yards. Use this number as your starting point and divide it by three. Our example of 60 yards would divide into 20, 40 and 60 yards. Once you have your three numbers, its time to start fishing. Start by fishing in the first third. For our example, this would be cast between the shore but no further that 20 yards out. If you starting getting bites, stay there. However, if you aren’t having any luck or even losing bait, its time to cast to the second third. For the second third in our example, start casting between 20 and 40 yards. Again, if the fish bite, keep fishing in that range, if not, move to the last third, between 40 yards and a far as you can cast. One thing to keep in mind, as we mentioned the tide is always moving. It is possible to catch fish at one distance and then suddenly the bite drops off. If this occurs, you will need to reexamine the distance you are casting. Look for Signs It would be nice if there were actual signs to tell us where the fish are. They could be like street signs, floating on buoys, that read ‘the fish are right here’ and had giant arrows pointing to the exact location. Unfortunately, no literal signs such as these exists. At least, none I’m familiar with. However, there are signs that can be read that can actually point to the fish. All we have to do is be observant. Bait Running In the fall, school of baitfish will pass close to shore. They are easily spotted when the waves are calm. You’ll see the ripples they leave as the swim along. Sometimes the bait is so thick you can see the fish in the barrel of the waves as the crash. Seeing bait is a good sign that fish are around. Big fish. Big fish that eat bait. Birds Diving
You might not always be able to see the bait but it doesn’t mean its not there. Sometimes the wave is a little rough making it hard to identify the ripples left behind by the bait. Other times the bait is further of shore, and harder to see. We might not be able to see the bait but the birds can. One clear sign if there is bait around is to watch the birds. If you see birds diving, they are diving for bait. Where there is bait, there are big fish. Watch the birds. 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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