Surf fishing for first time

[ctom87]

I may have a chance the first week of May to go to the coast. Won't have time to go on a boat or do a charter, but thought while the family was on the beach I get a line wet.

I have absolutely zero clue on anything when it comes to any type of fishing besides bass, I grew up not traveling or doing much and finding all this stuff out on my own.

If I were going to buy 1 rod and 1 reel and hope to catch a red, what do I need to accomplish this as far as equipment? I dont want to break the bank, either since I am 5 hours away from the coast.

And a follow up question, if I brought my kayak for inshore around Christmas bay or some of the other waterways around Surfside Beach, could I use the same set up or do I need something else?

Thanks in advance.

[fishycatfish]

Youtube! I use Penn battle 2 6000 reels with 12ft hurricane rods and an h20 rods for my longer casted baits and i have 2 9ft ugly sticks with 4000 series reels for the first gut. Buy you a few packs of shrimp fishbites and then the rest of my bait I castnet or catch on my bait rods. Go down the youtube surf fishing rabbit hole.

Kayaking in general beach side will depend on surf conditions.

[BobbyJoe]

When May is your trip? Weekdays or weekend?

[dtu11]

1 - Regular Inshore spinning rod
1 - Pompano Rig
1 - 3oz Pyramid weight
1 - Pack of Pink Fish bites (Shrimp) Cut into small squares
1 - 4ft length of PVC pipe (Rod Holder)

Cast out into first gut and leave for a bit. I usually leave after first bite so that I catch two fish. Reel in. Keep the Whiting (throw in cooler) and throw the hardheads back.

I usually clean before I leave and put in ziplock bag.

Make fish tacos when you get home.

[Tommyh]

Youtube! I use Penn battle 2 6000 reels with 12ft hurricane rods and an h20 rods for my longer casted baits and i have 2 9ft ugly sticks with 4000 series reels for the first gut. Buy you a few packs of shrimp fishbites and then the rest of my bait I castnet or catch on my bait rods. Go down the youtube surf fishing rabbit hole.

Kayaking in general beach side will depend on surf conditions.

Oh man, so much info on youtube.

Thresherfishing does a good deal of surf fishing with fishbites. Bama beach bum, too. Shrimp and fishbites catches bait for bigger hooks 😬

[Capt Glenn]

It depends on where and how you want to fish for them. Soaking mullet heads in the surf with 4 oz weights is going to require a different setup than throwing lures out of your kayak.

First, look at what you have for bass. It'll probably work. We use basically bass type tackle for all our fishing in the bay and alot of our surf fishing. You can do a whole lot with a 7' med action setup and 20-30 pound braid or 12-15 pound mono. Baitcast or spinning, it doesn't matter. You probably already have what you need as far as a rod and reel for the bay and for the surf when it's calm.

Surf fishing for bull reds when it is rough is a different game and you'd need a decent surf rod and would be looking at some heavier tackle. I don't do that sort of fishing but I am sure others will tell you what you need.

For the bay there are basically 3 good redfish options. You can fish bait under a popping cork. You can fish bait on bottom. You can throw lures. For bait single Kahle hooks in about 3/0 or 4/0 size are best. Weighted popping corks like the Coastal Corks I use are good with a mono leader under them and a kahle hook. Use live shrimp or cut mullet for bait. 20-30 pound mono for leader is good. For bottom rigs a 3/4oz egg weight on your mainline then a barrel swivel tied onto the main line, 18" of mono leader and a Kahle hook will do fine. Use cut mullet for bait.

For lures a paddletail soft plastic in natural colors like pumpkinseed/chart or roach are hard to beat. Glow/chart and chicken on a chain are good as well. Really, any color you like that they can see will work if you get it in front of them. Put them on an 1/8oz jighead and go to work. Keep it simple. 1/4 oz gold weedless spoons are also good. So is a small topwater like a Super Spook Jr. I like gold sides, orange belly and black back or solid bone color for redfish topwaters. Keep it simple. You don't need to go buy every color and several different types of tails. I like 4" Bass Assassin paddletails for redfish but there are many that work fine. That bait in Texas roach or pumpkinseed/chart have caught thousands of redfish for me and it is really easy to use.

[MisterB]

Went on my first surf fishing trip two weeks ago. Had a ball. You tube is the way to learn. Lots of videos on how to rig up, baits to use, line rigs etc. search surf fishing Galveston and Freeport. I bought a 10 foot inexpensive rod and a Seaknight 5000 Rapid 2 saltwater reel. Caught a 26 inch red, a 15 in flounder and bunches of Whiting. And several catfish.We used fish bites and shrimp and cut up whiting. I warn you, surf fishing is like opium, it’s addicting. Lol

[ATI]

It depends on where and how you want to fish for them. Soaking mullet heads in the surf with 4 oz weights is going to require a different setup than throwing lures out of your kayak.

First, look at what you have for bass. It'll probably work. We use basically bass type tackle for all our fishing in the bay and alot of our surf fishing. You can do a whole lot with a 7' med action setup and 20-30 pound braid or 12-15 pound mono. Baitcast or spinning, it doesn't matter. You probably already have what you need as far as a rod and reel for the bay and for the surf when it's calm.

Surf fishing for bull reds when it is rough is a different game and you'd need a decent surf rod and would be looking at some heavier tackle. I don't do that sort of fishing but I am sure others will tell you what you need.

For the bay there are basically 3 good redfish options. You can fish bait under a popping cork. You can fish bait on bottom. You can throw lures. For bait single Kahle hooks in about 3/0 or 4/0 size are best. Weighted popping corks like the Coastal Corks I use are good with a mono leader under them and a kahle hook. Use live shrimp or cut mullet for bait. 20-30 pound mono for leader is good. For bottom rigs a 3/4oz egg weight on your mainline then a barrel swivel tied onto the main line, 18" of mono leader and a Kahle hook will do fine. Use cut mullet for bait.

For lures a paddletail soft plastic in natural colors like pumpkinseed/chart or roach are hard to beat. Glow/chart and chicken on a chain are good as well. Really, any color you like that they can see will work if you get it in front of them. Put them on an 1/8oz jighead and go to work. Keep it simple. 1/4 oz gold weedless spoons are also good. So is a small topwater like a Super Spook Jr. I like gold sides, orange belly and black back or solid bone color for redfish topwaters. Keep it simple. You don't need to go buy every color and several different types of tails. I like 4" Bass Assassin paddletails for redfish but there are many that work fine. That bait in Texas roach or pumpkinseed/chart have caught thousands of redfish for me and it is really easy to use.

Listen to what this guy says... heck, get a paper and pen out and take notes...

[Capt Glenn]

I'll give y'all one little tip on surf redfish. Lots of folks want to try to get their bait out as far off the beach as possible. That is the normal thing I see almost all surf fishermen do. They kayak it out, wade out as far as they can go to cast it out, etc.

Lots of times the redfish are right on the bank. In that first little calf deep gut you wade into right when you walk off the dry sand. When the surf lays down and we fish it out of the boat I fish for redfish after we catch our trout and what we do is throw a chunk of cut mullet or cut skipjack up on the dry sand and reel it just into the water in the first gut. That's where we catch a whole lot of our slot sized redfish in the surf. So don't get too worked up on trying to get your bait out half way to Cuba. The fish are in the guts that run down the beach. You can cast off dry sand and catch redfish. Now, some of that changes the rougher it gets. But don't overlook those close in guts.

[ctom87]

When May is your trip? Weekdays or weekend?

If we go, it'll be May 2nd thru the 5th.

Went on my first surf fishing trip two weeks ago. Had a ball. You tube is the way to learn. Lots of videos on how to rig up, baits to use, line rigs etc. search surf fishing Galveston and Freeport. I bought a 10 foot inexpensive rod and a Seaknight 5000 Rapid 2 saltwater reel. Caught a 26 inch red, a 15 in flounder and bunches of Whiting. And several catfish.We used fish bites and shrimp and cut up whiting. I warn you, surf fishing is like opium, it’s addicting. Lol

I could use the new hobby!

Listen to what this guy says... heck, get a paper and pen out and take notes...

I'll tell ya what. No joke... I take a lot of things I learn from TBH and apply them to my life. Good people here.

I'll give y'all one little tip on surf redfish. Lots of folks want to try to get their bait out as far off the beach as possible. That is the normal thing I see almost all surf fishermen do. They kayak it out, wade out as far as they can go to cast it out, etc.

Lots of times the redfish are right on the bank. In that first little calf deep gut you wade into right when you walk off the dry sand. When the surf lays down and we fish it out of the boat I fish for redfish after we catch our trout and what we do is throw a chunk of cut mullet or cut skipjack up on the dry sand and reel it just into the water in the first gut. That's where we catch a whole lot of our slot sized redfish in the surf. So don't get too worked up on trying to get your bait out half way to Cuba. The fish are in the guts that run down the beach. You can cast off dry sand and catch redfish. Now, some of that changes the rougher it gets. But don't overlook those close in guts.

Much appreciated, Captain Glenn. I sincerely thank you for the advice. Dumb question - the bays and what not are fresh water...is that accurate? If they're saltwater and I end up taking my yak out, would the salt from a couple of trips and a few hours fishing ruin any gear that I have even if I take a hose to it when I get back to the house we're staying at?

[Tommyh]

I'll give y'all one little tip on surf redfish. Lots of folks want to try to get their bait out as far off the beach as possible. That is the normal thing I see almost all surf fishermen do. They kayak it out, wade out as far as they can go to cast it out, etc.

Lots of times the redfish are right on the bank. In that first little calf deep gut you wade into right when you walk off the dry sand. When the surf lays down and we fish it out of the boat I fish for redfish after we catch our trout and what we do is throw a chunk of cut mullet or cut skipjack up on the dry sand and reel it just into the water in the first gut. That's where we catch a whole lot of our slot sized redfish in the surf. So don't get too worked up on trying to get your bait out half way to Cuba. The fish are in the guts that run down the beach. You can cast off dry sand and catch redfish. Now, some of that changes the rougher it gets. But don't overlook those close in guts.

Funny isnt it? Boats fish as shallow as possiblw, and bank caster cast as far as possible?

[SmTx]

Academy is having a 4 day sale with fishing stuff on sale. Might check them out

[Button]

It’s impossible to convey what I would like too after almost 20 years surf fishing. The 1st few were training years as punk kid. Not sure how much sand I’ve ate in my food..but these days I’m an expert on keeping it out of my grub. If you just want to catch fish you do not need a gigantic hook in the surf(says the guy that uses 24/0 circles). I’ve landed countless bullred on 2/0 circles that ate my bait intended to catch bait for a shark or bigger bullred. In all seriousness buy some 2/0 circles

2/0 circle on a 3 way swivel anchored to a appropriate spider weight. Or hatteras(pyramid) if the surf is gentle. Bait with a tid bit of ‘fish bite’ and shrimp you’ll pull in anything. Shrimp are bread and butter of the ocean.

As far as rod and reel, I could recommend a lot of things. But the only thing I’ll say is buy something of quality..no Walmart crap. You don’t have to buy a St. Croix legend series rod..any thing with a backbone and drag will do the job that you are up for.

[Button]

Also Captian Glenn is on point. Wake up early and toss a live(or cut) finger mullet in the 1st gut.

[Anteloper]

Ill be using this info in Galveston in June. Thanks