This Is My Favorite Way To Catch Trout & Snook In The Surf [Summer Edition]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
Fishing in the surf can be very good along the entire southeastern coastline as the water is warming up in the spring and early summer months.
But there are some key things to consider if you want to get consistent results while using lures because the best feeding windows can often be very short.
Here’s what you’ll see in this lesson created from a recent fishing report with Wader Dave:
- When is the best feeding time most likely going to be?
- Where are the fish going to be holding (trout vs. snook)?
- What lures are going to have the highest success rate?
- Which other species can be caught (5 different species caught this trip)?
- How to continue on a good lure bite after the surf bite slows down
FEATURED GEAR
My Setup
- Rod: Slot Machine 7’6″ Medium
- Reel: Otis 2500
- Line: 8 lb Daiwa J-Braid 8 Grand
- Leader: 15 Ib Ande Mono
- Bite Tippet: 30 Ib Ande Mono
- Lure: Prawn USA Jr rigged on Hoss Round Eye 2/0 1/4oz
Wader Dave’s Setup
- Rod: Slam Stick 7’6″ Medium
- Reel: Otis 2500
- Line: 10lb Daiwa J-Braid 8 Grand
- Leader: 15 Ib Ande Mono
- Bite Tippet: 30 Ib Ande Mono
- Lure 1: Polk County Tweaker – Slam Shady rigged on 1/4 oz jighead
- Lure 2: Mulligan – Wedding Crasher rigged on 1/4 oz jighead
FINAL THOUGHTS
Surf fishing can be incredibly productive this time of year, especially when the water is warming up and multiple species are feeding along the beach.
The key is timing. The best feeding window is often around first light, and the action can slow down quickly once the sun gets higher.
When it comes to lures, soft plastics on jigheads are hard to beat for both numbers and quality fish. My favorite setup is a Prawn USA Jr rigged on a Hoss Round Eye 2/0 1/4 oz jighead because it consistently gets bites from everything from trophy snook to species like pompano and whiting.
These are my findings from this trip. What’s your favorite way to fish the surf? Let me know in the comments below.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
The 2 core benefits we promise to Insider Club members is to be able to find and catch fish easier than ever before while saving money on fishing equipment.
So I am including links to the quickest ways to achieve each:
1) Finding Fish System
2) Insider Club’s Group Discounts
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
I can’t wait for them making a baitcaster rod in the slam stick
Not any large waves. This was “southeast “ Florida? Would love it if the vids you post gave a general location.
The use of small jigs in the surf works all across the southeastern coastline of the United States. This video footage in particular was filmed in St Petersburg Beach, FL.
Enjoyed the video, especially validating casting angles of more parallel to shore as opposed to straight out that most all of us make early on wade fishing. Thanks for the equipment and rigging detail as well. I’ve always believed in the “KISS” (keep it simple) principle and retie if leader shows abrasion. I’m not convinced using a tippet requiring extra time to tie two knots as opposed to one if using just straight leader, especially with a limited bite window, makes much of a difference. It would have been interesting if one of you would have used only 30# leader and both changed casting positions to determine if there was any significant difference. Tight lines and thank you again for sharing.
Thanks for posting the nice comment Allen! I have started doing some controlled testing of the lighter line with bite tippet vs going with a full stronger leader, and the results so far are showing that the lighter line with bite tippet is over-performing noticeably when the water is calm and the fish can see well, but the results get very close when the water is churned and/or when fishing twilight periods.
That being said, I still have many more trips to go before I can make evidence based claims.
But based on seeing a noticeable uptick in quantity and quality catches while using the lighter lines with bite tippets in Tampa Bay, I now use them everywhere since they only take less than an extra minute to tie.
Awesome video! I realize now that I fish too vertical. I throw straight out trying to hit the deeper water. I am excited to try throwing down the beach more on my next trip. Thanks!
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment Jay!
Great video!
Thanks Jeffrey!
Great video. Very informative. Thank both of you for sharing.
Our pleasure George!
I’ve never finished the surf before I’ll haft to try it sometime thank you for the video
I think you’ll find it’s a lot of fun and can be very productive! Good luck Bobby!
great
Thanks Ronald!
Once again Excellent info. Thank you.
Hope you find it helpful Richard. Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks for the video
Our pleasure Rodney.