Surf Fishing Q&A: Rigging Tips, Gear Tips, & More
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
- Found In: Beach Fishing, Fishing Tips, Weekly Newsletter: 6-21-20
If you’ve ever had a question about surf fishing, you’re going to love this video.
We’ve been doing a lot of beach fishing tips recently and we get loads of questions about them, but here’s the problem — we get too many questions!
My job as the Insider Club Director keeps me busy making sure our Insiders get taken care of, but I wanted to make this video and publicly answer several questions we’ve recently gotten on our YouTube channel.
These questions include:
- Rigging tips (like what the best line for surf fishing rigs is)
- Gear tips (like what beach cart, boots, and other items we recommend)
- Pier fishing tips
- And more
Check out the video below for the Q&A.
Surf Fishing Q&A [VIDEO]
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The below questions are about this video about how to tie a pompano rig.
Q: Do you recommend using the pompano rig from a bridge or pier (instead of just from the beach)? – Pablo Diaz
A: Yes, especially if you’re fishing a pier on the beach.
From the pier, you can easily get in the troughs before and after the sand bar.
However, pompano and other beach cruisers won’t be in the deep water, so I wouldn’t recommend using it toward the end of the pier.
You can also use this rig to target other species, such as red drum or sheepshead, but just make sure to use the right bait for your target species.
Another option for bridges and piers is a dropper rig.
Q: Can you catch redfish and seatrout on the pompano rig? – Celina Lopez Alegria
A: Yes you can, but this is not the best rig for them.
If you’re fishing from the beach for redfish and seatrout, I’d recommend a Carolina rig with a heavy egg sinker using live or cut mullet, pinfish, or croaker.
If you’re specifically targeting trout, I recommend live bait, but if you’re specifically targeting redfish, I recommend cut bait.
Q: How durable is the pompano rig? Would you tie a new rig every time you go out? – Doc Bailey
A: If you don’t see any nicks or abrasions, then there’s no reason to change the rig.
The good news about the quick switch knots is that there aren’t a lot of swivels or other hardware you need to worry about rusting.
Q: Is there any advantage to using a snap swivel over a loop knot to attach the sinker? – P.W.
A: Not really.
If you want to save money, use a loop knot, but if you want to save a little bit of time when switching out sinkers, use a snap swivel.
These next two questions are about using shock leaders for surf fishing.
Q: Wouldn’t fluorocarbon be better to use because of line visibility? – Chris Howard
A: We’ve done many tests about fluorocarbon vs. monofilament and have found monofilament to be much better in terms of abrasion resistance and catching fish, so I would stick with the monofilament and save some money.
Learn more about mono vs. fluoro here.
Q: Do you ever have issues with the knots damaging the guides? – Alan Johnson
A: I haven’t seen any issues with the knots damaging the guides when I cast out my rig, but if you want a thinner knot to be safe, tie an FG knot instead of the double uni knot that I recommended in the video.
Q: How much did you pay for your beach fishing cart? I see them listed from $79 to well over $200 – F G
A: I paid $225 for my beach cart.
You can get them online for a little cheaper, but be careful about shipping cost because they’re big and they can be costly to ship.
Also, as far as the cheaper carts go, be careful you don’t order one that’s too small.
These next questions are regarding the video about the top 3 surf fishing hacks.
Q: Can you link to the flip flops you used for the floats? – Thomas Hughes
A: I bought them at the Dollar Store for $0.89, so you probably can’t find the exact ones online.
Just go to any touristy beach store, Walmart, or Dollar Store and you should be able to find some.
Just look for a pair made of squishy foam in a fluorescent color.
Q: What do you use to poke holes in the flip flop floats? – Tony Bishop
A: Use a sharp screwdriver, ice pick, drill bit, or even a wide-gauge fishing hook to poke a hole in the middle.
The next question is about the Fishbites review video.
Q: What hook size do you recommend for Fishbites? – Manuel Gonzales
A: I’ve been using 2/0 Kahle hooks.
You could downsize to a 1/0 hook, but that might increase the chances of you catching smaller, trash fish.
This last question is from the video about upgrading beach cart tires.
Q: What boots do you wear? – Perry Hodges
A: I wear Xtratuf Wheelhouse Boots.
They’re very comfortable, although I would not recommend them for wading.
You can get them from Amazon here.
Conclusion
Big thanks to everyone who left a comment on our recent videos.
Do you have any other questions about surf fishing?
Let me know in the comments below!
Also, keep asking us questions in the comments both here and on YouTube and we’ll try to make another one of these videos.
But if you want direct (and fast) access to me and all of the other Salt Strong Fishing Coaches, click here to join us and 13,000 other anglers.
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Related articles:
- How To Tie Your Own Pompano Rig (Great Rig For Surf Fishing)
- How To Save Time & Money On Surf Fishing Rigs (Top 3 Rigging Hacks)
- Shock Leaders: When & How To Use Them For Surf Fishing
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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 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).
When making floats with the 3/8×1/4 copper fitting sharpen the edges of the fitting and put a piece of soft wood under the sandal when hammering the fitting goes through easier and the sharpened edge lasts longer. Thanks for the initial tip!
What rod and reel setups to you recommend?
Nice Wyatt! Thank you! Quick and to the point with the question displayed. This reminded me I need to watch the surf fishing hack video ????
Glad this was helpful for you Gary! Thanks so much for watching!
When you got the pompano rigs out, what artificials do you recommend to cast about while waiting for hits?
There’s a lot of options, but it pays to know what species are running the beaches in your area that time of year and then adjust your tackle accordingly. For example, bluefish and spanish mackerel are thick off of our beaches right now. I will opt for a Gotcha Plug (1oz) or a Diamond Jig (also Gotcha-1oz) as they allow for long casting distance. If you’d like, you can even toss a Goofy Jig, which is a popular artificial for pompano. As for other species, the best thing to do is look at local reports in the Insider Community and cross-reference them with info from your local tackle shops! If you don’t mind me asking, where are you fishing?
Excellent newsletter piece Wyatt!
Thanks for watching George!
I litterally was searching on here for something like this about 3 weeks ago when my brother in law and i went beach fishing! Thank you for makng this!
No problem Justin! Hopefully the next time you guys go out you can use some of these tips!
Found a deep slit in a sand bar wa’ll looking on online map, (mapquest), and what rig do you think would work the best.(near a spot known for black drum)
When fishing any kind of depth change or deep spot on the beach, I like to have a rig that I can cast and keep in one spot (in this case, it would be the “slit” or “cut” in the sandbar). If you know there’s black drum in the area, I would use a rig that will allow you to fish multiple pieces of dead or scented bait (this will create a scent trail for the scavenging drum to find), all while staying in that cut.
A rig that I’ve used recently to catch black drum in a similar scenario is a Pompano Rig (it’s not just useful for pompano!:
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/pompano-rig/
But, you can also use the rig that Luke demonstrated in this video:
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/best-surf-fishing-rig/
Try to pick either a pyramid sinker or a tounge sinker to weigh down your rig as it’ll keep your bait where it needs to be. Again, it’s totally your preference. My bait of choice would first be fresh shrimp, then a sand flea, then scented FishBites (in either shrimp or sand flea flavor). Here’s how I use them (I actually show a black drum caught on FishBites in this video):
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishbites-rigging-review/
Lastly, try to get out and scout the beach at low tide when the wind is blwoing towards the ocean. You may see a hole on Mapquest but that image may be old and the hole could have been filled in by sand from a storm. Identifying holes by reading the beach under the right conditions will help you find multiple spots to try. I have a full report on EXACTLY how to do this here:
https://www.saltstrong.com/insiders/how-to-find-hotspots-for-surf-fishing/
Don’t stick on one hole for more then 20 minutes if you’re not getting bites! Stay mobile and good luck!
Thank you. Now that you mention it the cut is probably old. I will use your recommended rigs sbd look for other spots and try the pier tactics ya’ll wrote about a while back and try the pier but will spent time exploring spots on the beach. Thanks!
Follow up, can I use a double fresh water steel leader instead of Luke’s preferred method. I have caught many Whiting and a few sharks on it from the beach.
In theory you could, but the steel leader could scare off other target species. Granted, the steel leader will help prevent cut offs from sharks, but because of it’s stiffness and large presence in the water, you might lose out on a few other fish like drum, pompano, etc.
Ok. That seems reasonable. Thank You!
No problem Caden!