shore fishing
Elliott Stark fishes the surf in Charleston, Northward.C.; photograph credit: Nicole Qualtieri

How to Put Together a Surf Fishing Kit

From rods to rod-holders to bait aeration, GearJunkie contributor Elliott Stark tin aid you become started with a surf fishing kit.

Surf fishing is peradventure the most geographically bachelor type of fishing in the world. Anyone who tin get to the beach can cast into the surf and catch some type of fish or other. Depending on your location, shoreline fish are some of the all-time-tasting, hardest-fighting fish in the sea.

What follows is a guide to putting together a surf line-fishing setup that will prepare y'all no matter where yous live.

A Guide to Surf Fishing Rigs & Gear

Choosing Surf Fishing Rods & Reels

surf fishing rig

In nearly places where y'all can surf fish, there will exist the opportunity to catch large and small fish. As such, ownership three or four rods and reels of varying sizes will be your best bet.

You might consider buying ane large, two medium/all-purpose, and one lighter tackle outfit. Depending on your fishing experience level, your all-time bets are either spinning or conventional tackle.

Conventional reels hold a flake more line but tin can be the most difficult to cast (the inexperienced angler volition backlash a few times before getting the hang of it). Spinning reels are keen too. You tin can put quite a flake of elevate on fish, and, using braided line, you can besides pack lots of line on the spool.

Your light tackle outfit volition likely exist a baitcasting or low-cal-activeness spinning reel spooled with 12-pound mono or 10-pound braid. Y'all tin can get a light- to medium-calorie-free-activeness rod. This will be good for casting small lures or bait to small-scale and medium-size quarry.

The post-obit are a couple of good options:

  • Light choice: Shimano Stradic 4000 reel with medium-calorie-free action rod
  • Medium: Shimano Bait Runner 5000 Combo

Both of these rods and reels are castable and useful for a variety of scenarios. If y'all're interested in tangling with big sharks from the beach (fish that might weigh 300 pounds or more than), there'due south quite a flake in the way of larger rods and reels that are well-suited for this application.

DIY or Buy Rod-Holders

One of the all-time things most fishing in the surf is existence able to fix pole-holders in the sand. The sight of a rod arching and a elevate screaming as a fish strikes are amid surf fishing's nigh iconic images.

Rod-holders tin exist simple or circuitous. For the DIYer, just pick up some three-inch-diameter PVC pipe from the hardware shop. Y'all can and so measure 3.v feet of it and cutting it at a 45-degree angle. The effect is a rod-holder that can stick into the sand on one side while accommodating the rod butt on the other.

If you lot don't experience like breaking out the hacksaw, you can also buy your own rod-holders. Here are a couple of skillful options:

  • Cabela'southward 48-inch Sand Spike
  • Offshore Angler Sand Spikes

Allurement & Allurement Storage

Your ultimate choice in bait will likely depend on where in the country you lot're fishing. The full general idea is to "match the hatch" and employ whatsoever sort of local forage fish are bachelor at the beach you're fishing.

If yous're on the Gulf Coast, that might exist mullet and shrimp. If you're in the Northeast, that might be menhaden.

When it comes to natural bait, you can opt to utilize it live, dead, or cut into chunks. Each option has its benefits. And, if possible, y'all might consider deploying a combination of offerings spread across many poles.

The best and most cost-effective choice for live bait angling is to take hold of your own. The all-time manner to do this is by learning to throw a cast cyberspace. Bandage nets are non but quite a bit of fun to throw (once yous get the hang of them), simply you never quite know what yous'll grab. If you've never thrown a cast net, here are some instructional videos.

Depending on how alpine you are, you might kickoff learning on a v- or six-human foot internet. For most occasions, opt for a three-eighths-inch mesh size. The Fitec EZ Throw is designed for beginning castnet throwers. The Fitec 6-foot Super Spreader is some other great option.

If you don't feel like going the cast net route, y'all can also buy bait from your local bait and tackle shop. The added benefit of this approach is that these fine people can give you pointers on what'southward biting and where. They can as well sell you a castnet and all the tackle you'll demand.

Bait Bucket & Aeration

bucket aerator net
The author's saucepan aerator

Whether you're catching or buying your bait, y'all'll need somewhere to store it and to keep information technology alive. Your all-time bet is a bucket-and-aerator combo — don't forget the lid. Portable, battery-powered pumps that shoot air into your saucepan through a hose, which terminates in an air rock that diffuses it into the h2o, aerators are inexpensive and pay for themselves quickly.

For most scenarios, a 5-gallon bucket is your best bet. You tin can buy the $4 model from your local home improvement store or even an one-time pickle bucket you lot can sometimes find at your favorite deli. If you want a scrap more than out of your saucepan, the YETI LoadOut is virtually indestructible.

Aerators are an important consideration to keep your live allurement alive. Maybe the most normally used is the Bubble Box from Marine Metal Products.

Other Surf Fishing Must-Haves

beach wagon, surf fishing
The cutest surf fishing companion and her embankment wagon; photo credit: Elliott Stark

If yous're going to conduct your whole kit down the beach, a railroad vehicle will come in handy. Y'all can use one of the old-schoolhouse red ones or buy a purpose-built beach hauler — likethis ane.

You'll also need a cooler, a bait knife or two, and some needlenose plyers. You tin grab everything you lot need by manner of a multitool from Gerber.

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