Surf Casting in Low Tide
Most people have a perception that surf fishing means casting large sinkers and a variety of live and dead baits using a spinning rod. These spinning rods often perceived to be stout and long exceeding 10 feet typically. The fact is a spinning reel spool with 20 to 30 pound test monofilament line has in fact, been the norm. One of the challenges with this is the fatigue that is associated with hours of casting this large raid into rolling waves. The problem is that this type of tackle is often required to get the bait into just the right spot when the surf is high. Surf conditions including rolling and crashing waves against the beach, often require this type of equipment. There are however, situations where this is really too much, and anglers wind up using far more energy than they need. Fortunately, technology comes to the rescue and allows you to assemble a fishing rod and reel combination that is not only lighter, but shorter and easier to cast.
There are many areas in the Northeast that provide great opportunities for surf fishing. In these areas, tidal currents tend to not be as aggressive and the waves are typically paying. In these cases, you are not likely to find especially large fish that instead a large number of smaller size striped bass and bluefish with an occasional bruiser. This environment, you can scale down to a graphite surf fishing rod in the 7 foot to 8 foot length and combine it with a spinning reel in the 4000 size range. The best thing is that these rods will provide you more than enough length for distance casting with a 1 ounce to 3 ounce lure.
Braided fishing line has also made distance casting much easier for new anglers. Spooling a4000 size reel with monofilament backing and adding 200 yards of 30 pound test braid line offers the ability to use this smaller diameter line versus the traditional monofilament. The other advantage is there is less friction on your rod guide, which helps increase your casting distance. Braided lines do not offer the same abrasion resistance that monofilament lines have, and all surf casters must be aware of this. Because these traditional fishing areas often have rocks and boulders fields, surf casters can run into significant issues when casting braided lines. This situation can be mitigated by attaching a long fluorocarbon leader to the braided line before placing a lure on the line. To some degree, this will help prevent breakage if a large fish heads directly for the rocks.
Children who are fairly new to angling will enjoy this much more and be far less frustrated than if they were trying to learn to handle a 10 or 12 foot surf rod. Not only that, but tackle of this size makes fighting smaller sized fish much more fun and sporting. If a large fish is hooked, the angler will be put into a position of fighting very hard to land him. Few things are far more exciting for the sporting angler.
There is little doubt that large surf rings will always have their place. In fact, many anglers’ fish bait with 5 or 6 ounce sinker’s and they are constantly on the lookout for the largest fish in the area. For these anglers, the oversized rigs will always be the best. However, for those who just do not want to lug heavy rigs across the beach, and who prefer fish in the 5 to 20 pound range they can easily scale down, scale back, and sport up.
When you are out saltwater fishing it is important to make sure you have the right supplies. Some of the most popular brands include Shimano Fishing Reels, Penn Fishing Reels, and Team Daiwa Reels.
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