I'm preparing a day trip to fish the surf. Besides buying bait at the local shop, I want to attempt catching bait fish in order to improve the freshness and hopefully the bite.

I've tried subiki rigs in the surf using my inshore rod without any success. I'm discouraged, but maybe it's the technique?

For those catching bait fish with rod and reel, what approach has made you most successful?

Or do I need to breakdown and buy a casting net?

I have been very successful using a cast net.

I fish the surf a fair amount using various flies and sometimes I�ll soak some live or fresh cut bait. What kind of bait are you looking for? I don�t get mullet using flies. Occasionally, I get larger menhaden, shad. Mostly, I get ladyfish, sometimes little tiny jacks, some whiting that could be used for bait. You can toss flies with a spinning set up and a float. I weight most of my flies with a bit of tungsten to get them down. Tungsten sinks so much faster per equal weight in water than lead. Not everyone seems to get that fact, but a faster sink rate helps to conquer turbulence and current that are the norm in the surf.

Cast nets are not expensive. I like a 6 or 6.5 foot one. There�s YouTube�s on how to throw them. One good throw will set you up for a while. I just wade the surf looking for bait and toss the net when I see it.

if you go with a 3 1/2 or 4' net, you'll get out much cheaper and you can net in the ditches and marsh pockets along the sides of the road. a bigger net is too big for ditches and pockets. plenty of mullet and mudfish in the coastal ditches around here. the marsh along hwy 6 where it meets I 45 is a great place to start. also the marsh areas along Follet Island on the bay side. a perch trap works good for mudfish also.

Inshore set up, carolina rig with some dead shrimp. I will normally drive to one of the piers and fish along the pilings and catch plenty of pin perch. Cast out in to the surf and get some croaker/whiting.

Cast net is probably best. Failing that 1/2 oz Carolina rig with dead shrimp or fish bites is a pretty reliable way to catch whiting/croaker, sometimes hard heads. Sometimes you have to find the right trough/cut.

Cast net...wade out to knee deep then just sight cast ur net on top of bait. Bingo....easy.

Cast net if you know for sure bait is around. If not, have a backup plan with bait rod and tiny hooks (sabiki rig). With small piece of shrimp on hooks you'll at least be able to get any bottom feeders. Nothing worse than going fishing and can't find bait to net.

When I use fresh dead shrimp, i only cut a small piece usually near the tail. I use a size 8 lazer sharp aberdeen hook rigged drop shot with a skinny weight 1.5 to 2ft below hook on fluorocarbon. My go to lure is berkley sandworms. Its a bait that can match the small hook size easy. Small hooks are the key to getting a lot of hookups, but you have to set the hook lightly with this rig. I cast out & drag back. I can feel the strikes. I Usually use 1/8oz to 1/4oz drop shot weights, sometimes tungsten. I always have a 3.5ft cast net, fresh shrimp, & sandworms when i go to the coast to get bait.

The last few trips out to PINS I have experimented with a miniature double drop rig that I made up with some super small single hooks and light weight mono. I put a small sinker on the bottom and put some fish bites cut into very small pieces on the hooks. I have been able to catch whiting pretty easily with that set up. I just toss it out into the first gut and within a few minutes I usually have a whiting on. Sometimes they are finger mullet sized and sometimes they are larger. Either way they are pretty good bait for a lot of different things. The cast net works when there are mullet visible, but sometimes they are pretty elusive in the surf.