what do yall use to make long distace without getting you line tangle with those surf rods

I think most people actually walk there lines out into the surf and then cast a ways then walk back in.

I usually walk it out until I am in about 3 feet of water then I cast. On a nice calm day I can expect anywhere from 65-85 yards with a good strong cast.

I only have 10 foot poles now. A 12 footer will break 100+ yards.

Bait resistance is a real killer, well squid and fish chunks are.

want to get some good reply's post this in the carp section, we routinely cast over 100 yards with ease....I can hit 140 with bait pretty easy.

GreenWater, how far do you usually have to get it in order for your bait to sit between the 2nd and 3rd sandbars? I'm inclined to think you may have to walk it out a little farther to get it out between 2 and 3.

Very true but yall are not throwing a whole fish on a 6oz weighted 3-4 foot 2-400 pound leader.

Just saying that's all..

Anyways, most surf fishermen I know use PowerPro or some other type (Izorline is the best) of higher end spectra to surf fish with when targeting sharks. For reds and such I use a 20ft shock leader such as Blackwater Fluorocarbon Shock Leader which is an AWESOME line. Unlike most Fluoro's this line has strect which allows the caster to get that sling shot effect with a good helicopter pendulum cast.

So what you do is tie the shock leader to your rig with enough length to allow some slack to cycle around your reel for a secure non-slip power cast cast. Then you tie on 15-30 pound mono/braid as the main backing. Smaller line equals less resistance and increase the yardage of total line on your reel.

One thing I need to mention is.. If you are fishing an area where their are sand bars covered in shells it is best to use a thicker and strong mono. A good strong mono for adverse conditions is Momoi Diamond and Izorline first string. Not cheap tho, so most people just respool more often with Big Game, to each their own.

12 is better than 10
1 piece rods are better than 2
30# will out cast 50#

Tough call the last bar in Padre is anywhere from 150-200 yards out but the from the 2nd to 3rd bar it can be as wide as 90 yards with an average of lets say 70.

In Galveston I only surf fish the SLP cut so their are no bars to gauge but if I remember correctly I think the 2nd bar ends around 100 or so yards directly from land. Yakers try to hit 250-400 yards out when they shark fish because the water is much clearer.

I am in Aransas Pass for the fall fishing. I bought an Ocean Master 12 ft rod and the Penn 555 reel and paid about $275 for the set. It is one of the best combo to use, but I am getting to old to cast this pole. I will sell it for half of what I paid for it 5 yrs ago. Anyone interested? Look then up some of the surf fishing forums and you will find several that like the Ocean Master rods.

I have a bunch of surf rods both spinning and conventional. My favorite are two Tica graphite rods. One 11' 3-8oz. and one 11'6" 4-10oz. (The weight ratings are pretty optimistic.) The smaller rod wears a Daiwa Sealine-X 30SHV loaded w/ 50# PowerPro and the larger rod a 40HV loaded w/80# PowerPro. With either rod I can handily cast over 150yds. with just a sinker (yes, I actually measured it casting on dry land). With rig and bait my usual casts are more like 80-100yds.

I fish the surf on Mustang Island a couple of times each year. At high tide I don't wade at all. I can keep my feet dry and cast into the 2nd gut (between the 1st and 2nd bar). At low tide I wade onto the 1st bar and cast into the gut between the 2nd and 3rd bar. Many times I'm actually limiting my casting distance. It's only possible to fish that far out if there isn't a lot of weed and the surf isn't really rough. Standing in water over knee deep actually reduces my casting distance because it limits the angle of my backswing/cast.

The reality is that casting a long distance is not usually required for the best surf fishing on the TX coast. While I'm casting 100yds. from the 1st bar you could easily wade to the next bar and catch just as many (or more) fish casting 40 yds. I grew up fishing the surf along the East coast and I just love chunking a big piece of bait as far out as I can and waiting to see what picks it up (earlier this month it was some small reds, some undersize trout, a couple of croaker, a mess of whiting, one little shark, some hardheads, and a ~30# stingray).

Cheers,
Kelly McCoy
West Texas

p.s. If I'm just going for casting distance I have a 12' rod built on an old Herter's blank with a very highly tuned Penn Squidder. It's a LOT harder to cast than the newer Tica/Shimano rigs but if I hit it just right I can get close to 200yds.

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