How and what do you fish for down there? Gonna be bank or pier fishing mostly.
Best bait and species?

The surf should be fishable tomorrow morning.

There is a lot to learn and one of the best things I can tell you is go to the bait store and talk to others. For the most part its live shrimp in the surf under a popping cork. I also use New Penny Gulp shrimp, works great and last longer than live shrimp.

To keep the shrimp alive, take a bucket and and a battery powered aerator. They have them at Walmart here in Roanoke. Keep the bucket in the shade.

As far as gear for most fish in the surf, you can start with your bass gear, just make sure you clean it with fresh water when your finished for the day. Hooks, weights, line and such is really the same gear. If you want big fish then use bigger gear.

The first year we went, we caught cat's, gaftops, sharks, croakers, trout, reds. You can also find ray's, flounders and many others.

Just bait up with a leader under a popping cork, leader length can be a foot or two depending on temp, color and water depth. I start short in the morning and make it longer as the day warms up.

If your interested, stop at Buccee's before Surfside and get a crab trap with some form of chicken. You can catch blue crabs in the bays.

The bait stores are a really good source of info on whats bitting and what to use. Bridge Bait is under the Inter coastal Bridge going into Surfside. There is another on the left before the bridge, dont know the name.

We went 3 years ago for the first time and we have been back each year for a week at a time. Love this place.

Good luck. I am sure others will chime in here.

Might want to wear an old pair of jeans in the Surfside surf so your leg does not look so "tasty"...

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110531-uh-student-survives-shark-attack

Saw that yesterday..... The wife is all paranoid. LoL

Thanks KRS, great info. I'd love to get a lil shark on my bass gear.

I like to go down the Jetty about 3/4 of the way. I take dead shrimp and catch small bait on a spinning rig. I then take the small bait and rig up my surfrod with the bait I catch. I cast it out to the bottom and wait for something big to hit it. Two years ago I had something double over my surfrod instantly and start stripping line. I had 65 pound braided line and got it within about 20 yards of me down the jetty and then my line was cut on the jetty and nothing. I really wanted to see what it was. I had a few guys watch me saying "big fish, big fish" LOL. That was awesome and it was a very big fish. Not sure what it was but hooked me. Now that is what I do every time I go. The first year we went we use live shrimp and caught a flounder, a bunch of mackerel, and sharks. but the fishing has not been that good since. The last two years it has been very windy and muddy, which I think hurts the fishing. I am not pro, but I do look forward to going on our anual vacation starting this Friday. We will be down there a week and tha is what I will be doing as well as fishing the bay side in my new kayak.

Looking at her you can't blame the shark.

Sting Rays much more of a threat. Also don't wade near the pass without a life jacket. One of the top drowing places in the state.

Let us know how you did and your welcome. Got to help out the Roanoke crew.

Thanks for taking the time to give such a good response. How much would a basic crab trap cost? I'll be down there and will do some surf fishing, but primarily will fish at a canal home with 50ft deep canal access. What would you tie to a crab trap so that you can bring it back up that far? Would strong fishing line be sufficient? Also, any other tips on how to fish a canal like that would be great. Everything from finding small easy fish for kids to bigger fish...

The traps are 20-30 dollars, sorry dont remember the exact amount. Get 2 and set them on the side of the bay, doesnt have to be deep, just enough cover the trap. We were in about 2-3 foot of water and did great. The traps come with rope and a float so you should be set for keeping them tied down.

Canal's, hard to say. My father-in-law just came back and he said he worked around the canal's with various types of lures, shrimp until he found what they liked. It wont be hard to find a place to fish, just remember to fish the canal's and bays early and late because the water is shallow and heats up this time of the year.

During the week you can go to the jetty and catch just about anything you want. I see them on the jetty with a net, string and chicken neck. Just throw it out till you get a little tug and slowly pull it towards you while moving the net under the crab and you can do really good this way. I watched a family fill a 5 gallon bucket in about 20 minutes.

Best advice, stop in at the bait store and just ask. They can help you rig up and find the right fish.

Where are you staying ? In Surfside, down towards San Louis Pass (SLP).

It's about 1 mile inland from Surfside Beach in the Bridge Harbor Sub-division. It's only 1/2 mile from Bridge Bait so I will definitely check that place out. The back of the house has a small dock and the water there is supposed to be 50ft deep (I guess it's actually a marina, not a canal). I've heard reds, trout, croaker, and catfish can be caught from the boat dock. Sounds like the crab trapping should be done near the Jetty and the kids would have fun w/ that. Thanks again for the tips!!

oh sorry about that, I was just saying you can crab at the Jetty as well. I know where you are talking about. We are on the surfside of surfside, sorry about that. But we do stay on the beach side and were before you get to the crabbing pier.

Which is another place you can check out, coming in to Surfside, pass over the ICW Bridge and go left on Bluewater highway, a little over a mile on the left, you cant miss it.


You should be able to catch all species in the canal's. If the surf is calm, then get some shrimp and wade in the surf. Its kind of a thrill not knowing whats on the end of the line when you real it in.

You cant go wrong with either place and Good Luck and have fun, thats what its all about.

This year we hired a guide because I want to really explore the bays, so looking forward to that. The other 6 days will be in the surf and watching the kids play in the waves.

Oh and dont forget to get a burger at Kitty's Purple Cow, fun little local place.

Bridge bait will have everything you will need and the prices aren't bad. You can also stop at the Academy in Lake Jackson, pretty good selection there as well.

Primary bait is live shrimp, just have to be careful with them. I use a 5 gallon bucket with a bubble box to keep them alive, keep the bucket out of the sun and and change the water ever so often.

If you want then get a 1/8-1/4 ounce jig heads and get some New Penny Gulp Live Shrimp, they last a little longer and everything down there will attack.

We will be down the end of June.