I love the surf. I love to watch it, I love to play in it and I love to ride it, but I've never had much luck pulling fish from it. I'm making my 4th annual end-of-summer tip down to PINS next weekend. We usually just camp and play, but I would like to be more serious about fishing this time. I have the rods; I have 11' & 12' Diawa rods and a couple of 6'-7' medium action spinning rods. We're driving down Friday night and will get there pretty late. It's also going to be a full moon this weekend. So, who can give a me ideas for catching some good table fare out of the surf using frozen cut bait and artificials?

P.S. This weekend is the beach clean-up. Y'all come out and help clear out some trash!

i would consider using shrimp for trout and reds. but if you want to catch sharks i would suggest gettin some cut mullet or just some plain ol cut bait

Mullet or Menhadden in surf! Skate wings for sharks or some bonita. I dont know if there is a shark out there could pass on some nasty, oily bonita or Jack Crevelle. Mackeral also makes a good shark bait but the other baits are easier to come by! You can get all the baits, except for the live mullet at Port A outfitters. It is a neat little store and they are always helpful. My girl bought the wrong swivels for me last time I was out and they were kind enough to swap them out without a reciept. Nice store with nice people to help. The bait line can go a little slow at times but the bait is always fresh, especially the menhadden. They are usually fresh caught and not frozen like at some of the other places! Make sure you keep the menhadden cool because once they get warm, they turn to mush! See ya and good luck.

anything live for trout...shrimp and croaker are prolly your best bet. for redfish, i usually have luck on fresh-dead mullet. sharks will hit fresh cut ladyfish, live stingray...just about anything you stick out there. just my ten cents though

Thanks for the tips y'all. keep 'em comming. How is Cos Way for fresh bait? Anyone aver have any luck woth DOA shrimp in the surf?

Oh, one other question...how do y'all like to rig these baits? I usually use a wire double drop rig with a spider weight. What should I do differently?

If you are in Port A, why would you drive all the way to the CosWay? Just a question. If you are coming from corpus, that sounds great but if in arnsas, that sounds like a drive.
DOA will work but the reds will be thicker than trout. Storm Wildeyes would work well but it is best to fish in a place that is thick with fish! Baits are done with a carolina rig with 3-6 ounces of weight. You can also use a spider weight but I prefer to have my line sliding through the weight. No need for steel unless you are shark fishing. I caught a red two weeks ago with a giant piece of steel sticking out of his mouth, that piece of steel was not needed and is going to take the fish a while to get rid of.

heavy, stout wire leader, pyramid sinker and some big hooks that are covered/hidden within the bait...chunk it out and let it sit

If You have any lighter action rods for atrifical baits, I would use some topwater lures for sure if there is a full moon and if the water is fairly calm. Topwater baits of choice would be Rapala's Skitter Walks, Super Spooks, spook jr., or top dogs, she dogs, etc... These would be great for some trout fishing. For Soft plastic wise use something that glows in the dark like some of the norton lures of some of the speck rigs work pretty good also. Also try putting some scent on them like garlic spray, this is a major fish attractant.
Good Luck and Tight Lines...

not sure if it's any different than Galveston, but i've had luck in the early morning (pre-dawn/dawn) on blk/chrt She Dogs. later in the day, i've heard red/wht Dogs work. i've had them tear up black shiner Super Spooks. silver spoons also work later in the morning/day and i've had really good luck on roach Trout Killers/Saltwater Assasins on a 1/4oz jighead as the sun was coming up.

we had good luck with rays rigged with a couple of 16/0 circle hooks. jack is good also. i like a pulley rig on a 4-6oz spider weight with the tangs bent to grip.

i wish i was going.

Great tips, y'all. I really hope I can take some of this good info and land something tasty. Piepuncher, we are coming in through Corpus, so something on that end of the island will have to do. How long of a lead do you use for the carolina rig?

i'm glad someone can fish with lures...i sure can't lol! i can sort of work a spoon or a rat-l trap when i'm wadin' but other than that, i'm a fan and user of the bait. If artificials work for ya, then by all means use them. i just grew up usin bait and have bait fished all my life...it's all i know. oh well, can't win it all lol...good luck and hope ya get a cooler full

Funny thing is I fish with lures in freshwater all the time and never use bait, but in the salt I 've always used bait and the few times I have thrown lures at the coast I was just excersizing my shoulder. I need to work on crossing over the two techniques so I can do everything everywhere and catch more fish better.

yeah, sometimes i wonder why i throw lures but i guess that's part of the reason -- the challenge. as you learn to work them and when to use them, your confidence grows and you know you'll catch fish. it took me a while to figure that out. it's addicting when it works.

Lures work, but i am a fan of whatever they are feeding on.If its on Live Mullet, get live mullet. Menhaden, get menhaden. I prefer live and dead bait fishing just because sometimes i like to CHILL. An old fisherman from Venice,La told me "them redfish dont get that big eatin plastic"

But if the bite is on lures, you will get outfished 5 to 1. I am not going to go into the advantages/disadvantages of lure fishing, you all know. It is basiclly the same as fresh water.
Whatever they are feeing on is the best bait.