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Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... #6423184 07/21/11 04:01 AM
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B-Erb Offline OP
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Anyone have any information about how the fishing is in surfide, TX right now? My family and I are heading down there Friday. Just trying to find some information about what species of fish I should be targeting this time of year and what areas I should be fishing! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks alot

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: B-Erb] #6423683 07/21/11 01:10 PM
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BigBuilder Offline
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I am heading down on Friday as well and would love a report of what is going on. Last year was my first trip and first experience fishing in the surf. I caught all kinds of fish based on the advice I received on this forum, it was great. Staying Friday to Friday near Stahlman Park.

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: BigBuilder] #6423989 07/21/11 02:30 PM
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Garfish 3 Offline
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Target speckled trout in the surf w/ live shrimp under a cork w/ about a 2 1/2 foot leader and/or plastics w/ chartreuse and pink colors, silver spoons too. Gulp baits work also.
Fish dead shrimp on the bottom for big whiting, sand trout, puppy drum, etc.....
The water's been dirty so live bait may work the best for the trout.

Got a buddy down there today. I'll post up if I hear from him.


"Hurry up! We're burnin' daylight."
Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Garfish 3] #6424097 07/21/11 02:59 PM
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B-Erb Offline OP
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Thanks a lot for the information I appreciate it!

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: B-Erb] #6424295 07/21/11 03:37 PM
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B-Erb Offline OP
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Hey Garfish I dont want to sound ignorant but can you expalain to me how you use Corks in the surf? I have never fished that way before. Just curious how you keep your line from rushing in. What kind of tackle is best used with the live shrimp? Sorry for all the questions. Just wanna catch some good fish this year! Took a trip to Port Aransas earlier this summer and caught nothing but flat heads the entire time! Very frustrating...

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: B-Erb] #6424648 07/21/11 04:56 PM
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If you use a popping style cork with live shrimp, rig it with a couple of splitshot on the leader about 6 inches above your hook to keep it in the strike zone longer. Let it drift naturally w/ the waves and tidal current. If it gets too close to you, reel it in and re cast. I like standing on the 2nd sandbar and casting into the deeper troughs called "guts". Just like perch fishing, but w/ bigger corks, line and hooks. "Pop" it every now and then to attract the fish. You can also "freeline" it w/o a cork as well by just bouncing he bait along the bottom. I use standard bass tackle w/ 15 lb. test and a 15-20 lb. fluorocarbon leader about 30 inches long and a #2 Kahle style hook or a #6 treble hook for live shrimp. Make sure you have a means to keep your shrimp alive such as floating bait bucket to tie onto you while wading and/or an aeration device.
For plastics on a jighead (1/8-1/4 oz) and/or topwaters, I tie directly to mono.
Hope this clarifies things somewhat. Good luck!!


"Hurry up! We're burnin' daylight."
Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Garfish 3] #6424765 07/21/11 05:25 PM
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Everyone laughs at my setup when I fish Surfside but I never fail to bring home fish. I have a David Fritts crankbait reel from BPS along with a castaway skeleton 6.6' wading rod. Have it spooled with 12lb trilene big game. I tie directly to a snap swivel and use the Eagle Claw nylawire snelled hooks in a #2 size. A couple of split shots above the swivel and I'm good to go. Use a flow-n-troll bait bucket for my shrimp. I stand on the second bar and cast into the gut reeling just enough to keep my line tight. I have caught several trout over 25" in the last year doing this. Lots of big whiting and more puppy drum and ladyfish than I can count. Last year got into the spanish macks pretty good right off surfside beach and with the line on the snelled hook being nylawire didn't have any cut the line. So far my biggest fish on this setup was a 44" red in the little city park going towards the quintana jetties and a 68" diameter ray I caught in the surf last year.


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Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Lite-Tackle-Surf] #6424968 07/21/11 06:08 PM
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B-Erb Offline OP
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thanks alot guys!

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Lite-Tackle-Surf] #6425248 07/21/11 07:10 PM
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Quote:
a 68" diameter ray I caught in the surf last year


So you caught a ray that was over five and a half feet from side to side on bass tackle???

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: redchevy] #6425391 07/21/11 07:46 PM
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I did....fought him for 1 hr and 45 minutes. Have two families that were with me on the beach. He (or she) hit on a huge freelined shrimp, peeled drag for about 10 seconds and then just sucked down on the bottom. I had never caught a ray before so wasn't sure what I had. just kept steady pressure on the ray until it turned loose and ran again for about 5 seconds and sucked down again for about 20 minutes. By this time I knew what it was. Wasn't too keen on getting it in, but I wanted to see how big it was. Once I got it to the first bar the waves rolled it and my buddy fishing with me was able to hook it with our 12' lantern pole and drag it up on the beach. His son held its tail down with the lantern pole so we could measure it. I couldn't get close enough to the barb to measure it but it had to be at least 15" long. We drug it back to the edge of the surf and after about 5 minutes of waves washing over it, it slowly moved off.


17" EbbTide Dynacraft
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Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Lite-Tackle-Surf] #6425397 07/21/11 07:48 PM
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On a side note.....I have broken a couple of the eagle claw hooks and had one straighten out on a big red last month.


17" EbbTide Dynacraft
50Hp Merc
Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: Lite-Tackle-Surf] #6426129 07/21/11 10:29 PM
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What great information! Last year I fished with gulp shrimp, top water lures, dead and live shrimp and caught a bunch of specks, one pompano and a bunch of sharks, whiting and other crud. I can't wait for tomorrow and will be fishing all week in the surf using all the methods listed above plus some other plastics, silver spoon and some shark rigs. I am in a silver ram pickup - come say hello if anyone is around and we'll swap stories.

Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: BigBuilder] #6426181 07/21/11 10:47 PM
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Just got back from SS a couple hours ago.South/southwest wind has everything stirred up.It's not muddy but it is rough.I throw nothing but spoons and managed two keepers this morning[19 and 20]using silver spoon with red/yellow bucktail.It was so rough,I waded with only a stringer and rod.All the above is great information but let me add one very important piece of equipment all surf fishermen should have: a Sterns[or another brand] life jacket.It has saved my tail may times.I don't leave home w/o it.By the way,I have fished SS for over 50 years.Good luck.

Last edited by ksk; 07/21/11 10:54 PM.
Re: Surfside Fishing!!!! Need some advice... [Re: ksk] #6426622 07/22/11 12:32 AM
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Wife and I would like to go to Kema area or Port Arthur area and doing some red or speck fishing as well as flounder. Don't mind surf either. Will come down first week in Aug. anyone have any sugestions. email me at rsumrow@rlacyinc.com


Rusty Sumrow
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