I have a 1 ton ford pu with 4 wheel drive, I have driven in plenty of snow but never loose sand, what do I need to know about driving along the beach? I was told that people are catching a fish called whiting, first do they taste good, second what do you use for bait? How far can you drive north on the beach of south padre island?

air down your tires to around 30 lbs, stay out of the loose stuff. if you feel your truck starting to bog down, keep steady pressure on the accelerator until you get back on top

fresh dead shrimp peeled and fished on the bottom are excellent whiting bait, now is a great time to catch them. they are not a big fish, but if you get them in the 14 inch range they are great eating.

Snow and sand are different animals.
Pickups generally dont do that well on dry deep sand, whether 4WD or not. ( nothing much does either) If you have locking differentials, it helps 100%, but unless you have big tires and plenty of ground clearance, you need to stay on the packed ( moist...but not soggy) areas. That said...I see them on the beach all the time. Some people will do fine and others wont. It happens.

"Rushing" through a soft place only works if you have VERY stiff suspension. Otherwise, you'll just bottom out from all the bouncing.

Just go fishing and have fun! Be careful and stay on the packed sand. Maintain a steady speed...not too slow. Take a camping shovel and a LONG tow strap. Every time I go, I see at least 2 pickups buried....and no, I wont stop my Jeep to help out "before" I go fishing....only on the way out, AFTER I'm done. ( why should I ruin MY trip too?)

Make sure you wash the underside of your truck at the car wash after you leave, or it will hate you a year from now.

Multiple hook rigs are nice for whiting as well. Sometimes you can pick up two or three fish. I like to put a small piece of shrimp Fish Bite on the hook first and then tip the hook with a small piece of shrimp. Our sand isn't that soft, even at it's worst. If you keep your tire pressure low and a steady speed, keep a shovel and bucket on hand you should be able to get yourself out of most situations.

Thanks for the info guys, going to give it a try on Monday. Caught a trout on my third cast this am, thought I was really going to get into them then not another bite all morning. Did see a guy catch a stingray that was pretty cool.

you can drive all-the-way to the PM jetties........ butchoo don't wanna have to drive back at high tide

or-at-least i wouldn't wanna try it.......'specially if the surf's up

If you start to get stuck let a little more air out. Just remember to drive accordingly when you exit the beach. In Oregon we carried CO2 tanks to air back up. We were pulling our big travel trailer and the sand was much softer though. Good luck
Joe

We used to take our tires down to 15psi once we hit the sand. This helped tremendously. If you have the option of a small compressor this works out great. JUST DON'T FORGET TO AIR YOUR TIRES BACK UP.

Heck of a lot easier driving on low tide if able too. I have learned if you get in the soft stuff don't stop! Usually you can dig yourself out, 95% of the people stuck that we have pulled out didn't have 4x4.

I always bring the following
1. a broad shovel, or three
2. 4, 6 foot sections of 2x8 to place under tire after digging out
3. a strong friend
4. tow strap or chain

Driving advice
1. people will disagree with me on this, but I almost never drive below the high tide line. I know this is impossible to avoid in some locations, but nothing is worse than getting stuck and watching the tide come in.
2. maintain speed through soft sections
3. leave vehicle in 4x4
4. watch out for debris. All kinds of nasty cables and metal scrap in the sand and sometimes attached to a concrete base.

Don't spin your tires.

some people call those slow-crawling things on our beach ridley turtles...............

i call'em speedbumps

Best thing, aside from sand paddle tires, you can have is a good set of AT (All Terrain) tires.