Im headed to Galveston next week to do some surf fishing and what I was wanting to know is if anybody has any suggestions for any artificial baits to fish in the surf once we get out big rods with live bait out . We will be staying on Crystal Beach if that helps . I tried a topwater popper last year but didnt have any luck with it . Any advise would be great.

Bone super spook, spoons, and paddle tail baits. If the water is pretty clean i like pumpkin/chart & plum/chart

How far do I need to get these baits out?

That will vary the most. I've caught trout/reds from the first cut to outside the 3rd cut. Just look for the bait and hope the fish give you some general idea. I'd start with the topwater and hope for a blowup. Even if you don't catch the fish it will give you a general idea of their location

You have good luck with them hitting a topwater in the breakers? Im still green at this surf fishing stuff but I'm already hooked

I'm pretty green to it myself, but yes we have had some success with it. Use the bigger spook (has three hooks) my biggest 2 trout have come from topwaters in the surf.

Topwater baits in the surf are best when it's a calm surf. As mentioned, depth, or distance from shore can vary. At first light, you can sometimes catch them between the shoreline and first bar, in water less than knee deep. Sometimes you have to move to the next gut. Normally as the sun gets up they tend to move out further but if you see baitfish there will be fish nearby. As for baits, I like spooks early if it's calm. DOA shrimp, Gulp shrimp and gold or silver spoons tend to produce a lot of fish. Obviously other baits will work too but I always start with those first.

At Rollover Pass (close with Crystal Beach) you can fish in surf for specks, red fish, in ROLLOVER BAY for flounder, specks and on the bank on the pass for specks, red fish, flounder etc..
On the surf at ROLLOVER PAS you can catch specks on outgoing tide with top and suspending lures.

You have to fish the guts...the deeper troughs between the sandbars. First light and last light will be the best times. I routinely catch trout in calf deep water, in the wade gut. Tides will have a bearing on it as well.

I primarily use Rapala Skitterwalks and Mirro-lures, but Spooks will work too. Learn how to "walk the dog" with these lures.

Spinner baits, spoons and soft plastics of all kinds, on a 1/8-1/4 oz jig head will catch a lot of fish too. Paddle tails, curly tail grubs, Gulp Alive shrimp will work well.

Learn the guts and fish them. Also fish the front and back edges of the sandbars.

Try any color plastic that has a fire tail or chartreuse tail on a 1/8 - 1/4 oz jighead. Topwater early, plastics and spoons later. Shrimp imitations such as DOA, GULP, &/or Killer Diller under a foam popping cork w/ about a 2 ft leader will work, but as said above, the calmness of the surf and the tide range will determine whether hey are close in or further out from the beach.

If it is calm and early in the morning i like to go with a top dog jr. in bone,purple,red back yellow belly and any mullet colors.After that i like to get a Paul brown devil in Bone,Pearl Black back,and pearl/chartreuse.Then my next go to is a live shrimp under a popping cork.Also a Brown lures devil eye in pearl/chartreuse and pink hologram.Hope this helps.

We have been fishing the surf at crystal beach since Monday.
Did well on gulp shrimp under a popper until today, wind changed and
Water muddied up.

WHAT ABOUT SHARKS? ARE THERE ANY IN THE SURF RIGHT NOW.I WAS THINKING ABOUT THROWING A BIG PIECE OF CUT BAIT MAYBE MULLET.I'M GOING NEXT WEEK. DID YOU THINK IT WILL WORK? ALSO I WILL BE THERE JUST AFTER A HIGH TIDE IT WILL BE AROUND 10:00AM WITH AN OUTGOING TIDE SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF SAN LOUIS PASS.

Caught several sharks each day, nothing big most about 24 inches.
I caught a limit of specs this morning on live shrimp in the surf about 2 miles east of crystal beach. The mullet were thick and the fish were right on the beach.
There were some very small sharks maybe 12" that were swimming around my bait bucket. Kinda weirded me out, never had that happen before.