OK, I need lots of help. I've never fished saltwater at all. I'm going with my family to stay in the Lost Colony Beach Houses next month. I want to do some fishing while I'm there from the beach. I'm going to get an 8 foot surf rod/reel combo but from there I know nothing else. Would be willing to drive a few miles but would rather stay there with my family.

What would you suggest for artificial bait? How do you rig it (leaders, hooks, weight)?

Help! I know nothing. I'm a bass fisherman in Oklahoma so this is new to me.

http://www.tx-sharkfishing.com/surf-fishing/

It's a shark fishing site, but there's tons of surf fishing information there...

If you are bringing light tackle, with decent conditions, your bass gear will produce more than you think...

If you're a bass fisherman, use some of your bass gear and your topwaters and jerkbaits will work on trout, Spanish mackeral, ladyfish and bluefish if the water is calm enough. Also your flukes, Bass Assassins, and swimbaits will work well in the surf too. Rinse your gear after every use w/ freshwater and lube it up and it'll be ready for the next time.
For your big rod, use a Carolina rig with some dead shrimp or cut baitfish like mullet; just like catfishing. Throw as far as you can and hang on! Good luck.

6.5-7' med to med/hvy action rod, standard baitcast or spinning reel and 12-ish lb. mono. Throw topwaters early, Rapala Skitterwalks, Mirrolures, Spooks, etc.

Stop by Port A Outfitters and pick up some soft plastics and 1/8-1/4 oz jig heads. Berkley Gulp Alive Shrimp in New Penny color (4") will work great.

Silver and gold spoons are great. Spinner baits work well.

Fish the deeper guts between the sandbars.

That 8ft. rig will work well for live, cut and dead bait. Not so much for chunkin' lures. Right off the beach where you're staying will produce fish.

Thanks for the info! Anything else you can think of would be appreciated. I never thought about using my bass fishing stuff. Keep the information coming!

my suggestion would be to get a double drop rig and a spider wieght. also get whats called fishbites, I perfer pink shrimp there a bit expensive but well worth it and fresh shrimp. put a piece of fishbites on each hook along with shrimp, half, whole, w.e. you see fit. walk out about waist deep or so and launch it out there. the key is to try and get it into the gut between the sand bars. Walk it back place in rod holder(pvc pipe, etc) and keep an eye on it. thats the setup i use on most poles when fishing from the beach and i catch just about everything..

If you know how to throw a cast net and have one handy, you can try for mullet in the surf for bait. if you mange to get some you can rigged them up several different ways.

Depending on the conditions alot of your bass gear will work out for you as well i would suggest taking one of your heavier rods to use for throwing lures. I have had good luck with white red combo lures and anything with flash. as far as plastics just try different ones.

I would also suggest checking out the GUlP 3inch shrimp, i mainly use new penny but you chould check around to see what color people are having luck with.

also a key thing to have is the spider wieghts if you gonna place your rod in a holder, as it will keep hold in the sand with rougher conditions strong currents etc.

hopefully that helps somes.

good luck

Thanks a bunch atxrockstar!

Your bass fishing gear will definitely work, just be sure to clean thoroughly, saltwater will wreak havoc on gear. You do not need to go far from where you are staying. You can fish right off the beach right there. Spider weights are great if you just want to set your line and wait for the fish to come to you. I have never tried artificial bait in the surf, I usually just take a cast net and catch some mullet to use as live bait. Cut bait will also work very well.

What I love about surf fishing is you can set your lines then sit back in comfortable chair and relax. And you never know what you are going to catch, but chances are it will be big. Good luck! take pictures.

If I were going to use the 3 inch Gulp, what size jig head do you suggest and how do you fish it? Is it a jerk motion or throw it out and leave it????

1/8 oz jighead w/ a popping cork. Use about a 2 foot 20 lb. fluoro leader and pop it every few seconds or w/o a cork and bounce it off the bottom like you're worm fishing.

Gulp shrimp on a 1/8 oz jig head and stead retrieve will catch reds and trout. If you retrieve too slowly then the whiting will be all over it and tearing it up.

i forgot to mention, i like to use circle hooks on the double drop rig, as theres no need to set the hook so if i get distracted i dont have to rush to set the hook.

What garfish 3 and land pirate suggested will work well, i like to bounce it off bottom at a steady pace, and if its calm enough ill throw a popping cork too. i prefer a bit heavier of a jig head but that's just personal preference. i would suggest if you have different sizes take a couple so you can options depending on the conditions. I have also used a drop shot rig before too, just to get it off the bottom a bit.

I have also used the gulp shrimp on the double drop rig and just let it sit, its a good back up bait to have in case you run low on live bait or cant manage to cast net anything, etc. It doesn't always work as well as live bait in that setup but its better nothing....

Alot of the techniques and rigs for bass fishing can be easily used in the saltwater and on the beach.

Overall i would suggest this have your surf rod combo setup with a double drop rig, circle hooks and a spider weight. If you want to throw lures have another rod handy for that. Take a couple different size jig heads, weights etc. Bring a couple lures you think may work well and even some plastics. you dont need an entire arsenal to catch fish from the beach. but you do need to have some different options available so you can adjust to the weather conditions, currents etc.

Once you get down there, i would suggest port a outfitters for live bait, as they have good bait selection and prices. They have a good selection of terminal tackle as well. There is another place i really like as well, called island tackle, its more of a mom and pop type shop and the guy is nice and if you have any questions he will help you out. he doesn't have live bait but he has good prices on terminal tackle.

I'm landlocked like you but I though I would add a few comments from my experience. I'm not sure I'd buy the large surf outfit unless you have other plans for it (catfishing?) or you are content to stay in one location. This is a heave it and leave it set up. If you plan on moving up and down the beach or jetties your bass gear will more than suffice - main thing is absolutely do not set it down in the sand and be prepared to clean it in fresh water every night. Buy a Mr. Bubbles aerator at Academy or Walmart for live shrimp which you can buy down there. You can throw live shrimp (ask the seller to show you how to hook them) behind a popping cork (my favorite) or freeline (no cork, just toss them out and let them swim). If you want to take lures, really any silver, white or bream color cranks/jerks/topwaters are worth a try. Again, rinse them in fresh water at night. Speaking of night, fishing from lighted piers can be a ton of fun even if you're just catching smaller fish. I've used live shrimp and white or chartreuse bucktail jigs for this with luck. If you're wading, shuffle (drag) your feet along the bottom to avoid stepping on stingrays. When I've gone to Mustang SP, I've always liked fishing from the jetties there. I like the obvious structure. The rocks can be slippery so be careful. Move up and down the jetty until you start catching fish then keep throwing to the same area. Hardhead catfish are like bullheads - avoid the spines. If you find that you are getting cut off by fish, then you are probably into spanish macks which are fun to catch. In this case, tie on a steel leader above your hook. You can find these at any of the tackle stores down there. Fishing is much better when the tide is moving in or out so see if you can find some tide charts that will give you some idea. As I understand it, "high" and "low" tide are when the tides go slack and fishing is worst. Good time to take a break for an hour or so then start fishing once the water has started moving again. Have fun and be warned, surf and bay fishing can be highly addictive.

Couple of more bait sources I just remembered. Surf perch (pinfish) are all over the place down there and can easily be caught on your sunfish rig. They supposedly make good live bait. There's another kind of fish that is small and skinny with a beak that looks kind of freaky (ribbon fish?) but can be good live bait. Small crabs - can't use any with eggs on them - can be good live or cut up. If you catch a skipjack which looks and acts like a mini-tarpon and are pretty common, this can be good cutbait for redfish.

Welcome to the forum, jasonbm! You will learn a lot here from these guys that know their fishing!!