I'm headed to Port Aransas in a week or so and plan to do some Surf fishing somewhere in that area. What do I want to look for is one place better than another? Do I look for birds, water color, hot chicks??? Keep in mind I will more than likely also be looking for a decent place my wife and boy can hang out on the beach while I'm trying to catch a monster. Just didn't know if it's a [censored] shoot or if there something I can look for that may indicate a better fishing area?

Mullet... If u see them on the jetties then u will catch fish.

Monte, just like in fresh water, if you see working birds in the surf thats the place I would stop. I would stay away from the pier if your going during spring break though, insanely crowded so I am told. As long as you have a 4x4 drive down the beach till you find a secluded spot. You can easily catch some bait in the first gut, but if you want to try for the reds you will probably have to wade out just a bit to cast into the second gut. If all else fails, just follow the hot chicks, lol you can never go wrong with that, and I am sure you son wouldnt mind.
One other tip, if all your catching is hardheads, either upsize that bait, or MOVE! Those things will drive you crazy down there.

If your not sure how to read the breaks, the basics of it are that where the waves break, is where the sand bar is.. typically there are 3 well defined sand bars, and in between them is called the gut. The fish basically use these guts as highways. If your going to be down there on saturday the 9th, Nick meyer, who owns breakawayusa.com will be giving a surf fishing seminar at his tackle shop. This man is a genius when it comes to fishing around corpus, and long distance surf casting.
Also, not to write a book here, but if you can find a spot where the 2nd gut is closer to the shore, this obviously will be easier to cast into. large wade guts, or the very first gut is also a good find for bait and such. For me its easier sometimes to look down the beach to see exactly where the guts are, then it is looking strait into the waves. Good luck man! Also you probably already know this, but incoming tides seem to work the best, outgoing tides get the bite going as well, and I usually nap during slack tide.

Where are you fishing the surf? That makes a difference. If you are fishing florida or south texas you can follow the birds or schools. Upper texas coast is very different. I've had times where I don't see any bait or any birds and I've killed the fish and I've had times where the water is blanketed with mullet and I can't get a thing to bite.

The main thing you want to know is where the guts are and the water conditions. If you can get a day where the water is relatively flat, green in color, and pretty good visibility, you will catch fish like crazy.

When wade fishing from the surf I catch most of my fish in the wade gut or the 1st gut. I hardly ever go further than that. It is a natural tenancy to think the further out you go the more fish you will catch, but i've caught most of my fish closer it. Sharks and bull reds are the only ones that I go out further for, but they also can be caught close in.

This isn't my picture, but it is a really good visual. The guts are the places where the water gets deeper. Sometimes its just very slight. The bars are where the water gets shallower you will usually see the waves breaking on the bars.



I catch most of my fish (trout, mackeral, reds, black drum, sheepshead, whiting, jacks, gafftop) fishing from the beach into the wade gut or wading on the first bar and fishing the wade gut or the 1st gut.

Here is another good visual showing the satellite image. You can see the bars by where the waves are breaking. The distances he's talking about in these pictures are for shark fishing purposes.



I'm a passionate surf fisherman. My true passion is shark fishing the surf. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Great information guys it's good to know how to read the surf!!!

@Huntin....Great written and visual presentation.

when you are on a jetties dose it go pass all of the sand bars? For instance the Port A Jettie

Thanks b2f. I don't take credit for the pictures, but they definitely helped me when I was getting started in the surf.



The Port A Jetty does go past the sand bar. A good way to get a visual on this is to check google maps and look for the wave breaks.

@Huntin....One of my first surf trips last summer I hit a big low tide. The 1st sandbar was on the shore, but I didn't realize it. I waded to the 1st sandbar (actually 2nd) and kept wading. The water was getting chest deep when I stopped. It was later in the day as the tide came in that I realized what had happened. That trip allowed me to watch the dynamics of how the wade gut fills, how small cuts in the 1st sandbar become entry points to the wade gut. That day also taught me to sit on a bucket at the water's edge and fish for whiting, sandies, ladyfish while the big rods are soaking bait deeper. I never got bored.

My rod holders began the day at water's edge. But by late when high tide hit they were outside the 1st sandbar in about 2' of water.

Cool story. That is something that every surf fisherman should experience to get a real good grasp on how surf works. Do you still do a lot of surf fishin or do you stick to the piers primarily?

Anywhere in the surf is better than not being there at all.

Great info!

bait in the guts cutting through the sand bars

I will fish the surf once it warms up. My guess is about 72-75F and the water will feel warm enough that I won't scream like a little girl. lol

What I learned that day in the surf pays dividends when fishing the pier.