How To Set Up A Surf Casting Rod

Surfcasting 101: You Accept to Offset Somewhere

Starting whatever new activity that requires a lot of gear and patience can be hard and surfcasting is no exception.

Surfcasting 101 – You Have To Start Somewhere

Starting any new activeness, especially ane that requires a lot of gear and patience, can exist hard, and surfcasting is no exception. Fifty-fifty though its objective, to catch a fish from the shore, may seem elementary, the manner in which ane goes about this tin can speedily become complicated.

At that place are a seemingly limitless number of factors that bear upon how a surfcaster goes near catching fish from shore. These include fourth dimension of year, geographic location, desired species, available bait, weather patterns, tide patterns, moon stage, planet configuration, recent seismic activity, etc. The more than you acquire about surfcasting, the more it seems as if the tiniest alter in the air will bear on the line-fishing, which can leave any angler feeling frustrated.

Choosing the proper tackle is key to surfcasting success.

If the unpredictability of surf angling isn't intimidating plenty, consider the challenge of choosing the proper tackle. I have spent hours walking catatonically through the aisles of tackle shops, staring at the endless choices of lures and rods, sweating as I weighed my options as though they were my terminal. I e'er managed to make it out alive, fifty-fifty if I was a flake lighter in my wallet.

5 Plug Bag Essentials (too the plugs)

Add these five essentials to your gear and exist set when the big stripers move into casting range.

Merely because surfcasting success seems conditional and the available gear seems expensive and infinite, this doesn't mean you should be discouraged from the excitement and satisfaction it offers. As a new inductee to this fantastic sport, I am very familiar with the intimidation that accompanies it. In the offset, I ever felt out of place on the rocks or on the beach, constantly wondering if my setup was substantial enough, if my lure was the correct choice, if my waders made me await fat… Wherever I went, I felt as though I didn't belong. It wasn't until I was out with a friend who has been fishing with his father on Martha'due south Vineyard for his entire life that my perspective changed.

Entry-Level Setups

Many companies offering reliable setups at entry-level prices. A nine-foot rod with a 5000- or 6000-size reel is a standard beach and jetty combination. It should have the courage to launch a 2- or three-ounce lure into the surf, but not be overkill for smaller bluefish and schoolie stripers. If yous're taller or more comfortable with a longer rod, step up to a 10-footer to increase your casting power.
Your first setup should be versatile, and able to handle a variety of situations efficiently and reliably. Don't be shy; go to a tackle shop, ask questions, and concur a few combos to run into what you like. Sometimes, feel is everything.

(9' two-piece rod; 6000-size reel – $99.99)

This setup is a corking accommodating beginner combo that can throw lures or allurement rigs from the beach. The medium-heavy rod has enough backbone for a big fish, and the reel tin can hold enough of line.

(ix' 2-piece medium-power rod – $65.99; 5000A reel – $99.99)

This relatively light combo with the shine, long-casting Emcast Plus reel is platonic for the surfcaster who plans on casting plugs and artificials.

(9'6" 2-piece medium-power rod – $154.99; HD5000 reel – $109.99)

Seismic sea wave offers a range of affordably priced rods, only the Airwave Elite hits a sweet spot for value and performance. Paired with the popular Shield spinning reel, it'southward a plugging philharmonic that yous'll never outgrow as you add together to your surfcasting arsenal.

Nosotros were continuing on the rocks of a peninsula that juts out into sweeping electric current of the Thames River in Connecticut, throwing soft plastics in early May for schoolie stripers. Another angler showed up about 30 anxiety downward the rocks with what looked to be a 5-human foot freshwater bass rod and began casting. Pretty soon, the action picked upward, and my friend and I were pulling out 12- to xvi-inch fish every other cast. Over the next hour or so, nosotros managed to catch and release over thirty stripers, while the guy down the rocks couldn't even manage to snag a bite. Feeling properly satiated, my friend and I packed up our gear and walked back into the concealment brush toward our cars. As we snaked through the path, I looked back and caught a concluding glimpse of the mysterious angler on the rocks, still defiantly casting away to no avail. I turned to my friend and made a snide comment about knowing when y'all're beaten, expecting a cheap express joy. All my friend said in return was, "You take to start somewhere," and then kept walking. That shut me up.

Starting Locations

You have the gear, the purse of lures, and y'all're set to hitting the water. You can follow the crowds to popular surfcasting spots (they're usually popular for a reason), or use these tips to locate a likely spot anywhere on the coast.

• Rocks & Docks:
  Stripers love to use comprehend, such as jetties, solitary boulders, rocky points, and piers, to hide from predators and ambush prey.
• Drop-Offs:
  For the aforementioned reason stripers beloved significant structure, they also honey pregnant changes in water depth. This might exist the edge of a channel leading into a harbor or a sandbar off a beach; either manner, stripers will lurk in the deeper water looking upwards for vulnerable baitfish.
• Electric current:
  Moving water attracts stripers and gets them actively feeding. Breachways, inlets, tidal rivers, and shorelines with sweeping current nearly ever agree bass and baitfish.

My friend was right. Not more than two years ago, I was that guy on the rocks, throwing 2½-ounce Atom poppers on a half-dozen-human foot Ugly-Stik intended for pond line-fishing. Being a skilled surfcaster isn't something that is solely determined by innate knowledge; information technology is a process of learning. We all start somewhere, and sometimes, we start with nix. But, that'south okay, because with a little practice and some basic gear, getting started is easy.

The fundamental is to call back that at i point, even the most experienced anglers had to first somewhere.

While the world of surfcasting may feel inaccessible or too complicated at start, the fundamental is to remember that at one point, fifty-fifty the most experienced anglers had to start somewhere. All you need is a rod and reel, and some lures, then start casting. Pretty shortly, something is going to bite.

Source: https://www.onthewater.com/getting-into-surfcasting

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