# anyone interested in/try beach fishing?



## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

im sure of all the people on this site at least a few will take a beach vacation sometime this year or at least contemplate the idea. for those that want to try to make that happen, have you ever considered trying fishing from the beach? of course its WAY different than anything in ohio, but can be very rewarding. depending on time of year, bait used, ... people can catch things that most of us ohioans never would have imagined would be right near the sand. of course there are the "normal" fish such as whiting, sea trout, black drum, ... but big game such as bull reds and sharks are also readily available. if anyone plans on taking a beach trip this year feel free to shoot me a message and i can try to help you arrange the right tackle, right approach (tides a huge factor), and avoid the tourist traps. here are some of my catches from the beach over the years. pictured below is a 40" redfish, black drum, sea trout, 8 foot 8 inch sand tiger shark, 6ish foot blacktip shark from a kayak, and a 5 foot blacktip shark. hope to see some of yall out there!


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Wow,,, Thanks for the pics! 
Please add what baits worked for the reds & sharks,,,,, I'd love to know,,,, & are you running the baits out with your yaks for those sharks?
(make sure you throw some of those BlackTip STEAKS on the grill. Their Awesome! ;>)
R U still (stationed?) down Pensacola, Fl? 

We usually vacation at NC OBX every fall.
& As far as shark fishing goes, we need a boat to actually LAND a decent shark,,, we can't seem to get the baits out far enough when beach fishing.

BTW,,, Check out 'TEAM GET BENT' on Youtube,,,,, Some Ohio guys stationed down NC, & REALLY know how to land the monster sharks!
 
3:48
*  NC Land Based Shark Fishing. Team Get Bent 2016 Highlight Video!!  *

Get Bent LBSF
•
669 views10 months ago

  
5:24 
*  11'7" Tiger shark from the beach!!! Get Bent LBSF  *

Get Bent LBSF
•
1K views10 months ago

  
0:41 
*  Team Get Bent LBSF David Schmidt  *


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## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

i dont keep many sharks at all, but 100% agree blacktip steaks are great! for sharks id have to say my favorite readily available baits are mackerel, ladyfish, and jack crevalle (im very happy when other surf fishermen give me a live jack they dont want!), but if i can get a hold of a bonito thats getting used too. i will also use bluefish, whiting, redfish carcasses, scraps from seafood markets (grouper heads work pretty well), stingrays, and pretty much anything i can get my hands on. i do use the kayak to deploy bait and will drop anywhere from just behind the breakers to 400 yards out. for a sinker ill either use a 2.5lb exercise plate with a big zip tie on it or fill a coke can with quickrete and 12 gauge wire legs to grab the bottom better. i do have some heavy spinning setups, but my biggest reel is a penn senator 9/0 with 900 yards of 80lb braid and 100 yards of 130lb mono. not the biggest reel on the market i know, but ive never been close to getting spooled either. when the menhaden schools get close to the beach, ill also go chase blacktips in my kayak. trust me when i say the 1 shark open sleigh is a blast! the water off the very northern coast of florida isnt exactly deep either and ive caught near 7 footers in chest deep water on me (im 6 foot 3). also caught plenty of 4-6 foot blacktips on smaller casted baits. theyre definitely out there, but as you know they require a LOT of patience.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

nice fish! I've never tried surf fishing. I've always enjoyed bridge fishing. i use one rod with 30 or 40# braid with shrimp. you never know whats going to hit your bait. then for big snook big reds and grouper i use a 80# class rod with 100# mono on a gti 330 reel with the drag set all the way down. we land a few but also have had line breaks and hooks broken and straightened out. i have watch some guys fishing for pompano from the beach. I've been going to do that but just never made it. went out on a shark trip with a charter because it was to rough to go out. we trolled for barracuda then cut them up for bait. any oily fish parts are great for sharks. lady fish fillets are very good bait.
sherman


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## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

unfortunately we dont have the grouper by bridges where im at, but theres no shortage of other fish to target either. oh yea i forgot to mention that pieces of barracuda also make great bait and actually stay on the hook pretty decent too. despite how terrible they smell, smaller ones are also great eating. american shad and blueback herring are other favorites, but dont stay on the hook as well. usually when i surf fish ill put whole carcasses on a double circle hook rig. i started doing that after 1 trip i had 3 misses in a row on a bonito head with tooth marks all around it except where the hook was. my hookup percentage went WAY up after switching to double hook rigs with big carcasses. i have 2 main goals for the salt this year: a shark of any species over 10 feet and battle a silver torpedo known as a tarpon from my kayak. if youre ever in the northern atlantic florida coast shoot me a message and ill try to meet you somewhere.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Great stuff ty for sharing


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

THANKS GUYS. Sounds like you put some time in down there,,,

FYI,,, Ufa, Here's an interesting interactive map showing the LL's of wrecks & placed structure around the Florida coastline. If you copy the names of the structures or wrecks, and then search Youtube, you just might find some relating offshore YAK videos. There's some REAL good flounder/ YAK vids, just outside of Jacksonville.

https://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/gps-reefs-interactive-chart.html

https://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/gps-coordinates-florida-fishing-boating-diving.html

MAN, I love those offshore yak videos,,,, can't get anything done around here! ;>)

*Have you guys seen the NEW LIST of GULF OIL SPILLS?*
Unbelievable.
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/w...r-more-than-5000-spills-in-the-gulf-of-mexico

*Here's a load of gulf maps, showing the well-heads & pipelines,,,,, FISH STRUCTURE.*
https://www.google.com/search?q=Flo...1#imgdii=GBsVgtVUU-KKLM:&imgrc=z0CQHhvgwAaFuM:

*https://gulfcoastfishingspots.com/gulf-fishing-maps/*


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## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

appreciate the info and of course i do have several decent areas of my own. theres a small rock jetty parallel to the beach in fernandina beach (this jetty is by no means secret) that at high tide is about 100-150 yards from the sand depending on tide strength. either toss lures or drift some finger mullet and you never know what youll hook into. shrimp can get redfish, black drum, ... but will often find bait stealers. baitfish on the other hand dont get hit as fast, but usually get better quality fish. ive gotten some solid flounder from that jetty, of course reds, sea trout, bluefish, and jack crevalle are a blast on light spinning tackle! i did have some fun at the expense of a full sized boat while kayaking there last labor day though. i got there at sunup to drift along the jetty and already caught plenty as 2 other kayaks show up. the jetty is about 75 yards long so no worry plenty of room for 3 kayaks. the kayaks anchor at the ocean side at one end and i notice a center console boat at the other end also ocean side. still no worry i have the entire beach side to myself way out of range from people on shore. i hook a decent sized jack, drag peels a good bit, net goes down, fish goes in cooler. before i can paddle back there the boat moved and dropped anchor right where i hooked my jack just a minute before (this goober was also fishing a spoon below a bobber to give the idea of the caliber of fisherman were talking). me being me i calmy paddle to where he was, drop anchor, and catch 2 small redfish within 15 minutes  they werent big enough to keep, but it caused enough grief that he got frustrated and went elsewhere, basically blasting everyone on shore with his full wake as he sped off. i wish i had that episode on gopro thats a classic right there!


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## fritoking (Nov 11, 2015)

I fish the beach twice a year on the gulf around Englewood fl. Typically we catch snook, trout, Spanish and snapper. This past October we also caught black drum and redfish along with a bunch of flounder. Had numerous fish break me off and lost a monster redfish. It's a definite learning curve. When I first started I was using my 7 foot freshwater rods and they were not up to snuff for most stuff we were hooking. I've slowly upgraded stuff yearly and now am fairly proficient at catching what I'm after( which truly is anything willing to bite lol).


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## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

I live on the beach in SE NC, its pretty simple...get your self a few catfish rods, diamond/triangle weights of 3 oz, 2 circle hooks on each with @ leaset 30-50 leader (if you use store bought bottom rigs, decent size fish will straighten the snaps on them), buy shrimp that YOU would eat--major disadvantage using old shrimp--and let 'em sit.......during tourist season or when people are swimming, forget about it and only fish early morning or dark when no swimmers or kids around, otherwise, you'll be "that guy representing all fisherman" who everybody hates for holding his ground on "his area", then you end nearly snagging unknowing swimmers/kids, who don't know any better....


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