Beach Fishing Question
 

What distance from the shore do I need to place my bait in order to catch bull reds when fishing from the beach near Holly Beach or Rutherford Beach? Also, what baits and what other fish can be caught from the beach?

We can cast about 75 yards with our 8 ft spinning rods and we catch a few bull reds. We can cast over 100 yards with our 12 ft spinning rods, and we catch most of our bull reds on these. It seems more of an even split in calmer conditions, and further is better when there's a bit of wave action. Cracked crab is our favorite bait for bull reds, but we catch a lot on cut mullet also. I will go out of my way to try and have crab for bait.

Availability of other stuff depends on season and condition. The bulls are always there.

X2 on crab... seems the cut bait will get picked by crabs too much, but will def catch a few.

If the water is high they may run in the trough between the beach and sandbar. If its too shallow in the trough i like to put the bait 20 yrds past the sand bar. If im fishing more than one rod i will vary the distances. For rough and or high current water i like the 2 r 3 oz flat triangle weight.

Drum, southern or gulf king fish, specks, croaker, gaftop and last but not least hard heads. Cut or live Mullet, croaker, cochahoe or crabs. Shrimp doesnt stay on the hook as good as cut bait. Blue fish, spanish mackeral and jack crevelle sometimes frequent the beach but they like clear water and like artificial baits.

How do yall do crabbing down there? I grew up crabbing in the surf in grand isle and loved it, is there similar opportunities on the beach down there?

cant say every beach is the same but most will have at least two sometimes three sandbars, one about 30ft off the beach and then another one about 30ft beyond that one and then the distance or even if there is a third one varies.

I catch most of my fish in the second trough between the first two sand bars by wading out and standing on the first sandbar. the second sand bar can be anywhere from waist deep to neck deep so I usually don't go there and im not set up like MG so I don't have specialty rods that let me cast far to get beyond that third sand bar. I just use my regular 6.5-7' rods.

I have noticed in the first trough next to the beach I find the fish aren't as big and they only seam to be there early and late in low light conditions like dawn and dusk when the wave action is calm and its important to stay back from the edge of the beach and cast, don't stand on the edge of the water. i assume fish don't stay there much because its more turbid water and because of the skinnier water and the big ones are smarter so they don't get in that close.

farther out seams to do better but everything depends on the waves, if the waves are calm the fish are closer in and if not then they move farther out to feed.

we set out traps at the beach... they will catch you a few pretty quick. just have to stake them down for the time theyre there

We have also caught bull, spinner and some other sharks.

I was wondering about weight size and shape. What about hook size and shape. How does a circle hook work when beach fishing? Or is a regular hook best?

We've done very well with a size 7/0 offset J hook. You'll lose fish with circle hooks.

9/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks with a 12" steel leader with a sliding sinker above it. That rig has worked very well for us.

We normally use the 5/o khale hook. They work similar to the circle because you dont have to " set " the hook. When u get one on, just reel.

Depending on the study, 84-95% of bull reds survive at least 48-72 hours after being deeply hooked with a J hook. That's good enough for me, given that we release a lot more into the ice box than into the water, and given that we only deep hook about 30% with our fishing methods and J hooks. See:

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/in...rum/hooks.html

Not being sarcastic when I say this ,but I would like to see a 100 yd cast . That's a long distance to throw a bait . I need a setup like that if its legit .

X2

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Compared with more experienced surf fishers, 100 yards is on the modest side. I can't get that distance in a head wind, but in a tail wind or still air, I can do it. There's no way to do it in a boat, too much swinging and shifting momentum, and it's a 12 ft rod that is unweildy in a boat.

Guys actually have contests with surf casting distances and the winners are almost always beyond 200 yards. We're putting together a pneumatic launcher for those distances. I think most grown men can manage 100 yards with a set-up like ours and a little practice from the beach.

We're planning to fish either Holly Beach or Rutherford Beach on tournament day. You're welcome to stop by. If there's room on the pier at Calc. Pt. I could even give a demo there. Find me and remind me. It does take some swinging and motion with a 4 oz sinker, so someone standing in the wrong spot could be injured.

From my experience of using the kahle hook, almost all fish are lip hooked.

not to be too much of a cheapskate 1911.....but, if you like those gamagatsu octopus hooks, check out the bass pro "offshore angler" octopus hooks..Almost exactly the same and they only $6 for a 25pk. All I use now

I sure will do that brother. Thanks for the heads up.