Trout in the Surf
 

Is this a good time of year to catch trout in the surf? If not, what is the optimum time? I'm heading down with the family, and some friends this weekend, and will certainly try and play with the bulls, but if I can grab some meat off the beach, I'm all in.

with the fronts starting to come in from the north, the water at the beaches and jetties should clear up. the salinity should be good too. the bull reds like cut mullet carolina rigged with a heavy hook and leader to bring them in. the trout should be there in the mornings too.

it is my understanding that summertime is the best time for surf fishing and that's the only time I see or hear people are doing it (mainly because of water temps are more comfortable to stand in while wade fishing) but I would imagine that is just the "best" time and I would think, just like anywhere else, you can catch fish anywhere anytime of the year if conditions allow.

There are trout in the surf all year long... the main reason people only fish the summer is because it's the most consistent time to find low winds making it fishable casting into the surf. The fall is just as good. fish haven't started moving yet and a good incoming tide with a light north you can find great topwater action in the first gut.

Weather looks perfect this weekend, so I'll give it a shot. I can always fall back on the Bulls for the kids if the trout aren't around. Thanks for the tip!

The trout didn't play, but we were able to hook up with three nice reds between 29 and 36 inches in the few hours we fished before the tide went slack. Caught 5 dozen crabs near Deep Bayou after that. We actually kept two of the reds, cut the bloodline out, and sliced the meat thin and fried it. It was really good. I'm not a fan of grilling the big ones, but frying them with that method wasn't bad at all! Fun day for sure!

Doesn't get much better than that.