“I surf fished all morning in Ocean City, Maryland and didn’t catch anything! What did I do wrong?”

Well, the first question we asked was: “What were you using for bait?”
The answer came. “Fishbite Bloodworms. I heard people were catching fish
like crazy with them. But I couldn’t catch anything. I had some nibbles, but
no fish!”

So the next question we asked was: “What kind of rig and what size hook were
you using?”

Well, to make a long story short, the angler had a bluefish rig from last
fall that had size #1/0 hooks on it and he was cutting the Fishbite
Bloodworm into 6-inch long strips. It wasn’t that the bait was wrong, or
that the rig was wrong, but it was a simple fact that the bait was wrong for
the rig!

What he should have done if he wanted to fish with Fishbite Bloodworm, or
real bloodworm, especially in the summertime, would be to cut the worm into
half inch pieces and use them on a kingfish rig that is made out of size #6
or #8 hooks. Then he might have been able to catch some kingfish and spot
that have been so prevalent all summer long. If he wanted to use the
bluefish rig that he had, he would have done better to buy box squid, finger
mullet, or fresh bunker and bait up with a chunk of mullet or bunker, or
strips of squid. The he would have been set up for snapper blues, croaker,
sharks, skates or rays.

“What else might I have done wrong? I was fishing 48th Street. Is that a
good place?”

Surf fishing holes move all the time. Every time you go to the beach you
should look at the waves and look for a slough, hole, rip, back wash or drop
off. So many times, we walk the beach and see guys heaving their surf rods
as far as they can, just to cast their rig on top of a sand bar! Rule of
thumb is this: White water is shallow water, and dark rolling water is deep
water. Often times, there is a drop off close to shore and an outer bar
further out. At high tide, you can cast close in and be in deeper water than
if you casted as far as you could.

Always look at the surf at low tide when it is calm to see the holes,
sloughs, and drop offs. They are much harder to see at high tide. And almost
impossible to see what the surf is rough!

If the angler continues to fish a location, and does not catch fish, it only
makes sense to move. You don’t have to move a lot. Sometimes you only need
to move a few hundred yards to change your luck. I never stay in one spot if
nothing is happening!

“I bought some finger mullet and threw it out on a hook. I had some bites
but whatever it was took half my mullet. What did I do wrong?”

Again, right bait, wrong rig! If you want to fish with whole finger mullet
you need to fish them on a whole finger mullet rig. A whole finger mullet
rig allows you to fish the mullet whole with a hook hanging out its anal
hole. If you use a regular two-hook surf rig, instead of using the mullet
whole, cut it up into one-inch chunks. You’ll have much better luck with
that!

“I put one bait on one hook and another kind of bait on the other hook.”

Well, that’s OK, but don’t be afraid to mix it up! Even if you use little
hooks for kingfish, you can sandwich your bait. Thread on a little strip of
bloodworm and combine it with a little hunk of fresh bunker, fresh spot,
finger mullet, or box squid. Box squid seems to be more effective for
catching little fish than the cleaned thick squid or the cleaned and cut up
thick squid. I think they like the inky, yucky stuff in the middle.

“I had a hunk of bunker on my hook, and something took off with it, and just
kept on going! I couldn’t turn it. It was massive! What did I do wrong?”

You did nothing wrong. It would be nice to think it was a big drum, nice
striper, or even a 6-foot shark. But usually when you get that steady, pull
that just keeps on going and you can’t turn it, you can bet it’s a big ray
of some sorts. These rays can weigh up to 80 pounds. A striper or drum or
even a shark will jerk and maybe jump letting you know it’s something else
other than a ray. If you start to turn a ray, they will often times hug the
bottom and won’t budge. You can ruin a reel, and even pop out the guides on
your rod trying to do battle with this prey! If you don’t want to try to
catch it, point your rod straight out towards the fish, put your hand firmly
over the spool, and let it break your line, pull out the rig or bend the
hook.

“I’m hooking fish, but I’m losing them right in the wash! What am I doing
wrong?”

Sometimes there’s a steep drop-off on the beach or a bit of an undertow,
pulling your line hard when the wave retreats. If you hook a nice kingfish
or bluefish and you’re reeling it in, when you hit this spot close to shore,
there can be a lot of “pull” on your fish. This is where half the fish that
are hooked are lost. You can often see it, get all excited, and then “poof!”
it is gone. The tension of the retreating wave pulls the hook right out of
the fish’s mouth.

What you want to do, is make sure your drag is set so it’s not on
“terminate.” Some people’s reels are all salted up and are on a permanent
“terminate.” Another words, their drags don’t work! You should be able to
grab your line off your spool with the bail closed the pull off some line.
If not, adjust the drag knob on the front of your reel. If it’s bound up,
take out all the little drags underneath it, clean them off, and put them
back in the way they came out!

OK. Now, you’ve hooked your dinner. Keep tension on your catch at all times,
but when the wave retreats, don’t reel hard against this wave. Kind of hold
it with tension on it, and wait for the next wave to lift the fish up from
the sand and then reel in quickly as the wave lifts it in. Never, ever let
slack get in the line, but use the motion of the waves to help bring in your
catch.

“My bait is gone, my cork balls are chewed on, but I can’t feel any bites.
What am I doing wrong?”

It’s probably nothing but little spotted crabs that live in the ocean
chewing off your bait. They are much more troublesome on an outgoing tide
than on an incoming. There’s not much you can do about them except to check
your bait more often or cast out, and reel in slowly so the crabs don’t have
as much chance to settle on your bait. You can also use a one-hook rig with
a longer leader so it rises off the bottom floor far enough so the crabs
leave it alone.

Crabs much prefer cut bait such as squid and mullet over bloodworms and
Fishbites, so when the crabs are bad, take off the cut bait and just use
worms.

“People tell me I can’t catch flounder in the surf? Is that true? I’m using
my bluefish rig with floats but haven’t caught any…”

There are flounder in the surf, but you have to fish for them. Look for
clean water and a nice drop off. Lose the surf floats and fish with a single
or a top and bottom type flounder rig. Unless it’s really calm, you’ll
still have to fish with the pyramid type sinker, but if it’s calm, switch to
a bank type sinker. Cast out with strips of fresh or frozen spot, mullet,
or bunker and slowly reel back in towards shore. (Flounder like bait cut
into attractive strips rather than chunks..) You can also use a finger
mullet rig with a whole finger mullet but chisel off the float. It’s
possible to use shiners if you don’t cast too hard but they do fall off the
hook easily on a cast. And crabs love them! And yes, you can use live
minnows even though it’s not a typical surf bait. This is the time of year,
you’ll catch some flounder, and so it’s worth a try!

Use the right bait on the right rig. If you’re unsure ask the clerk at the
tackle store while in Ocean City, Maryland!

Good fishing….

Need bait and tackle? Come see us at Oyster Bay Tackle, Ocean City, Maryland (410-524-3433) or Fenwick Tackle, Fenwick Island, Delaware (302-539-7766), OR Shop Online!