"Summer's over and now I want to relax, sit on the beach with my surf pole,
and catch a few fish. Are there actually fish out there to catch?"

Yes, there certainly are. After the summer, the surf temperatures begin to
cool down, and more fish start to hit the beaches. One can see the activity
out there when August turns to September. There's an abundance of baitfish
in the water including shiners, alewives, and finger mullet. These baitfish
bring the bigger fish in close to shore.

"Should I break out the big hooks?"

No, not quite yet. If you were fishing Ocean City or Delaware Beaches, I
would continue to use rigs for kingfish (whiting), small trout, and snapper
blues. These fish will still be the typical fare until we get into October.
Remember, you can catch a big fish on a small hook, but it is difficult to
catch a small fish on a big hook! If you are out there in the surf and
getting lots of bites and no fish, your hooks are too large!

"What's a kingfish rig?"

There are several different kinds of kingfish (or whiting rigs.)
Basically, they are a top and bottom surf rig made with size #6 or #8 hooks
with small surf floats attached. You add a surf sinker to the rig, and bait
it up with a combination bait of bloodworm and squid strips. If you don't
like to use worms you can use little strips of squid, mullet, or spot
fillets. I much prefer to sandwich my bait, and use worm and then any kind
of strip bait such as the spot or mullet. If you have fresh bait, so much
the better. Experiment around and try different baits.

"Can you only catch kingfish on the kingfish rig?"

You can catch almost anything on a kingfish rig including snapper blues,
trout, croaker, blowfish, puppy drum, flounder, and small stripers. I like
to start the day out with this rig, and then, if the fish start getting
bigger, I move up to a rig with larger hooks.

"Do you just let it sit out there?"

Not me. I like to cast the rig out, hold the rod, and wait maybe a minute.
Then I very slowly start to bump the rig back towards shore. I like to try
different spots until I get bites, rather than sit in one location and hope
the fish come along. Once I start getting bites, I cast in that general
area. Fish seem to grab for a moving bait. You are less likely to get your
hooks bit off and you are more likely to actually hook the fish if you keep
the rod in your hands and keep the rig moving slightly.

"I like to use squid!"
O.K. Personally, I like to fillet a fresh finger mullet into four little
strip baits, with a sharp knife, but this is not for everyone. If you like
to use squid, get a box or package of local squid (thicker than California
squid), peel the skin off the squid like an onion, and cut an attractive
tapered strip of squid and let it dangle off the hook. Squid not only has
smell, but its presentation is very important when surf and bay fishing.
When it is cut into a tapered strip it wiggles in the water like a shiner or
sand eel, making a very attractive looking bait for a trout or flounder. If
it is just balled on the hook in a big hunk, it is attractive only to sharks
and maybe a bluefish!

"How about those pre-cut squid strips you can buy in tub?"

They are decent baits, and very easy to use, but I still prefer the local
squid that you must clean and cut yourself.

"What about whole finger mullet?"

Whole finger mullet baited on one of those whole "finger mullet rigs" is
the ideal bait for bluefish. Little snapper blues as well as larger
bluefish can all be caught on the "mullet rig." If your target is bluefish,
with the occasional incidental catch of striper, flounder, or drum, this rig
and bait is for you. Just remember, if you want to use a whole finger
mullet, you must use the finger mullet rig that threads the mullet on a
steel rod and puts a sharp double hook towards the mullet's tail. It is
almost a waste of time trying to fish a whole finger mullet without using a
mullet rig. The blues will come by, bite off the tail, and leave the head
for you!

"Can't we cut the mullet in chunks?"

Yes, if you don't want to use a whole "finger mullet" rig, cut the finger
mullet into one inch chunks and put them on a surf rig. The Sea Striker
brand "Bluefish Rig" is a good rig to use in September. It is a two-hook
surf rig made with yellow and red round surf floats and a size #4 hook. I
like the monofilament version, as the leader material does not "kink" up as
much as the wire version. Snapper blues will rarely bite through the
monofilament if you keep a taunt line and set the hook when the fish bite.
The monofilament version is much better for the leader shy trout, drum, and
stripers.

"My mullet flies off the hook when I cast!"

This happens to everyone once in a while. If this happens to you often,
you may be casting too hard! You don't need to cast that hard to get your
bait out there. Just take your time and try casting easy. Walk into your
cast; follow through with your casting motion just like you would in any
other sport such as baseball, pool, or golf. Be sure to place the line at
the end of your index finger when you are making your cast so it naturally
falls off your finger when casting. Some people have a tendency to cast and
don't realize they are still holding on to the line. That's when you burn
your finger, break your line, or lose your bait.

Also, when using fresh bait of any kind, you don't want to handle it more
than necessary. When using fresh finger mullet, be sure to cut it with a
sharp knife and pierce it through the dark part (the back bone.) If your
finger mullet is small or getting mushy, cut yourself a "plug." To do this,
cut off the head, cut off the tail, and pierce the "plug" through the hard
bony part that was closest to the tail. We use this bait in Florida and
yes; it really works here as well. When you hook this "plug" through the
bony section of the mullet close to the tail, it will rarely come off the
hook.

If you are targeting trout or flounder, try scaling and filleting the
finger mullet, and put on nice long strips of baits. For flounder, skip the
surf floats and keep the bait moving at all times. For trout, you can use
the surf floats, but keep the rig moving very slowly along the bottom.
(Trout bite best between 4 P.M. and dark.)

"How about these drum and stripers on Assateague?"

If you are after these larger fish, yes, you should use a larger hook. An
Octopus hook in the #3/0 to #6/0 range or a circle hook of the same size is
what you want to use. Make a double rig with a heavy-duty monofilament or
wire top and bottom rig, or make a single rig with a fish finder rig or a
big 3-way swivel and snap. Do not use surf floats. Do not use wire leaders
on your hooks. Use a big chunk of fresh cut bait such as mullet, bunker or
spot (spot heads work great), cast out, and be sure to set your drag!

When fishing for these bigger fish, try fishing one or two hours before
dawn and one or two hours past dark.

Good fishing..