|
Surf Fishing
I would always consider two types of surf fisherman. The first type is the vacation summer angler, who will go out on the beach or an inlet with a rod he just bought from a chain department store the day before. He will dead stick his or her new rod on a summer afternoon with no regard to tidal movements, time of day, or the fish in season. These people, if lucky, will catch a dogfish but most will land large quantities of green seaweed or eelgrass at the inlets. The second type will go out when few people are present, sometimes at night, other times in cold raining windy weather using multiple baits and hook/weight sinker arrangements for different fish. They will catch fish. People who catch fish off the surf know that fish are going to be there and ready to bite when the fish wants too, not when the angler wants them too. In other words you will have to fish on the fishes scheduled not your. The best surf fishing days I have experienced were cold, windy, overcast days.
Not all beaches are the same. Beaches that are used for bathing and swimming are completely different from natural beaches found in parks. Protected beaches have low perpendicular bulkhead project into the surf zone to hold sand on the beaches. The bulkhead forces the lateral channels further out pass the limits of surf rods, but also create channels along the walls that hold fish. We run tractors that rake the sand for trash in bathing areas. This running of equipment and heavy usage of the beach will compact the sand making it very difficult for sand crabs to live in the tidal limits of the beach. Once a year these bathing areas beaches will undergo further modifications by removing channels and sand bars that can be hazardous to swimmers. The natural beaches will have softer sand for small crabs to bury in. These unprotected beaches will have many sand bars that resemble hooks that baitfish can hide within. The slopes of the natural beaches are steeper than protected bathing beaches giving steep drop offs into nearby channels and within reach of surf rods. These lateral current channels will form right up to the edge of the watermark which are within reach of surface rods. Clearly, natural beaches are better suited for holding and catching fish. In Central New Jersey, Island Beach State Park south of Toms River, has 10 miles of unprotected natural beach land. In southern New Jersey, Tucker Island has unprotected beaches just north of the Little Egg Inlet. I can highly recommend the Delaware beaches at Cape Henlopen and West Cape May for good fall and spring striped bass and blue fish as well.
Many people I have seen that fish the surf on their summer vacation days come down from the street where they are staying and fish in front of it. It’s relaxing, but to be successful you need to explore the beach and make observation as you go. The first and easiest thing to do is look for structures. Structures like stone break water walls are the most obvious things on the beach. Fish like structures to patrol and hunt for food. Another thing to look for is heavy diving bird activity, or “blitz”. Many time schools of small fish like bunker will move up and down the beach drawing birds and aggressive fish like blues. When this is not happening, look for spots where the water is exiting the beach called rip current channels. You can see these channels by observing the wave actions. They create great spots for fishing but dangerous place to swim. If caught in one don’t fight it but let it carry you to a place where the current will permit you to swim back. Look for a point where the breaking of the waves seems different from the rest of the breaking waves that strike the beach. At these points, you have deep holes where fish might be traveling to and from the lateral channel. You can also see these rip channels by the color of the water caused by the sediment being carried out to sea. If these currents are real strong and carrying large amount of sand this might not be a good time to fish, but later in the tide cycle the current might be slower and this could be an excellent place. Also, observe quantities of small sand crabs or minnows that might be in the shallow waters, which will draw flounders or croakers to this spot at high tide or be waiting further out to get to them. If you see pockets of gravel instead of sand along the beach, you might have a deep channel close by, to throw your line in.
As you can see, fishing on the surf requires some travel. In places like the outer banks of North Carolina, you can see how driving vehicles on the beach in search of blues and stripers can be a poplar sport. In both States of Delaware and New Jersey permits to drive on selected beaches in State Parks can be acquired but have many restrictions. A Delaware beach permit can be bought on line, or at major sporting goods stores or at the park. In New Jersey a separate permit must be purchased from each Township. You must have a four wheel drive vehicle with a seven inch clearance, and stocked with the following equipment: tow rope, jack with a board, low pressure tie gauge and fishing poles with bait. The reason for the fishing pole and bait is that this is for fishing only, not pleasure driving. Always remember to deflate your tires before going out to half the normal pressure, to help with traction. Some of the serious surf fisherman will carry air pumps to re-inflate the tires once back on the road. Never stop on loose soft rutted sand path between the dunes and beach: always keep moving. When you stop, always start slowly, keeping the front wheel pointed forward, so as not to dig your tires deeper into the sand. Many of the truck owners prefer the passenger tires over the off road tires because of the digging affects of knobby off-road tires. Carry a cell phone with good regional reception and extra water, it’s easy to get stranded at high tide or stuck in the sand. If you store your poles on bumper rod holders always remove heavy sinkers, or a good fishing day becomes a bad vehicle day when the weights shake loose and bounce off your or someone else windshield. For me, it’s better to carry the rods in the bed of a pickup truck or stored on an overhead ski-racks, so I don’t have to worry about snapping poles under low branches and gasoline station awnings.
To me, fishing the inlets between barriers islands is the best during times of slack water (at the heights of high or low tides). Not only are they an avenue of fish passage between the ocean and back bays but they can also be a congregation points. The mouth of an inlet, has numerous channels and sand bars that act as chock points for the fish. At the narrowest point, you will always have a bridge. These bridges add more than just a structure for the fish to congregate near but at night, many of these bridges have street lights, which will draw fish and can add light for your activity. On the bay side of the inlet, channels generally merged. This merging of channels creates a whirlpool affect of returning food. Because of these many channels and changing tides, inlets are always in a state of flex. Because of the changing conditions of inlets and importance of them for navigation you can expect to find rock bulkheads that were built to control the inlets position which to our advantage adds structure for fish. |
|
FISHING THE WIHITTUCK (DELAWARE) Jim S. McKay |
