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Episode-2238- Surf Fishing and Sanibel Island AAR

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Cero Mackerel Was New Fish for Me on this Trip.

For Dorothy the beach is a place to walk, pick up shells and sit around and do nothing. While I enjoy much of that, especially with a Jimmy Buffet approved drink in hand, I also love to fish the shore. There is an excitement about surf fishing that to me just doesn’t exist in a lake or a river. Do a bit of research on any lake or river (fresh water river) and likely there are 6-12 fish if that which are commonly caught on rod and reel.

One of several Snook caught on my recent trip.

When you look at fish you are likely to catch the number is likely to be closer to 3-4 than 12.  And frequently to catch any real variety you will have to employ a variety of techniques, baits, depths, approaches to catch any significant number of fish species.

Now fishing with mostly life shrimp and one method, these are the species I caught over 9 days on the Sanibel island coast…

  • Cero Mackerel
  • Spanish Mackerel
  • Snook
  • Ladyfish
  • Whiting
  • Hard Head Catfish
  • Jack Crevalle
  • Blue Runner
  • Speckled Sea Trout

That is 9 species and I am leaving out some of the little odd bait fish stuff that also managed to get hooked like Pig and Pin fish. With that I’d be over a dozen.

I also took a guided fishing trip and focused on big fish.  While we didn’t get any real monsters and gave up catching a lot of little stuff to target something bigger, I did get to cross an item off my bucket list.   That was a Goliath Grouper in the 50 pound range.

A 50ish Pound Goliath Grouper Caught about a Mile off the Beach

I also caught a black tip shark in the 20 pound range on the same trip.  On top of this I got to see a small shark cut a nice Jack in half with a single bite, allowing me to reel in the head, which we then used to catch the grouper.

A Nice Blacktip Taken in Pine Island Sound on the Bay Side of Sanibel Island

Now I have had some good days/weeks on lakes and rivers but nothing like this!

I have fished the Texas coast many times and while not quite the diversity of Florida’s coast it is also a great deal of fun. I have often caught red fish, sea trout, whiting, sand trout, croaker, sail cats, hard heads and a lot of other stuff in a single trip.

I have also managed to catch a few small black tip sharks down there. I even remember one day when the surf was really clear and I was standing about waste deep on the second sand bar and several of us watched a bull shark that was at least 8 feet cruise by just 10 yards in front of us, while we all backed slowly onto the bars shallower area, no one panicked and the fishing continued.  This is why I love surf fishing, you never know what you might catch or what might happen.

Join Me Today To Discuss…

  • My basic gear, not much different from lake fishing
    • Medium action spinning rod
    • Snap swivels
    • 10-14 pound premium mono
    • Bait casting sinkers
    • Bait holder hooks #2 – #4/0 generally snelled
    • Circle hooks #2-2/0 also snelled with floro carbon
    • Cut bait (shrimp, cut whiting, squid, etc)
    • Live shrimp
  • Stepping gear up for bigger fish
    • Medium Heavy to Heavy Action rod and reel
    • Braided line is almost a must have
    • Steel leaders – not without problems!
    • Large circle or khale hooks
    • Simply put, bigger bait
    • Don’t buy rod holders they are too cheap and easy to make
    • Paddle boards, surf boards, etc. – not necessary but functional
    • Thoughts on the Sand Blaster type technology
    • Taking a multi day trip and including a guided boat trip
  • The basics of surf fishing – easy as it gets
    • Guts and bars are your friend, if they are there
    • Tides, incoming is best but it is not that simple
    • Understanding tides and tide charts
    • Surf reports, calm water equals better fishing
    • In summer cool calm mornings trump tides, in fact they seem to trump everything
    • Seasonality – what is there and when
    • Piers – sometimes the only valid option but crowded
    • When wading shuffle – sting rays!
  • Beyond Cut Baits and Life Shrimp
    • Whitebait, Theadthins, Pinfish, etc.
    • Cast nets – they work, they have limits in the surf
    • Sand Fleas and Small Crabs
    • The DOA shrimp – probably one of the best artificials that exists
  • Safety and Comfort Gear
    • Needle nose and hemostats – consider a glove
    • Basic first aid kit – have aloe gel on hand
    • Jelly Fish Sting Treatment – Link
    • Good knifes and a cleaning board – if keeping fish
    • Really good cooler, lots of ice
    • Water, water, water, water and water
    • Sun Block – water really fries you
    • Fishing Shirts – (these are my favorite ones) – (same company generic version)
    • Bait buckets for live bait, bait containers (avoid the chomp)
    • Umbrellas, canopies, tables, etc.  – Camps are comfortable
    • Check AirBnB – Lots of stuff is available on or near the water
    • Bonus – canal homes equal crabs at low tide!

Resources for today’s show…

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Comments

Episode-2238- Surf Fishing and Sanibel Island AAR — 8 Comments

  1. Great show! It’s been way too long since I last surf fished and I’m only an hour away! I cut my childhood teeth (and kneecaps) fishing the jetties of Galveston and Freeport and the 61st street pier. Saltwater fishing always has the best Adrenalin rush since you never know what you’ll pull up out of the surf!

    Would love to find some other TSPrs in SE TX who would want to go in on a guided bay trip or
    Air B&B close to good surf fishing!

  3. sir welcome back from a much deserved vacation.

    While i haven’t had time to listen  just reading the synopsis making me think of back in school when you got to tell what i did over my summer vacation.  But  this is the adult version much better

  4. Jack, it’s a ways back but in #250 You said you couldn’t buy biltong. I’m sure someone brought this to your attention but there is this place called the biltongbar if you can deal with the hipster crowd. For any listeners in the Atlanta area that might want to check it out.

  6. I haven’t surf fished in years but I would always spend a while walking down the beach looking for those cuts in the bars and the darker deeper holes behind the bars.  Fish the down current edges of the cuts and thoroughly fish the holes.  I’ve caught a bunch of redfish and trout in the surf doing this.  I don’t really care about which tide but I want moving water.  I never have any luck on the slack tides.

    I usually used a 1/4 oz jig head with a Gulp shrimp with a slow jigging action letting it pause for a few seconds on the bottom.  For pompano, a 1/2 oz Nylure jig (chrome chartreuse/red) tipped with a sand flea, either some that I dug or the Gulp artificials, with a veRRRRRy slow steady retrieve.

    For tackle, a 7′ medium weight fast action spinning rod and braid with about a 3′ section of high quality fluorocarbon tied to the braid with a double uni-knot.  20# floro unless their are toothy critters when I use 30.  No wire, no swivels.  Cut bait or shrimp go straight on the jig head.  Yes I loose some Spanish every now and then but catch rate is higher.

    Don’t ever try out a St Croix rod,  your wife and the wives of your buddies will be mad at you for the hundreds of dollars you guys spend replacing your rods.  Yes they are that good, the increase in sensitivity over most other rods is astounding.

    If you run your hand up the back of those hard heads with the dorsal spine between your index and pointer fingers and hold the pectoral spines with your thumb and other two fingers, you can safely control the fish to get it off.

    Vinegar works pretty well for jellyfish stings.

    Jack, if you are ever looking for a change of pace for your vacation, check out the N Fl gulf coast around St George Island, Cape San Blas and Mexico Beach.  That area is very laid back and quiet with prettier beaches than Sanibel in my opinion and better fishing.  Nathan at Robinson Brothers Guide Service is the Man.

     

  7. Love this episode and Sanibel. Jackaranda was/ is?  a nice bar. Noseeums got us a few times in July 1995 so bad we could not venture out at dusk.  Loved shelling at the end there where the bridge is. I spent 75% of my time underwater.  The female I was with at that time did not like fishing one bit so I missed out there that time.   Found bigger shells at Bowmans Beach (no one there!!)_Did catch a lot of strange stuff off of the catwalks near Fiesta key back 1974-77 down on the keys during the winter. We used live shrimp and about every 10 min. one of us would have something on. Good times!! WOnder why I never moved down?? Life got in the way I guess. Now I am in DC dealing with this chaos and listening to podcasts of others ^ becoming  “Walter Mitty” in a way. Thanks for another great episode and sharing your insights!!~~

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