Surf Fishing

What is surf fishing?
Surf Fishing is the method of catching fish while standing on the shores of beaches or by wading in the surfing waves. In general, Surf fishing is done in all type of beaches like salty, sandy and rocky beaches. Most surf fishers do their fishing by casting their bait into the sea from the shores. Though they fetch a good profit, most of the surf fishers do it as a sport.

Baits and Equipment
The baits used in surf fishing are longer than usual. These are made of a rod and a reel, along with a combination of lures, swivels, hooks and threads. The bases of the baits are extended to have a greater grip. Different types of baits are used in accordance with the fishing conditions and the species of fish found there. Generally baits with heavier rods and larger hooks are used for larger fish.

Other than the baits, most surfers carry surf bags which usually contain a collection of lures to change the previous ones. This is taken to avoid unnecessary trips back to the beaches to change the baits when the need arises. They also carry containers filled with the fish feed and bags to bring back the harvests.

Casting of Baits
The casting of baits is done in a special way to get large distances to feed the fish. Unlike normal fishing, the casting in surf fishing involves the coordination of both the hands and the body. This results in the bait reaching a longer distance than usual. Some fishers use the pendulum movement of the bait before casting. In some cases, the casting may find a distance of about 180 meters. To assist the casting, fishers reach out to the top of rocks in certain rocky beaches.

Some Surf fishers use surfing boats to cast baits rather than casting from the shore. These boats are very small and are foldable making them easy to carry. The boats are manufactured in such way to assist the fisher by providing him the required balance.

Areas of Surf Fishing
Surf fishing is done mostly in the Atlantic coasts of US. It is mostly preferred in California, where it a very famous sport. The reason for this is the presence of a lot of sandy and rocky beaches in those parts. Also in certain parts of Australian coasts, Surf fishing is done as a hobby.

Species of Fish
Many species of fish are fished in surf fishing. Since this done as a sport, the main intent is to capture a large number of fish, big ones in particular. Though a lot of types of fish are caught, the most among them is the Bass striped, which is found in large masses along the Atlantic beaches. The most special reason is the availability of the Striped Bass from the beach shores. These fish weigh to a maximum of 32 kilos. Some of the other types of fish caught commonly in surf fishing are Tuna, Black Drum, Blue fish, Red fish, Flounder, Weakfish, Bonita, Snook, Black fish etc.

Dangers Faced
There are a lot of dangers faced by the surf fishers. The most is faced by those who move on to the rocks to cast their baits in rocky beaches. Since white water beaches are preferred for surf fishing due to the availability of fish along the shores, there is high possibility of hard and rough waves to come along. This results in serious and grievous injuries. There are certain cases where deaths of surfers have been witnessed due to such rough waves. Hence care should be taken to check the sea conditions before proceeding to fishing.

Another danger is the casting of the baits on someone else or on oneself. The sharp-pointed hooks may result in injuries and the threads may cause other dangers due to loss of balance.