There is little doubt that most people perceive surf fishing is casting large sinkers and various types of bait with the aid of a stout spinning rod that is almost always 10 feet in length. Historically, large spinning reels bold with hundreds of yards of 20 or 30 pound test monofilament has been considered normal. Along with this comes exhaustion is typically brought on by hours of casting this heavy rig into rolling waves. Unfortunately, all too often an outfit with these specifications is necessary in order to ensure bait is properly placed when the surf is high, rolling and crashing against the beach. However, there are many surf situations where this is just too much. In fact, anglers often wind up exerting far more energy than is really necessary to accomplish their goal. Recent technological advances allow the surf angler to assemble a fishing rod and reel combination that is far lighter, shorter, and much easier to cast than the traditional surf sticks that many find unwieldy.
There are many areas in the Northeast that provide great opportunities for surf fishing. In these areas, tidal currents tend to not be as aggressive and the waves are typically paying. In these cases, you are not likely to find especially large fish that instead a large number of smaller size striped bass and bluefish with an occasional bruiser. This environment, you can scale down to a graphite surf fishing rod in the 7 foot to 8 foot length and combine it with a spinning reel in the 4000 size range. The best thing is that these rods will provide you more than enough length for distance casting with a 1 ounce to 3 ounce lure.
Braided fishing lines have also made distance casting far easier for the beginner fishermen. This line has made it possible to spool up to 4000 size real with monofilament backing and add an additional 200 yards of 30 pound test braid line. This is mainly because these lines are much smaller in diameter than traditional monofilament. Another advantage is the lower friction against rod guides, which helps increase the distance that you can cast. There was a word of caution for surf casters and that is the braided lines and not as abrasion resistant is monofilament. Surf casters are often found fishing in areas that have rocks and boulder fields and these can cause serious problems when using braided lines. You can mitigate these issues by attaching a long fluorocarbon leader to the braided line. This does help provide some insurance against breakage should a fish head for the rocks.
Children who are fairly new to angling will enjoy this much more and be far less frustrated than if they were trying to learn to handle a 10 or 12 foot surf rod. Not only that, but tackle of this size makes fighting smaller sized fish much more fun and sporting. If a large fish is hooked, the angler will be put into a position of fighting very hard to land him. Few things are far more exciting for the sporting angler.
There is little doubt that large surf rigs will always be with us, and they definitely do have a place. This is especially true for the angler who is interested in using 5 to 6 ounce sinkers and is hunting for the largest fish. However, lugging those heavy rigs around can be tiring, especially when you are interested in tackling fish in the 5 to 20 pound range. In this case, it is time to start thinking about scaling down, scaling back, and sporting up.
When you are out saltwater fishing it is important to make sure you have the right supplies. Some of the most popular brands include Shimano Saltwater Reels, Penn Saltwater Reels, and Team Daiwa Reels.
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