Fluking in the surf, with a few jigs and a bag of gulp, could be my favorite summertime activity.
I do a lot of physically exhausting fishing. I ripped around on the boat all day in rough seas, casting 4 oz plugs with a surf rod all night while lugging a colossal plug bag around. The benefits are sometimes enormous, but it is exhausting and stressful. But fluking the beach, walking around light with shorts and no shoes, is peaceful and productive.
The beauty is in simplicity. No crazy rigs and no need for tons of gear. Just a light spinning rod and a bag or two of your favorite gulp. I like to keep my packing to a minimum and cover ground. For the rod, something 7’-7’6, Medium to Medium heavy. Depending on the exact rod, a reel in the 3000 to 4000 size will do just fine. 10-lb or 15-lb braided lines are preferred. I like a Tsunami Carbon Shield 7’6 Medium for many reasons. The price point is outstanding, the blank is sensitive, and it is lightweight. The Shimano Ultegra is my choice for a reel in this instance again because of its price point and simplicity. And 10lb Berkeley X9 is what I usually go with. 20lb fluorocarbon leader is just fine for this fishing.
As far as lure choices go, I am typically fishing single jigs. 3/8-1/2 oz jigheads are the norm, with 1/4 oz on really calm days and 3/4 oz when there is more shore break. Any jighead that fits your gulp will work. I stick with black nickel chemically sharpened hooks with a lighter gauge for better penetration. I am a significant fan of gulp shrimp, mainly the 3” but the 4” at times. Scooby doo, new penny, white, sangria, and natural are just a few of the colors I reach for with the shrimp baits. The jerk shads, swimming mullets, and grubs are significant assets here. In May and June, I prefer the shrimp. The minnow/mullet style Gulp baits tend to work better the rest of the summer into September. I stick with 4” & 5”, and white, white-glow, pink, pink-shine, and chartreuse-pepper-neon are my favorites in terms of color. When snappers are around in September, I will also fish the “6 mullets, jerk shads, and grubs on the beach.
I like a single jig on a light line because I can fish it with increased sensitivity and action. Most of the time, the fluke is tight to the beach lip, and the light line and jig cuts thru the shore break better than a big bulky rig. I will at times, bomb casts out, to rips or cuts in between the outer sandbars. Food longer range beach flunking, a rig consisting of a 1-1.5 oz bank sinker on a loop, with a single baitholder hook and a single gulp on a dropper loop 12-18” above that. If you find these structures on a beach, they usually hold fluke, and you need this rig to reach them. The fishing with light jigs and baits in the lip is more like snap jigging for any species, with sharp twitches and long pauses, with fish taking the bait while driting or sinking quite often. The same goes for the bank sinker bombers, occasionally twitching the bait, letting it drift. The standard rapid jigging doesn’t work as well for me on the beach, although it will have its time and place.
You may have noticed the absence of bucktails in this writing. I will occasionally use them; a small white bucktail with a sandflea (mole crab) or two can be a deadly tactic when the bugs are prevalent. Also, a single jighead like a 3/8-1/2 bottom sweeper or any tog type of jig will work well. As with anything, experiment, put your time in, and go as light as possible. Keep at it; you will bring some fluke home for dinner in no time. I just remembered you will be weeding thru quite a few shorts doing this fishing. But that’s all right, and good-sized fish do roam the suds.
Tight Lines
I do a lot of physically exhausting fishing. I ripped around on the boat all day in rough seas, casting 4 oz plugs with a surf rod all night while lugging a colossal plug bag around. The benefits are sometimes enormous, but it is exhausting and stressful. But fluking the beach, walking around light with shorts and no shoes, is peaceful and productive.
The beauty is in simplicity. No crazy rigs and no need for tons of gear. Just a light spinning rod and a bag or two of your favorite gulp. I like to keep my packing to a minimum and cover ground. For the rod, something 7’-7’6, Medium to Medium heavy. Depending on the exact rod, a reel in the 3000 to 4000 size will do just fine. 10-lb or 15-lb braided lines are preferred. I like a Tsunami Carbon Shield 7’6 Medium for many reasons. The price point is outstanding, the blank is sensitive, and it is lightweight. The Shimano Ultegra is my choice for a reel in this instance again because of its price point and simplicity. And 10lb Berkeley X9 is what I usually go with. 20lb fluorocarbon leader is just fine for this fishing.
As far as lure choices go, I am typically fishing single jigs. 3/8-1/2 oz jigheads are the norm, with 1/4 oz on really calm days and 3/4 oz when there is more shore break. Any jighead that fits your gulp will work. I stick with black nickel chemically sharpened hooks with a lighter gauge for better penetration. I am a significant fan of gulp shrimp, mainly the 3” but the 4” at times. Scooby doo, new penny, white, sangria, and natural are just a few of the colors I reach for with the shrimp baits. The jerk shads, swimming mullets, and grubs are significant assets here. In May and June, I prefer the shrimp. The minnow/mullet style Gulp baits tend to work better the rest of the summer into September. I stick with 4” & 5”, and white, white-glow, pink, pink-shine, and chartreuse-pepper-neon are my favorites in terms of color. When snappers are around in September, I will also fish the “6 mullets, jerk shads, and grubs on the beach.
I like a single jig on a light line because I can fish it with increased sensitivity and action. Most of the time, the fluke is tight to the beach lip, and the light line and jig cuts thru the shore break better than a big bulky rig. I will at times, bomb casts out, to rips or cuts in between the outer sandbars. Food longer range beach flunking, a rig consisting of a 1-1.5 oz bank sinker on a loop, with a single baitholder hook and a single gulp on a dropper loop 12-18” above that. If you find these structures on a beach, they usually hold fluke, and you need this rig to reach them. The fishing with light jigs and baits in the lip is more like snap jigging for any species, with sharp twitches and long pauses, with fish taking the bait while driting or sinking quite often. The same goes for the bank sinker bombers, occasionally twitching the bait, letting it drift. The standard rapid jigging doesn’t work as well for me on the beach, although it will have its time and place.
You may have noticed the absence of bucktails in this writing. I will occasionally use them; a small white bucktail with a sandflea (mole crab) or two can be a deadly tactic when the bugs are prevalent. Also, a single jighead like a 3/8-1/2 bottom sweeper or any tog type of jig will work well. As with anything, experiment, put your time in, and go as light as possible. Keep at it; you will bring some fluke home for dinner in no time. I just remembered you will be weeding thru quite a few shorts doing this fishing. But that’s all right, and good-sized fish do roam the suds.
Tight Lines
