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.
For the novice, braided fishing lines which were a relatively new advancement have made distance casting much easier. With the 4000 size real, 200 pounds of 30 pound test braid line on top of monofilament backing is becoming more common. Remember, braided fishing lines are significantly smaller in diameter than traditional monofilament. One of the benefits is the increased casting distance that is allowed because of less friction against the fishing rod guides. Surf casters should always note that braided line tends to not be as abrasion resistant as monofilament. In fact, in areas that are full of rocks and boulders fields, surf casters often discover they have many problems when casting a braided line. This problem can be fairly easily alleviated by attaching a fluorocarbon leader to the braided line. This helps provide some protection of line breakage in the event a fish aims 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 no doubt that large surf rigs will always have their place. This is especially true for the angler whose preference is the 5 or 6 ounce sinker who is on the hunt for the largest fish they can find. However, for those that are tired of carrying around heavy rigs along the beach when your main interest lies in catching fish in the 5 to 20 pound range, it is definitely the time to start thinking about scaling back, scaling down, and sporting.
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 Daiwa Saltwater Reels.
