Looking to go fishing

[rummage]

Hey all! I just joined the forum because I'm about to be in your neck of the woods for a week and would love to do some surf fishing. I've only ever fished fresh water so I don't know exactly what all it entails. What's good to go after this time of year? Anything in particular?

As far as gear, the biggest rod I have a an 8' Glowstik and it has a Garcia 6300 C3 reel ( I mainly fish for blues with it a little further up North ). Any recommendations on rod / reel / line / bait / locations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch!

[Kingfish Cowboy]

I haven't heard many fishing reports lately, especially in the surf. Personally, I only have experience fishing the surf from about May through Sept/Oct. Usually in the colder months I kayak, wade or boat fish the bay side, trying to catch large speckled trout. If you strictly want the surf side then you could pretty much pick your spot from one of the fishing piers along the seawall to a random spot along the beach all the way down to the San Luis pass. You almost always see fisherman around the San Luis pass, though this area can be dangerous to wade fish. There is always the question too of what you are trying to catch. If you are wanting to surf fish for larger fish you would be better off with a large 12 foot surf rod and larger reel which would allow you to wade out and cast long distances and then walk back to shore until you get a bite. For this sort of fishing, you would need to type of rig I mentioned, plus probably a PVC pipe as a rod holder on the beach and a steal leader with at least one spot for large "spider" weight and another spot or two for hooks. Live or fresh cut dead bait such as mullet would be the best choice for this sort of fishing.. though you then might need a cast net to catch bait (assuming there is any to catch). If you are wanting to wade fish the surf then a 7 or 8' rod with the Garcia you mentioned would probably be fine. In this fishing you would use artificial lures or live bait under a popping cork. Another thought would be to consider doing some wade fishing along the bayside. I added a photo. The yellow star area is a place you commonly see wade fisherman and there is access from the land/beach right past the bridge. It's pretty shallow with hard ground though there are a few deeper guts that run through there. You also find people fishing the sides of the pass marker with a circled X.. I would caution that this can be a dangerous place to wade fish if you are not familiar with the pass. There are usually at least a couple of drowning per year since currents can be strong with a steep drop off into the channel. Hope this helps some.

[WestEndAngler]

Also, the red circle X is off limits technically... I've seen the police pull people out of the water for swimming or fishing in these areas. This is a result of the number of drownings that have occurred over the last few years.

[Kingfish Cowboy]

Also, the red circle X is off limits technically... I've seen the police pull people out of the water for swimming or fishing in these areas. This is a result of the number of drownings that have occurred over the last few years.

Good to know. I knew they closed it down last year after the drownings but I assumed it was back open since I always see people fishing there when I drive over the bridge. Either way, you won't ever catch me fishing there unless I'm in a boat.