Striped Bass Fishing Forums Forum banner

Reading the Beach and structure

29K views 52 replies 22 participants last post by  anagosensei 
#1 ·
Edit:: Thread copy from surfcaster forum

Most resort beaches have tons of sand pumped into them. These beaches become very broad and gently slope out to sea. There is not much structure here and fish may be scattered. However a beach not visited for bathing has some key differences. Visit the beach at low tide and look for sand bars and sloughs. When the tide comes in the waves may crash further out sometimes building swells. This is where the wave strikes the bar. After that, they suddenly slump down and get shorter as they move over the slough, a deeper portion of the beach's structure. You want to be able to cast into the other side of the slough or cut out behind the sand bar. look for cut outs and fishing the downcurrent side of any cusp will put you on the fish. Big fish are lazy (smart) and will wait at the openings for the bait fish to be flushed through. Always visit at low tide. Learn to read the beach and you'll start catching more fish from the surf.

 
See less See more
1
#53 ·
Thanks for some more awesome advice. This is my first year of actual lure fishing and its hard to understand the oceanography of the beach. I just got back home from Plum island, MA in newburyport and caught 1 schoolie off clams using a fish finder rig sorta set up. Went to a 1 1/2 ounce white bucktail jig next to the jetty where i thought were some fish but still dont really understand the true meaning of a Fish hole. How should it look? im looking for those little whirlpools and sinking spots as the waves pull back but still no luck. any help please? oh i also casted by a sandbar as the tide came in and had tried a whitebelly silver back shad popper, a white pencil, and a bucktail. And still cannot produce fish.:icon_cry:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top