reading the beach???

[ddratler]

i dont surf fish that often but when i do im either just tossing lures and live bait to schools of fish but sometimes ill bring out the sand spikes and set out some anchor rods
i could never really tell where to cast those rods, I usually find a spot where the waves break with very little white water which i think means its deeper water
lets say for fishing for pompano as an example, what should i look for to let me know where to cast my rod
thanks for any help

[CubanExpress]

i could never really tell where to cast those rods, I usually find a spot where the waves break with very little white water which i think means its deeper water

General breakdown of a beach...hopefully this will help you see what the water it doing on the surface in order to visualize what it looks like below surface.

[StyngRay]

I've gathered my knowledge of the surf by walking the beach during the falling low tides.
This will help you locate pockets of deep water as sand bars shift with the currents.
Then on the higher tides, you'll be more aware of the surrounding area. The image above CUBANEXPRESS provided shows a good idea of what you should be looking for.
Most fish prefer the trough or behind the sandbars. Also look for riptides, these indicate gaps in sandbars that help move the fish towards the trough if it's too difficult to cast passed the bars, which at times can be too far out for some casts on high tide.

good luck.

[fishnfool73]

Walk the beach at low tides and look for the openings between the sand bar and the beach itself . I have killed the pompano many times simply by finding the door they will use to reach the inside trough. Remember though that storms, wind and tides will move a lot of sand bars esp further north in the state. Another issue I see a lot of surf fishermen having is overcasting the fish. I keep one rod right in the surf ( conditions allowing) one rod past the sandbar and one rod in the middle of the two. Many times I have cleaned up on croaker, whiting , and pompano so close to the shore that I could simply cane pole my bait to the fish, while the deep rods went untouched. Also bring a variety of bait fresh dead shrimp, fleas, and mullet, mackeral, or ladyfish so if one species isn't around you can target other species.

[ddratler]

very cool, thanks for all the advise
ill post some pics of the beach when i go

[rshields]

Great info guys thanks

[Snook hunter]

Great Info!

I fished the same beach last year for about 5 consecutive months and became very familiar with it, however went out this year and all the bars are different. There was a great trough, about 5 yards out were I landed 90% of all my fish. Its gone! All I see now is hard bottom sand with no near beach trough. A surfer told me there is no structure in the water and there is a deep trough about 75 yards out. Is it seasonal and it will reappear once the weather patterns change or do I need to find another beach?

[StyngRay]

Most surfers are burnouts, trust a burnout fisherman.

[Charlie2]

To put it simply; fish the runoffs. Learn to recognize them(no breakers) and fish them and both sides. Fish sometimes aren't in the runoff.

If you use jigs or lures, fsh them all the way to the beach. Fish will sometimes trail the lure all the way to the beach and scare the pants off you by grabbing the lure just when you're looking to see where the next cast goes.

I have seen fish come into water that I thought was too shallow to grab a bait. C2

[bolo]

Most surfers are burnouts, trust a burnout fisherman.

Yeah right.