With the weather being so miserable no one had any new information for me this week so I will continue with a few frequently asked questions that I get through the shop, this week is about surfside fishing.
There are three main questions I get asked about fishing on the surf at Bribie, and this relates to all surf beaches.
- What can I expect to catch?
- What is the best rig to use?
- Do I need to have a 12 foot surf rod to fish the surf beach?
Firstly, let’s deal with the main fish you can expect to catch. There are all year round fish that frequent the surf like Dart and whiting. In summer the whiting tend to be the larger species of summer whiting. These fish have a size limit of 23cm and a bag of 30. In winter the whiting are normally trumpeter /diver whiting which have black spots on their sides. As these fish are a much smaller species they don’t have a size limit but do have a bag limit of 50. Dart are caught all year round and have a size of 30cm and a bag of 30.
There are also pelagic fish that run up and down the beach and these also change with the seasons. In winter they tend to be tailor, (size of 35cm bag of 20 fish) and in summer mackerel are the fish to chase.
What’s the rig to use on whiting? Well it really is up to you either a running sinker or a bottom sinker rig will work but make sure you use a small hook as whiting have tiny mouths(especially winter whiting ). With the bigger fish like tailor or mackerel a running sinker rig with a heavy trace and a gang hook is the go as they will bite and run with your baits and the least resistance they feel the better to keep them attached to the hooks. Some advice on the sinker with the running sinker rig is to use a flat sinker so that it doesn’t move as much in the rolling surf.
Do I need a 12 foot surf rod? If you are targeting the bigger pelagic fish then you need to cast over the back of the breakers so yes you will need a longer rod and heavier set up to get to where the fish are. If it is whiting and dart you are after then a normal 6 or 7 foot rod will do the trick as they tend to feed inside the breaking waves in the shallows.
Hopefully this answers some of the questions about surf fishing. If there is anything you want to know e-mail me any questions on g_way04@bigpond.net.au and I will do my best to answer them for you.