|
Fast Fred,
Theres a lot that goes into "catching" fish. Tides, weather, water temp, food supply and more. The best thing you can do is get to the water and and throw in a line or two. Watch what the guys/gals are doing and what they are using and ask questions. each beach is differnt. What they are using in Atlantic City isnt necessarily whats catching fish in Cape May and that can change in an instant. One minute their knocking the helll out of live peannut menhaden the next they want a piece of pink rubber. Get involved in a fishing club to make friends and a buggie club so you can take your vehicle on the beach.
As for equipment if you can afford it. You are going to want at least two rods a surf rod to get you out far and a cast and retrieve rod for in close fishing in the gullies and around rocks and piers. You can get a decent starter surf rod at K-Mart or Walmart. The longer the better but get at least a 12 footer. The cast and retrieve rod you are going to want a 6' or 7' foot medium action rod. Several good brands out there. For reels I have always liked Penn. I still use the old Z series and the Spinfisher SS reels. Parts are readily available and they are simple to maintain , clean and repair yourself.
There is no simple answer on bait. Fish eat what they can find or what is running. So bait changes quickly. That's why you are gpoing to want to make friends with other fisherman and the person working the counter at the tackle shop to get the skinny on what the fish are hitting that day and where.
For the surf rod you will need an assortment of rigs and weights. Again there is no one size fits all. For your lead get everything form 2oz. to 8 oz. rigs get top and bottom. Nothing fancy just hooks maybe with a spinner or a piece of buck tail. Your bait will do the work.
For your cast and retrieve rod you will want an assortment of lures and buck tails. Sometimes the fish hit red and white sometimes blue, sometimes pink and so on. Sometimes they are feeding on the top, sometimes on the bottom and sometimes in the middle of the water coloumn so you need to try each a few times until you get hit then you know what they are looking for. It's triual and error.
You don't need to get everything all at once but start collecting. Everytime you go to K-mart or walmart swing through the fishing section and pick up a few lures. Go to yard sales and flea markets tons of stuff for sale. Grab a section of 2" PVC pipe to make a holder for the sand, a cooler, a seat, oh yeah a set of chest waders. Youre going to need those for October when the big blues and Stripper are running.
Most of all you got to get down to the waters edgae and get a line wet. You will figure it out.
|