Silly question question about land based surf fishing...

[HarisPilton]

Hey all trying to get into surf fishing recently. I've been out once with a mates 15ft rod the other week but no luck. Not sure if it was me/the setup or if it was just one of this days. I got a bit bored sitting there for hours waiting for something to happen so I picked up a new 9ft rod the other day along with some soft plastics and poppers (I think they're called) and some metal lures hard plastic lures.

I know the basics (atleast I think) about land based surf fishing. I know for using bait you want to try and find a gutter for a better chance of landing fish. But for using lures do gutters matter? Can you just cast where ever or do gutters matter as well?

Sorry for the silly question

[DougieK]

Gutters still matter but you'll hook fish in lots of places that you dont' see baito's fishing.

Go to the second carpark at Gunnamatta, turn left and walk until you get to the little section of rocks, between there and where the big rocks start is where we've been hooking the most fish.

Metal 25-80g lures are perfect.

[4liters]

Gutters hold fish and are worth giving a working over with lures but if the fish aren’t there go for a stroll along the beach until you find them.

There’s plenty of other structures on beaches that they might be hanging out at. Fish can be weird and you’ll often find them in places where there’s no real obvious reason for them to be too so just walk and cast.

Worst case you get a nice walk along the beach away from everyone else (unless you have the misfortune to bump into some hi vis wearing dwarf) and a bit of an upper body workout.

[HarisPilton]

Cheers for the replies guys. It's really helpful for a beginner like me.

For me I think I'd rather walk up and down the beach casting lures than sitting and waiting for fish to take bait.

[Sebb]

I'd still cast into gutters. Bait or lure.
Good luck!

[CarlG]

I'd still cast into gutters. Bait or lure.
Good luck!

Not really, you limit yourself massively if you do that spinning lures on the ocean beaches. The fish don't magically teleport from gutter to gutter, they move along the beach, the amount of times I've smashed it in areas that aren't gutters is amazing.

[AE092]

On less windy days, or if the wind is on your back use soft plastics with a suitable jighead. I find this can be productive as the action simulates evading bait fish better than slugs

[Windknot]

Usually you just walk along the beach, casting slugs as you go, until you find a school of salmon. Sometimes you can see them in the waves.

I like to fish light for salmon, using a 9' rod rated for 6kg line and up to 20g slugs. It's a lot more fun IMO.

[4liters]

Usually you just walk along the beach, casting slugs as you go, until you find a school of salmon. Sometimes you can see them in the waves.

I like to fish light for salmon, using a 9' rod rated for 6kg line and up to 20g slugs. It's a lot more fun IMO.

A 8’6” egi rod flicking little metals is a lot of fun too, sometimes the side wash is too much for the light slugs though.