# Wade fishing tips?



## Sportfishing29 (May 20, 2013)

Last week, I went wade fishing for the first time. I only caught four hardheads. Any tips for me the newbie into wade fishing.


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## TexasGrandSlam (Apr 13, 2013)

There are a lot of posts on here about getting into wade fishing so ill try my best to cover a few of the essentials. 

Gear: Wading boots, wade belt, pliers, stringer, a place to keep your lures (either a lure box with strap or in your shirt pocket) Invest in a good rod n reel setup. (Personally My favorite is a 6'9" med light FTU green rod with a chronarch 200E7 with 30lb suffix green braid and a 2.5' 30lb fluro leader, but anything with a lighter action and a reel you can cast well will work)

Lures or bait: I'm guessing that you were throwing some sort of live/dead bait due to catching hardheads but I highly suggest trying out some lures. My lures that I would not leave the shore without would be a bone jr. spook topwater, some soft plastics- hogie 5' chicken on a chain and some other assorted colors with a 1/8 oz jighead, and a gold or silver spoon. Theres nothing wrong with throwing live or dead bait, but with lures usually don't catch the hardheads

Tips: 1) When wading, always shuffle your feet no matter if you are in clear or dirty water. Stingrays are in the bays now and they'll be here for months to come. 2) If theres moving water and it looks deep, your best bet is to wade around or to not go through at all. (the moving water primarily pertains to the areas around San louis pass and any inlets to the bays from the gulf.) 3) Always wade with a friend and if your alone, make sure to minimize any risk of being put in harm. 4) If a shark gets on your stringer of fish you can fight it off, but its probably better to just let the stringer go. 5) DO NOT TIE YOUR STRINGER TO YOUR BELT. Have it in a position that it will be fairly easy to take off incase of sharks, snags, boat props, etc... 6) Invest in the trout support videos, though expensive, they can teach you a lot about the different ways to find the fish 7) get out there as much as possible, learn from friends or guides, and find what works best for you 

Im sure there are many things I left out. And with the lack of info on the post, I am not aware if you know all of this information already. So if you do, sorry for repeating it.

I'm no professional, but wade fishing is my passion and I learn new things every day

Hope this helps!


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## OnedayScratch (May 23, 2012)

Fish Artie's. Dem hardies don't like plastic.


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## Aggie87 (Jun 2, 2010)

I would say look on google earth for changes in the water..reefs, guts, structure, etc.. Structure in the water usually hold bait and the fish come to the bait..while wading look for bait in the water..if there is no active bait around there probably isn't much fish either. slicks and birds help locate fish also..in the summer i like to target the flats and shallows early and then move to the guts..learn how the tides work also..tons of info on here just try to dig up as much as u can


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## kenny (May 21, 2004)

Sportfishing29 said:


> Last week, I went wade fishing for the first time. I only caught four hardheads. Any tips for me the newbie into wade fishing.


Time and tides my friend.


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## fishnfowler2 (Aug 19, 2013)

*where are you wading??*

You said all you caught were hardheads, I assume the surf or the pass. I wade west bay exclusively, so the only advice I can give would be bay fishing. PM me and I will share some things I have learned over the years.


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