# Surfside Jetty Fishing



## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

Ok, so I've been going down the the jetties lately, trying my darnedest to catch some slimy swimmers at night with lights. But, every time, I get skunked(when it comes to trout).

So here I am oh Gods of 2cool fishing. What should I look for when planning a trip down there? I've heard watch the wind, okay great. Problem is, I have heard directions that could cover a 720 degree circle if there was a thing! I have heard SSE winds though...below 10mph or so. Is this correct?

Past the wind, I have no idea what to look for. Tide timing? Do the tide levels change? Do moon phases play a role? If all this plays a role, what is the ideal combination? Or something to get close too? After going down there 5 times, we have never had good water to fish. We have the lights, generator, everything, but never any fish to show for it. sad_smiles

I'm doing all my googleing but its hard to find things for a specific area.

Thanks for any input yall may have!


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## wish2fish (Mar 1, 2005)

I feel your pain brother!!


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## Alex258 (May 27, 2006)

Water clarity is a pretty important factor. In general an incoming tide is best for the beachfront. The water starts to sand up as the tide rolls out. Once the winds die down and people start catching them wading the surf you should be able to catch them at night.


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

wish2fish said:


> I feel your pain brother!!


I'm starting to think I need to look for the jetty fishing classes at the college. Its so difficult they should teach it as a course, I'd take organic chem over this! At least I can learn that from my book. This is just killing me, haha.

I can see it now, Jetty Fishing 1301 and 1302.


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## workn2huntnfish (Aug 1, 2008)

Chase,
relax. You aren't the lone ranger with your empty stringer. You can tell that no one is catching anything off the beachfront these last few days by the fishing reports. It will change and then head to the jettys. When you hear about trout being caught off the beachfront, it will be time to go to the rocks at night. Good luck.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Surf side wasn't good to me last monday. My GF had fun catching little black drum, large sand trout and whiting. No big fish for me however. I was soaking mullet, ladyfish, sandtrout and whiting. Maybe I didn't get it out there far enough.


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

How important is a South East wind as compared to a south? Is in the general south direction good news? I still havnt figured out which direction is the good one for it to be blowing.


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## FishingJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

anything that doesnt have that ugly W in it, and isnt over 15


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## jvtx (Dec 2, 2007)

My buddy and I went down to surfside tuesday around 6am...wind was howling and water was sandy to dirty but a little cleaner in the first gut. We decided to try it anyway... waves were killing us and current was moving pretty good. We caught 5 keeper trout from 6:30am til 11:00am with a mix of rat reds to 18in. trout were from 16-18in. caught a lot of schoolies and some bull whiting. free lining shrimp and on top dogs in chart/white color.


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

FishingJoe said:


> anything that doesnt have that ugly W in it, and isnt over 15


15 knots or MPH?

JV- thanks for the report. We are going to head down to the surfside jetties this coming friday night(the 31st), and hopefully hook up. We are taking my buddies dad, and my sisters boyfriend both who havnt done a lot of saltwater fishing. I'm keeping an eye on everything, and hoping things will be decent. We always catch SOMTHING when we go down there, but we have never hooked up with trout. Always sharks or big reds. I'm going to go pick up some topwaters that people have been talking about, i already have some.

I'm just praying we catch some trout. *fingers crossed*


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

jvtx said:


> My buddy and I went down to surfside tuesday around 6am...wind was howling and water was sandy to dirty but a little cleaner in the first gut. We decided to try it anyway... waves were killing us and current was moving pretty good. We caught 5 keeper trout from 6:30am til 11:00am with a mix of rat reds to 18in. trout were from 16-18in. caught a lot of schoolies and some bull whiting. free lining shrimp and on top dogs in chart/white color.


Also, when you say freelining shrimp, how do you hook them? I always go through the tail, and try to put the shank of the hook inside the tail, with the point coming out the bottom of the shrimp.


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## jvtx (Dec 2, 2007)

I used to fish the jetties alot, mostly at night.... i would fish in between the 1st and 2nd gut, catch reds and trout on live shrimp and the trout killer rigs. On occasion, I would walk to the end to see what people were catching and would see fishermen catching trout at the very end on live shrimp and poppin cork.....they had what looked like 10ft poles, with a 6 or 7 ft leader from the cork to the shrimp. They were pulling in 22-25 in trout....
stopped fishing the jetties b/c just got tired of carrying everything from truck down to a fishable spot. to many hang ups and too many people leaving there trash.

I stick to fishing the surf now,day and night, dont have to haul generator and lights to far, much easier.

Good luck where ever you fish, I'm sure it won't be long before you catch the trout.


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## jvtx (Dec 2, 2007)

I hook the shrimp threw the horn, sometimes a little lower....try not to hit vital organs or the shrimp will die and won't be as productive...use a small BB size weight about 18-24in from swivel/or hook. Depending on the wind, i will put 2 or 3 bb weights on to try and get it out further. I use a #8 or #10 saltwater treble hook with 20lb flurocarbon leader that is 20in from the barrel swivel to the hook. Hope this helps.


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

jvtx said:


> I hook the shrimp threw the horn, sometimes a little lower....try not to hit vital organs or the shrimp will die and won't be as productive...use a small BB size weight about 18-24in from swivel/or hook. Depending on the wind, i will put 2 or 3 bb weights on to try and get it out further. I use a #8 or #10 saltwater treble hook with 20lb flurocarbon leader that is 20in from the barrel swivel to the hook. Hope this helps.


Tremendously helpful, thanks!

Also, is it a good idea to set the lights up on the beach, and shine them into the surf and fish that? If there is decent water clarity, do people do that? It would get us away from the riff-raff and the trash on the jetty.


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## Brian10 (Sep 6, 2007)

I just bought some lights and plan to try my hand at night fishing as well. Rather then creating a new thread, I thought I'd bring this one back to life. I'm going to be fishing with beginners and kids, so quantity (sand trout, etc) is more important to me then quality.

I plan soft plastics, maybe 3" white glow paddle tails on tandem rigs and probably live shrimp.

How far on the jetty should I go out? 

Always better to fish the ocean side and not the channel side?

Do fish bite throughout the night, or certain times of the night are better then others?


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