# Anything wrong with this set-up?



## jimk (May 28, 2004)

First, thank you for your patience and I hope you old salts don't get tired of giving advice. I've never fished the surf but plan to give it a shot this summer.

My family will vacation in Galveston during July so I plan to use the morning hours for some surf fishing time for redfish(?). We'll be right on the beach(Galvestonian) so I'll just walk east until I run out of people. I'm bringing a 10' spinning with 300 yds 30lb braid and cast net for mullet for cut/live bait as well as light tackle and lures.

For terminal gear, I'm thinking of attaching a 10' mono(60-80lb) leader with "Crazy Alberto" knot and bead/weight-swivel-clip/bead on this.Then swivel to 18" or so leader and 10/0 circle hook snelled. Depending on wind and surf, appropriate weight.

I'm thinking I can reel the knot through the guides to position my weight and bait for better casting this way.


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## iamatt (Aug 28, 2012)

Probably not going to see much mullet in the cast net but you can try. I would use shrimp and also see if you can score some live crab to break in half of 1/4's for the big rod. . If you can bring a small bait rod to play with and catch whiting to eat or cut for bait. 

We caught redfish using cut whiting that we caught from the surf so that may be an option if you want to add another bait to the mix. Some real basic stuff is that you want to make sure you cast your bait between the breakers. Make sure it isn't laying on top of a sand bar. and try and fish the moving tides makes a HUGE difference .


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## ronnie collins (May 21, 2004)

tighten down on the drag all the way, so the line does not slid thru your finger and burn or cut your finger. run your shockleader into your reel several times so you don't break off throw the bait out.


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

You should'nt have any problem finding mullet with the cast net in July. The rod and reel will work, but I would suggest you attach a 30# mono top shot to your braid, you can use a crazy alberto and you only need 30yds or 40yds. This will act as your shock leader while casting and also protect your braid from rubbing on the sand bars. For leaders, ditch the beads, snaps, and 10/0 hooks. Get some 3-way swivels, 5/0 to 7/0 circle hooks, 50lb mono, and whatever size sinkers you need to keep you bait in place. Tie on about a 16" piece of 50# mono to one eye for the hook and about a 24" piece for the sinker than tie your main line to the remaining eye. This is all you need for reds and drum and if you want a small shark simply use cable in place of the mono. I tied this one short for illustration purposes.


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## edjman (Aug 13, 2013)

All good as long as we don't get buried in weed again this summer...


:work::work:
SEAWEED


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## jimk (May 28, 2004)

Thanks for your help. I introduced 4 little grandsons, aged 2-5 to the beach last year and they can't wait to do it again. The weed was indeed bad, but fishable at times. I really enjoyed the early morning on the beach and hope this year to have a fish stretch a line.


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## 535 (May 23, 2004)

50lb mono is about as heavy as I would go for the shockleader, the rule is 10lb line strength for every ounce you are casting... and its length should be as follows... 3-4 wraps around the spool, out the tip of the rod and back to the reel... so there should be closer to 20' of leader than 10'... the idea is for there to be shockleader ON the reel when you are casting. Hope this helps


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## jimk (May 28, 2004)

I'm going to shoot for about 30 yards of 30 lb mono for a shock leader and then tie onto a 3-way swivel like sharkchum suggested. 

I really do appreciate the advice. Thanks everyone.


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