Reading Surf

[jhook]

Recently I saw a great thread on reading the surf that included alot of pictures.I`m pretty sure it was on this site, but I`m having trouble finding it.Any help would be appreciated.

[sand flea]

Most beaches look pretty much the same. Lots of waves, lots of water, lots of sand.

First off, don't bother with resort beaches meant for swimmers. They are flat and have no structure. The bottom is the equivalent of a hundred miles of desert highway.

On other beaches, there are some noticeable differences. Rather than gentle swells that break at the shore, the waves will rise 100-200 feet out, sometimes crashing, other times merely building a large swell. This is where the wave strikes the sand bar.

Just after hitting the bar, the wave drops down and gets shorter as it moves over the slough, a deeper portion of the beach's structure.

The sandbar is the thing to look for. Throwing into the slough or past the bar is the place to be at high tide. At low tide, you can often wade out to the bar and stand in knee-deep water--just don't stick around after the tide change or you'll be swimming back.

<img src="http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=890&d=1217984941">

The best time to scout a promising beach is at low tide. The deeper the water is, the harder it will be to see the structure underneath. But at low tide, deeper holes and shallow sandbars stick out like sore thumbs. Memorize the spots and return to fish them when the water gets deeper.

The first type of structure you'll notice is the cusp. Cusps are pieces of land that stick out every hundred yards or so, coming to a tapered point. Walking out on these points allows you to cast further toward the bar, and the down-current areas are good places to put a bait just beyond the shore break. (For instance, if the tide is running to the left, you'll often notice the current hitting the point of the cusp and swirling around before shooting over the point to the left and into the next cusp. If you cast to into that rough water, there are usually fish waiting to pick up bait.)

The next piece of beach structure is the out-suck. This is where water gets trapped behind the sand bar on a rising tide and has no way to get back over the bar as the tide falls. Eventually, some sand on the bar gives way and thousands of gallons of water pour out.

<img src="http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=891&d=1217984947">

This is the effect that creates the deadly "riptide," often blamed for sweeping swimmers out to sea.

Riptides may suck if you're swimming, but they're great for fishermen. The turbulent water near these outsucks provides a pathway for fish to go in and out of the slough to feed in the calmer water, and the areas outside the bar are usually full of fish picking off whatever forage gets sucked out through the hole in the bar.

Remember that these tips only really apply to beaches with active water flow and little sand pumping. You won't see this kind of thing up in bays or on beaches meant for tourists.

[JeepMike]

I 2nd that^^^

[BentHook]

Was this it?
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/2615/readsurf.html
or
http://www.stripersurf.com/scast101_1.html

[Danman]

Thanks for the info sandflea..:fishing:

[jhook]

Great info. Thanks guys.

[Seapuppy]

Here is some post's from a discussion on another board awhile back..Two different views to the same question


By Seapuppy:

Reading the beach is only part of the equation,the wind direction,which way is the current pullin'?..North-South..tide level-incoming,outgoing..is it cloudy or bright sunshine?morning,noon,evening,dark? full moon,no moon?Water temp,time of year? type of bait & ALWAYS TACTICS....the most important:do we have enough beer


Low tide is very good time to fish.All the cuts & holes are visable,funneling the fish in narrow spots.Most people think you must find the holes at low tide & then fish it at high tide.The opposite is true.I remember a day last spring,the beach was crowded,everyone was on the holes.It was wall to wall for 2 miles down to south point.I rode down the beach lookin' over the surf.Even though everyone had the holes,NOBODY had the "cuts" in the bar that fed to the hole..I stopped,cast out two medium conventionals right into the gap,kicked back in the lounge chair & caught 5 pups that afternoon durring the lowest tide.The gaps were very easy to see & was only a few feet wide,in turn funnelling the fish to where there was only a narrow path in & out of the hole,my bait waiting to "ambush" any fish passing thru.The fishermen on either side were kept gettin' closer & closer to me that day but it didnt matter at all if they weren't in the "gap".


Matter of fact that weekend(early April) everyone was all over each other on south point after dark fishin' for big drum.The fish were cooperating,at least 30/per night were caught.I would wait till dark & then head up the beach 3/4 of a mile north & fish a narrow gap that I cased out durring the day.Caught 3 one night & seven the next night,then would pack up & go back to the crowd before the sun came up.They'd ask me how many fish I caught.."One,or none " would be my answer lyin' thru my teeth....I was nailin' them in the gap,almost set your clock by 'em..


So next time you're on the beach searchin' for a hole find the gap in the bar that feeds the hole at low tide & you will catch far more fish than throwin' bait into a wide,deep hole at high tide.Out on the bar the fish turn on when the tide starts comin' in from dead low..like a switch.

Found something else I wrote a year or two ago concerning cuts & sloughs
it is a bit technical

Cuts & Sloughs
Another point.When you do fish a slough or hole fish the narrowest part of it.Fish must pass thru the tight spot.If you just chunk your bait into a big wide hole you might as well be shootin' craps & hope you have good luck.If you fish the narrow part your odds increase bigtime.
Also if fishin' a hole there needs to be an entrance & an exit back to open ocean.


OK,read this carefully as it may be confusing:
1.If the current is pushin' north fish the south end of the hole inside of the south end gap or the outside of the exit(north) gap.
2.If the current is pushing south fish the north end of the hole inside the north end gap or just outside of the exit(south) gap.
3.Which ever end the current is exiting the fish will hang along outside the bar waitin' for something to exit the hole.
4.Which ever end the current is entering the fish will be just inside the gap.Most of the time along the inner edge off the outer bar.Cast out your bait onto the outer bar & reel it in until you feel it drop off the inside edge right next to the entrance gap.
5.If the hole has only one opening fish the inside/outside edge of the gap as stated in #1 & # 2.


You can fish off of any beach anywhwere for the first time & nail the drum if you know what you're lookin' for in the surf.Also you must be willin' to move with the tide,maybe further out,closer in or up & down the beach.If you sit in one spot all day you're missin' the boat.
Like an old man told me one day many moons ago:"A Good Fisherman Has a Reason for Everything He Does "
Tactics Tactics Tactics...& Strategy & hard work catches fish consistantly,not dumb luck
Now I could get into rigs & hooks but that subject's too hot to handle,too 'politicaly incorrect'..I do it all wrong


Another way to find fish,especially if you don't know how to read the beach...fish the areas that look different than the rest of the beach..
ie if the outer bar looks the same for ..say two miles & suddenly it doesnt look the same,thats the spot!

There are many ways to fish & to find them..I just post my experiance...don't discount another opinion
I'm just a whitewater,narrow cut,funnel type of fisherman,..almost never fish holes,though I do fish flats sometimes,but they're not my focus..
I'm just AMBUSH AMBUSH AMBUSH..the fish never knows what just hit 'em..until it's too late...



By Druminthesuds:

Just my 2 cents worth....

Wide open water sucks. I look for places where fish will stop to feed. I like to fish points and other places where shoaling will occur. Fish love to feed around the edges where deeper water meets shallow water. There will be good current here around those edges and that current will wash food off the point or sandbar into the deeper water where the fish are holding.

A slough is another great guideline for finding fish. You can follow that slough along the beach and mark the spots where it narrows down (the narrower the better), the areas where it dead ends into a point and any place where you see the current do a 90 degree turn back out into open water (a cut).

Last but not least.....Fish the flats. A good flat is like a wide sandbar that runs all the way to the beach. It will have several waves gently rolling over it which stirs up sandfleas and coquina clams. A good flat will often be only 50 yards wide and flanked on each side by a hole. You will also see a ditch in these areas much of the time that might not be but 6 inches deep or so. These areas hold sea mullet, black drum, puppy drum and pompano that come on the flat to feed and exit out in the holes flanking the flat.

My last tip: Fish clean water. When you fish clean, clear water it is easy to spot the cloudy water which is sand and being stirred up. That often means a current gradient and/or fish feeding.

Look for the sandflea pods, coquina clams and birds feeding on them. Most fish feed on these foods also.

[Seapuppy]

Here's some more to chew on as far as tactics & strategy (exerpts from some of my stories)

By Seapuppy:


From 6-15-07 Off the VA Capes
"...Baited up the medium conventional & cast it out to the eastern corner of the outer bar where it dumps out to the ocean,the current flowing out,the rig is sitting right on the outer edge..right where a large gamefish would be waitin' in ambush..only now the tables are turned,an ambush waitin' on the big gamefish..very sneaky I must say..There's always a plan & a reason where a good surf-fisherman places the bait..Always think ambush,ambush ambush,ambush... BUT...,the spot that I walked all the way down here that has my mouth watering is the tight,narrow spot only 3-5 yards wide,maybe 20 yards north/south,remember,ALWAYS look for the deep spot where the bar formation narrows down the path for a fish to get through.Cast out the light tackle rig(#2 longshanked bronze hooks/one oz. pyrimid sinker) to the outer bar,roll it back a bit as it drops off the bar right in the deep area that is narrowed down.Keep the rod in your hand & keep on searching,slowly,deliberately,rollin' it back in,casting the rig to the corner of the small cut,cast it to the south corner,to the north corner,try the inside edge,the outside edge of both the north edge,the south edge.Look for the cloudy/sandy patches of water that crosses the inner bar we are standing on.Sandy/cloudy water is THE KEY to catching puppy-drum,black drum,various small fish & pompanos in the summer surf,the cloudy water could be in front of you for a couple waves,the next moment it could be south of you,the next moment it could be north of you.Constantly move up & down the beach,cast the rig to the outer edge of the sandy cloud,reelin' it in slowly untill you catch the outer edge.Sooner or later you'll find the fish if they're there,sometimes it takes a while,remember.ambush ambush ambush ambush..I can't say it enough! Picked up some more roundheads,let 'em all go,we have enough bait for the day......"

[The Same Cut as Above 6-15-07]
From 6-30-07 Off the VA Capes
"...A word about timing & catchin' Big Reds.When I looked at the marine forcast thursday I knew then that if the conditions stayed true to the forecast I would catch 'em saturday afternoon about 2 hours into the dropping tide & 2 hours of the incoming.That's when the conditions would be at their best on the narrow passageway I found a couple of weeks ago that cuts through the bar.One thing about red drum,if you're on a good spot & formation don't give up too soon if the fish aren't biting as the tide goes out,these fish TURNON when the tide changes from dead low to incoming.Out here on the VA Capes & Ocracoke Inlet you can durn near set your clock by them.Norman Miller (The Sportfishing Boat Rascal) & I talked about this phenomena one day last year & he completely agreed & Norman is probably THE TOP drumfisherman there is out there & maybe anywhere.On another note,I very seldom fish for these fish at high tide,all the narrow cuts & breaks in the bar are useless until the tide drops far enough to funnel the fish through the narrow pathways between the inner bar & open ocean.Basiclly if the water is more than 2 foot deep on the surrounding bar the cut is less effective.Heck,I've seen 8' Bull Sharks in a foot & a half of water & caught puppy drum in less than 2 foot of water.So the bar needs to be a foot deep or less thus making the cut very effective.That's why I'm always on the move.Somewhere up or down the beach the good conditions will be met,you just have to be willing to look for them.You want to set up if at all possible with a narrow cut to open ocean..I'll say it again..OPEN OCEAN..These big fish will hang just outside of the cuts & dart in & out(they may also be traveling back & forth just on the outside of the far bar in open ocean).Usually the cut will be very hard to get to but it's worth the effort & is (along with timing ,the wind,the tide,planning) the key to finding & catchin' these big fish.If you fish inside a slough that doesn't connect directly to open ocean you may pick up some slot fish & up to 30" fish but very few really big fish at low tide.Norman told me a long time ago.."The deeper the water the bigger the fish" & that sayin' is so so true when it comes to big red drum.I'm sure others catch 'em at high tide,but it's more of a "... I hope the fish show.." or " We caught some here yesterday" or "..this is where they caught 'em yesterday.."..basically a shot in the dark, they're hoping the fish will show...not KNOWING where thay are,there is a big difference. When you fish for them at LOW tide you can pick out the spots where the fish will be,something that isn't always possible on most high tides.I only go drum fishin' on the shoals when the tide is LOW in the middle of the day.High tide in the middle of the day & you won't find me out there..Some of you may not agree but don't discount these words,keep 'em in the back of your mind & try it someday,you may be surprised.... "

From 7-14-07 Off the VA Capes
"...From the beach it's very hard to see the great spot I could see clearly out on the bar.it may be confusing but I'll try & explain..To my right (to the south) there's a shallow bar out to open ocean as it goes further east it breaks up into a deep,wide cut.Along the outside of the cut the bar continues very narrow & finally ends as the deep water of the wide cut takes over.This is at the very corner of the Big Bar,as it transitions from the east side/around the corner to the south side.To the left (east side) of the Big Bar there is a shallow bar runnin' out in sort of a point,to it's right is the wide gap & ultimately across to the long narrow tip of the southern bar.We set up our tall rodholder,hung all the fanny packs,soft cooler,a white T-shirt & my 'emergency' swimsuit.Grabbin' one of my medium conventionals,Warrior & I walked out chest deep & put the bait just behind(outside) the corner of the southern bar as descibed above.The second medium conventional cast out just inside of the corner of the southern bar.Probably be more hits from the rod on the inside as the wind is blowin' SW (straight in from the south end of the Big Bar).The wind direction is the KEY to placing your rig in a spot that should find the big fish around bars & sloughs along ANY beach.With the wind blowin' directly in the fish will be layin' in ambush on the inside close to the tip of the long narrow tip of the southerly bar.The rig on the outside will be right along the oceanside tip of the long southern narrow bar.This rig will draw the attention of any fish swimin' back & forth on the open ocean side of the long narrow bar.Today both sides of the bar are good spots,sometimes ya' get the best of both worlds...."

[Fishbreath]

Welcome back Bruce!