# Soth Padre Island Tackle help and fishing advice (rods, lures etc.)



## chinookhead (Dec 13, 2004)

Hey,

My father is leaving for South Padre island on Sunday for a week with my mother. He hopes to do a bit of surf fishing and maybe some party boat fishing. What kind of tackle should he bring? He'll be bringing 2 rods. How long a rod and what pound test if he wants to target fish like reds or trout etc. from the beach or pier? A light rod to toss small lures with 12 pound test or a 17 and higher to toss big lures and chunks? What kind of fish can he expect? Is there whiting at this time of the year from the surf? Is fake or real shrimp the only way to go or should twister tails also be good?

He'll just have a rental, so no beach driving. Can u recommend a good pier or easily reachable surf spot? Feel free to PM me. What lure should he bring? Thanks for the help!! What are the best party boats?


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## chinookhead (Dec 13, 2004)

He's thinking about just taking 2 piece 7 medium freshwater (8-14# line) rods as carry ons or does he need to take my "real" surf rods like my 9 foot medium spinner (1-4oz weight) and ten foot tica (3-8oz weight) and pay for an extra bag. Can he just toss small artificials or is this big chunking water where he'll need a real surf rod on the beach and piers?


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## bluewaterfisher (Nov 11, 2010)

I'd take one of the 2 piece ft rods and the 10ft tica, that way while your waiting for something to bite you big rod you can throw a jig. Real shrimp is prob better, but a live finger mullet, or a chunk of a big mullet is prob the best bait. You'll need hook sizes from about size 2 to size 8/0. A good jig to throw on the light rod is a 3-4 inch gulp shrimp on a red jig head. I cant tell you what you will be getting from the surf, thats why you fish


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## jhook (Jul 27, 2008)

We've never been to South Padre (yet) but have been to lots of different beaches on both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. We always use the same basic set up and you're right on the money with the 2 rod set up.I use a 8 1/2ft.Bass Pro salmon and steelhead rod with 12 or 15 lb. line. And you can 't go wrong with live shrimp. Also I always have Fishbites shrimp with small no. 4 hooks, and also have Gulp shrimp.That should get you on fish. And depending what I get with that I'll use it for bait on my bigger rod- OM 12 and Penn 525mag.Also the big rod is good for throwing heavier weights if you need to hold bottom because of wind, wave action or tides.It's kind of a simple set up but it's worked well for us everywhere we go.Good luck and hopefully we'll get down there one of these days.


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