# Surf casting spoons for blues help



## dlabombard

I have decided to learn a new way of surf fishing mainly because I am addicted to surf fishing and hate paying the money to go on the piers but also like to be active on the beach. So this last week I put together a good set I think for surf casting spoons. I have a ten and a half foot tica graphite rod with a pflueger trion reel. I put 20lb braid and am running 20lb flourocarbon leader. I bought 3 different 2 once spoons. The only one I can remember the name of is the gotcha jig fish which is a brown color. The other two are silver. I have been up and down onslow and the north side of topsail beach casting away the last week with no luck. I generaly walk out to my chest and start casting. I have tried various retrieves and jigging methods with them as well with no luck yet. Any advice on this type of surf fishing would be greatly apreciated! Mabey a fishing day as well!!  thank you in advance!


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## Oldmulletbreath

I would say that the bluefish just aren't there..... blues usually don't give a flying fart about color or shape


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## dlabombard

That could be true. There has been a sand dredge out at new river inlet so thewater is nice and muddy. Is there a magic distance off the shore I should be targeting? I have been trying to get past the first breaker and bring it in from there.


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## buster

As said,blues dont care what it is.Get a couple hopkins or cast masters with a single hook on them(single hook makes it easier to unhook).These will generally get you more distance on a cast and crank them at a slower to medium retrieve.Keep looking for bird,bait while casting.Note...dont cast directly into a school of blues..go short or long or you will be cut off often.


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## bigjim5589

The magic distance is where ever the fish may be! First, 2 oz is a good weight, but you might want to consider a few spoons that are lighter in weight. Perhaps and ounce. A lighter spoon will fall a bit slower & that can at times be the difference between catching & casting practice. I like spoons such as the Kastmaster, Hopkins & Krocodile for casting. Each has a different look & action. Gotcha's are good too, but a bit of variety never hurts. You might also consider a few bucktails. IMO, between bucktails & spoons, a person can possibly catch most anything that swims.

Second, if you're simply casting straight out perpendicular to the shore, or even fan casting a bit, you may not be covering all the water. I've seen Blues & other fish literally surfing the waves as they chase baitfish to the shore, so you may be casting beyond them. Since you're wading & only if you can safely do it, try casting parallel to the shore & fan cast all the way around you 180 degree's. I say safely, because you certainly don't want to hurt anyone, but if this is possible, you'll cover a lot more water. 

Third, if you're not good at reading the beach & water, you'll be spending a lot of time casting to water that holds nothing. Whenever possible I like to take a look at the extreme low tides to see what's there. This can tell you a lot about where fish may be. There can be features such as trough's, cuts or sand bars you may not even know are there & you could as a result be casting where the fish are not, instead of where they are. 

Last thing, always pay attention! Look for birds, or any other sign of activity to indicate there may be fish present. Unfortunately, often there are no fish until something brings them in close enough to the beach. IF you can see any type of activity, such as birds working the water, you'll have a better idea of possibly finding fish, rather than simply blindly casting to water void of fish.

I once watched a guy on a beach who had no clue! He was casting away & just off to his left was some birds working over fish breaking the surface. I watched him for about 15 minutes & he never saw what was happening! I finally walked up to him & told him what I was seeing & first cast he hooked up with a Blue! It pays to be attentive!


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## akhan

Good advice Jim! I was wondering the same question, recently started using lures rather than using bait and have not had any luck.

Can you guys give advice on retrieves? What is fast, medium, slow considered and how do you best present the lures to fish? I've watched countless videos, but can't seem to grasp how to properly present a lure (ie let it sink, bring it in fast and keep it on top [how fast?], switch directions).

Still waiting for that moment when my presentation is just right and I get a Huge hit!


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## akhan

Also what are good rod/reel combos? I have a 10ft tsunami airwave with a fierce 3k on it 15lb mono. Should I go with shorter rod?


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## dlabombard

Thank you very much jim! That was a great read and some good advice ill be taking with me!


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## bronzbck1

If there is a dredge out there and the water is muddy you won't catch anything on a lure that has to be seen. Spoons, glass minnows, etc. are clear water lures.


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## Byron/pa

I'll throw in my 2 cents, as well as a short story.

Twenty two years ago, I went to the beach for the first time in my life, down to the Outer Banks. I was an avid fisherman, but didn't even know that surf fishing existed. After seeing other people fishing on the beach, I went into a gas station and bought a rod/reel/line combo for $18.00, a couple small pyramid sinkers, hooks attached to steel leaders and a box of squid. And I took my new tackle out to Oregon Inlet and proceeded to not catch anything for several hours. 
While sipping a beer, I noticed baitfish skipping across the waters surface, being chased by larger fish. It might have been my first surf fishing trip, but I knew enough about fishing to know what was going on. So, I cast my bait into the feeding fish and waited, twenty minutes later my squid was still untouched. 
Then, the idea hit me. I reeled in, slugged down my beer and got out my swiss army knife, that had a pair of scissors on it. I cut a long, spoon shaped piece of that beer can, poked a hole in each end and ran my steel leader through it, fashioning a very crude spoon. I tied a pyramid sinker about two feet ahead of my "lure" and cast it past the feeding fish, first cast and I had my first surf caught fish.

No fish I have ever caught has had as much of an impact on my life as that one 12" bluefish......... 

The point of that story, is that if bluefish are aggressively feeding, just about any lure or rod/reel/line will work. But not always. 

Last fall, I got into an epic bluefish blitz at Portsmouth Island that lasted almost seven hours. A two mile long school of blues just exploding on baitfish pretty much non stop. Problem was that they were between 100 and 150 yards from shore.
There were other fishermen there that day, but most of them only had short "mullet,pompano,flounder" rods or big drum heavers. With a good 10ft rod, loncast spinning reel and 15lb braid and a 1 - 2 oz spoon, I was able to consistently reach the fish. I really do not know how many hundreds of bluefish I caught that day, but it was one of the very few times in my life that I've left feeding fish simply because I was to tired to keep catching them.

One rod that is always rigged and ready to go is my metal slinging rod, what works for me; A good 10ft rod, a long cast spinning reel loaded with 15lb braid, a shock leader of 25lb test floro and a spoon such as a stingsilver, castmaster, hopkins or other shinny streamlined lure that will sail as far as possible. I'm partial to silver/blue and silver/green, but not sure it matters. If the blues are chasing baitfish, breaking the surface, a fast retrieve near the surface is in order. If I'm blindcasting, then a slower deeper retrieve is in order. 

The shock leader is twice the length of the rod plus 2 or 3 feet. It protects my finger when casting, but more importantly lets me do a hoist and release during a blitz. 

I should point out that all of this is based on blues in the 12 - 20 inch range, I upgrade everything considerably if there is a possibility of 10 - 20 pounders......


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## JamesRiverVa

Great advice here already, from guys who are better/more experienced surf fishermen than me. Only thing I'd add is to address the question re. best retrieve. I like to mix it up until I catch a fish, then remember how I was retrieving it for that one and duplicate it as best I can. If I'm not trying to catch spanish mackerel (in which case I burn it back pretty much as fast as I can), I will try a straight medium speed retrieve, a straight slow retrieve, a jigging retrieve, a retrieve where I sweep the rod several feet to make the spoon dart fast and then reel-reel-reel the slack in and sweep the rod again over and over until it's on the beach. That sweep-crank-crank-crank-crank-sweep retrieve sometimes triggers strikes when other retrieves don't. Of course if there's a big school of blues actively feeding or a true blitz going on, the retrieve doesn't really matter. But other times when there is no sign of activity and not a real active school, it does seem to me like they sometimes prefer one retrieve over another.


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## greg12345

what bronzbck said...you're wasting your time, if the water is muddy put away the metal and put on the cut mullet...my 2c


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## Jollymon

keep in mind that coming in it will get draged in the sand 'so make sure to have a hook sharper with you .I keep one on a lanyard with a clipper and a whistle


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