Fall Surf Fishing

Summer is wrapping up its tent and starting to get ready to hand it’s paint brush to Fall. Living on the northeast coast, there is no time like the autumn of the year. Yes, the trees in my yard (al 65 of them) will begin to shed their canopy but that does not matter. The leaves will make great compost material. And those balmy dog days of summer will soon be replaced by the cool, crisp nights of late September and October. If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am a hardcore angler. And the fall is perhaps the best time of the year to fish in the brine. Stripers, weakfish and bluefish are my prime targets this time of year and I plan to take full advantage of the situation.

Getting Ready

Our primary target will be striped bass, a highly migratory fish which will begin its march (or swim) southward from their summer home grounds. Secondary objectives will be the hard fighting bluefish and the highly elusive weakfish. As with any combatant preparing for battle, one of the keys to success is in the preparation. My checklist includes the following items:

Equipment

o Rods –check all eyes for corrosion and chips inside the eyelets that could cause line to fail. Tip: run a length of old nylon stocking through the eyes, and deformities will cause the nylon to hang-up.

o Reels – Even if your using the same reels that you use all summer, now is the time to perform periodic maintenance. Conditions are much rougher in the fall and a poorly maintained reel will ultimately fail at the worst time. Clean and lubricate is my mantra. When the first frost comes you will be more than thankful. My surf reels are, for the most part, manufactured by Shimano. Any that are in question are returned to the factory for service. Once their operation is certified by you or the factory, get new line on them. Nothing is worse than losing that trophy bass or blue to a snapped line. And while you’re at it, dig out that spare spool and put new line on it. Tip: putting new line on a reel can be easily accomplished at home. Buying your line in bulk will save tons of money. Check out this article on how to DIY if you have never done it before.

o Lures and rigs. Fall means bigger fish. Bigger fish chase bigger baits so you will probably be using many lures and rigs that you haven’t looked at for quite some time. Now is the time to tune them up! Replace all hooks, swivels and split-rings. You won’t have the time to do it when the fish start their run. A chain will always fail at its weakest link. Some work now will keep you from watching that monster swim away because you failed to replace a 3-cent split ring.

o Other equipment. This covers everything from your waders to your sand spikes and cold weather gear. Waiting until you need them only to find out that they are damaged or in need of repair is only asking for trouble. And here is a little tidbit I found out the hard way. One cold morning, when I knew I would need my heavy fishing gloves, I found it necessary to wake my wife to ask her where I may have stored them. Suffice it to say, that will never happen again. Frostbite would have been a better outcome. Get them out and assembled, replaced or repaired now. As a sidebar, you will find that you will be making less trips to the local fishing equipment emporium and when you do go, the trips there will be only for equipment you need, not that which you think you need.

Get out there and scout some of the beaches you will be hitting when the run starts. After all, we are talking about sand and it has a tendency to shift . Knowing where the cuts, sloughs and holes are can make the difference between a successful day and getting skunked. Start looking at the local fishing reports and keep an eye on the water temperatures. Make sure you have an up to date tide chart (try to find one that also has sunrise and sunset times) with your gear.

Obviously, there is much more to do to get ready for the upcoming fall run. My goal here was to give you a leg up on the season. Getting things in order now translates into more time on the beach in the fall. That is a trade off I will take any time. As I may have mentioned, fall is my favorite time of the year.