Maybe I move around too much

[williehookem]

When you fish a likely spot do you cast two or three times and move on or do you cast until you arm wants to fall off? I give it a couple of tries and move on. Maybe I should stay put.

[Monty]

If it is a prime spot, one that I target as THE spot, I give it between 15 minutes and a half hour, sometimes longer depending on the size of the area. If I am walking the beach, fishing rips, pockets it would be 3-10 casts normaly dependig on the site.

[storminsteve]

On the other side are guys who will sit all day in one spot, even if they don't catch anything. Fish move back and forth, with different tide stages. Your best choice is to find them. Keep moving until you do.

[nitestrikes]

I agree. If you're in a key spot, work it for awhile, but you will catch more fish by hitting different spots.

[stripercrazy]

2or 3 casts is not enough. You should work different parts of the water column. In the summer it's easier, you can cover more ground only using poppers or swimmers. At this time of year, you should always have a bucktail with you, and cover top to bottom. Maybe a few casts with 4 or 5 presentations - magdarter, bomber, bucktail, needlefish, and then move on.

[williehookem]

If it is a prime spot, one that I target as THE spot, I give it between 15 minutes and a half hour, sometimes longer depending on the size of the area. If I am walking the beach, fishing rips, pockets it would be 3-10 casts normaly dependig on the site.

Thanks, I'm seeing it's better to move around more.

[Mike O]

I've been fishing the same stretch of beach at SH for years. I use a clock method. 1st cast @ 2, 2nd @ 12, 3rd @ 10 o'clock in that order. If I do not get a hit or any indication of fish around, I walk 50 paces and do the same thing heading north for about a 1 mile stretch of beach. I know it sounds a little weird, but it works for me and I cover a lot of water that way. Of course I never ignore the obvious signs of fish, bait, birds, ripples or anything on the surface that I think might produce a strike. Good fishing.

Mike O

[CharlieTuna]

You really do seem to cover a lot of ground. I'll have to try that method.

[jigisup]

What's the best way to spot holes while walking the beach?

[Mike O]

The beach is always changing. But the best time to read a beach is on the out going tide in my opinion. You can usally find a hole in the wash where water is receding and creating a cut in the beach. It will look like a stream that is being pulled back into the ocean. Be careful when walking through these cuts, especially at night, you can sometimes find yourself in chest high water that is trying to pull you in the surf! Where this stream of water meets the surf the swirls and eddy's create holes. Cast there.

[albiealert]

The beach is always changing. But the best time to read a beach is on the out going tide in my opinion. You can usally find a hole in the wash where water is receding and creating a cut in the beach. It will look like a stream that is being pulled back into the ocean. Be careful when walking through these cuts, especially at night, you can sometimes find yourself in chest high water that is trying to pull you in the surf! Where this stream of water meets the surf the swirls and eddy's create holes. Cast there.

What Mike said. anything you learned from last year may no longer be valid, even in the Sound. Winter storms can be severe. You have to put your time in not only fishing, but also walking around and learning your key spots.

I fish some river spots that are great high tide and low tide, others that only produce for a certain part of the tide. In between, I try to learn the structure.

It's also smart to learn most of this on the lowest or outgoing tide, as Mike said. It's even better if you can get there on periods of extreme full moon tide. Then every cut and hole will be more pronounced.

[crosseyedbass]

Reading the water is the one of the most important first steps in surf fishing. I frequently take advantage of the low tide and spend some time scouting.

It is an investment which will last a long time, or until the next Noreaster. Then you start the process all over again.