Brigantine Beach Fishing

[Spartafish]

Greeting all. I am a freshwater fisherman from Sparta NJ and will be in Brigantine from 8/18 - 8/23. I have a few questions I hope someone can answer.

1. What type of fish can I expect to catch off the beach?

2. What type of bait lures should I buy?

3. I need a saltwater rod and reel. How long should it be?

Thank you in advance for your answers and if you ever come up to Sussex county drop me a note and I will help you with some great freshwater fishing.

[bayonne]

i would go with a 8-9 ft rod as for bait it depends are you looking for fluke or blues or lures bring some krocadyles and poppers if your still looking to buy one yet i would sugest harlee rod in jersey city they have caulity cobos at hard to beat prices they have a web site their on kennedy blvd in jersey city
but the walmarts down the shore would have some aswell the ones up north cater to mostly fresh water exept in kearny they have a good salt selection good luck and enjoy your vacation im heading ti va my self but noy by the coast i leave sat

[Luna Sea 5]

bluefish, bluefish, bluefish.. can't go wrong

[Pfishingruven]

For Surf Fishing, I would go 9 foot rod medium heavy power moderate to fast action 14-30 lb line and 1-8oz of weight. A 9 foot pole is adequate to do both bait fishing and lure fishing.  I think 8 feet in the surf is too small unless you are just lure fishing and 10 feet may be too much to lure fish.  I would go with a spinning reel in your favorite brand again 14-30 lb test line...whichever you like.  I always used mono line, but have tried out Power Pro Braid which I really like, so braid might be the way to go with a mono backing.  You might want to bring a sandspike also if you throw bait out.

Like LunaSea said, bluefish are great to target, as well as fluke, kingfish, sharks  , striped bass.  Bluefish you can use a fishfinder or hi-lo rig baited with chunked bunker.  You can also use metal lures(Hopkins, Kastmasters, Deadly Diks, etc...).  I like to have a couple of Gibbs Poppers/surface lures, bucktail jigs and Gulp(4" swimming mullet in pink, chartreuse and/or white and shrimp) for fluke.  Cut bait strips such as squid, sea robin, spearing or killies work well on the bucktail jigs also.  Kingfish are biting on bloodworms on hi-lo rigs.  It is a smorgasbord of fish, bait and lures...You are also going to need some type of sinker weight in 1-8 oz give or take.  Wire leaders are a must or a very high lb test leader for bluefish.

Make sure you explore the surf also before you go out there with your rod in hand to cast.  Last thing you want to do is fall in the surf and get injured.  The beach is ever changing and there is always some type of ledge or hole, etc...that catches you off guard as you are getting hit with waves!

Hope this helps!  Feel free to ask any other questions that might have been overlooked.  Some other sud pounders should chime in with their own information as well!

Good luck!!

 

[ped579]

Being that you are just starting to surf fish my recommendation would be to go and get yourself a combo set up from a local mega mart or sporting goods store in the 8 - 9' range.  Make sure you have at least 20# test mono or if you feel like putting out the money switch over to braid or half braid and mono, but be careful if you have not fished braid before it will give you a nasty cut.

You do not have to cast out to far but make sure you read "Reading the Beach" on here to get an idea as to where to find the holes, sloughs, bars, and rips.  This time of year you want to fish in the slough right off the beach.  This will give you the most area to find fish.  Just so you know a slough by another name is a trough.  Fish like to use this to either hide or forge for a meal. 

The water temps have been up for a while but this storm might have churned things up a bit but that is OK. 

As for lures I like to use a bucktail (in white, yellow or pink or a combo of any of these colors)about 1 - 3 oz, tipped with a white or chartreuse 4" swimming mullet.  Above that (about 18" or so) tie a dropper loop and put a 1/0 hook with a Gulp shrimp.  I have found this combo to be deadly this year.  But do not be afraid to change things around color wise, pink curly tails have also been doing well.

If you want to try metals the AVA 017 to 47's will work fine for a number of fish like bass, blues and a possible fluke.

If you can find a combo of an 8' Shakespeare rod with a Okuma reel that would be a very good choice for a first set up for the surf.  This way if you do not like it no big loss.  It will probably run you less than $75.00  But if you do it will be a very good rig for plugging in close later on as you go crazy with rods and reels like the rest of us.

As far as other baits and tackle I would pick up a few pyramid sinkers from 2 - 4oz a fish finder striper setup in the 6/0 to 8/0 hook range this way you will be in the hook range of other species.  Baits, I would ask the B&T to recommend whatever for what is running at the time you plan to fish.  You can't go wrong with clams, bunker chunks or squid.

I hope this helps but if you need more help like it has been mentioned just PM any one of the guys that surf fish a lot and ask away.

BTW Welcome Aboard...

Happy Catching

Paul