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I would like to learn how to catch trout in the surf. I would be happy to return the favor and take someone out on my skiff and pole them around the flats to sightcast to redfish either fly or spin. If anyone is interested let me know.

I wish I could take you up on your invitation to take me fly fishing, but alas, those days are behind me.

I spent many a week end surf fishing the padre Island national seashore when we lived in Corpus. I had a good friend who was an experienced surf fisherman. He taught me how to spot cuts in the guts (sand bars) which proved to be hot spots during incoming and out going tides. This information turned my surf fishing from a hit or miss proposition into a considerably more productive endeavor. And, the propensity to hang lunker trout is constantly on your mind.

Walking along the second or third sandbar (tide dependent) casting live shrimp under a popping cork into the deeper water is a popular method that can produce significant trout action. We, however, all used a variety of artificial lures, finding that the color pink was usually productive in the clear water that we preferred to fish in. Due to the usual on shore winds that are prevalent when surf fishing, I found blind casting a fly rod to be too tiring. But others of my surf fishing buddies, hoping for calm water and light winds, preferred nothing other than whipping the surf with fly lines.

I had some fantastic adventures, thanks to surf fishing. It's different than fishing from a boat in so many ways. Perhaps, I felt even closer to, and a more integral part of the action. The variety of fish that can be caught also added to the experience...,especially when my favorite eating fish, the pompano, were active.

Kayak Kid,
Can you share some insight on how to find these rips or cuts in the sand bars.
I assume you look for areas were waves are breaking to the left and right of the cut, but the water appears more calm in these cuts.

From talking with one guide he said that conditions he looks out for are
1) wind under 20 MPS
2) Waves under 4 feet
3) Not going 2-4 days after a full moon.

Lure presentation and general chaos of the surf is the biggest issue. Looking for cuts close to the beach where a topwater will work is good. However, I think a jig/plastic work the best for presentation. You can cast past the breaker into the gut behind it and jig throughout that water column. The main thing is finding/going when the conditions are suitable for humans and presentation. I think the trout are usually there in June/July, just getting our lures in their face is a different story. Competition with real bait, surf conditions, weed, water clarity, predators, rays, and just the smashing of the surf against one's body make landing a surf trout that much more special. You can always get them on cut bait and double drops too, like we did last weekend.

Get yourself a morning the surf looks like this, wade to the second or third sandbar, cast a Vudu shad into the gut and work it back. I love wading the surf.

There used to be a great primer on Stripers On Line about reading rip currents along the beach -
- unfortunately, all the photo links disappeared in the last year.

I think the surf is all about timing and conditions, things I would normally pay attention to in the bays like moon phases I tend to disregard. The biggest key for me over the years has been finding a first gut that is deeper relative to the surrounding areas, this will take some hunting but has always been my first go to when looking for good areas. Anything from 4-6 feet is excellent. I often see fishermen screw up and completely not pay attention to the first guy, they run out to the second bar or third bar and begin casting as far as possible. I’ve caught many many fish in the first gut and some big ones at that. Once I find a deep first gut I’ll look for cuts or breaks in the waves indicating rips. If you find these 2 things along with some clean water and a little wave action you should find the fish. I generally do not like completely flat days as the trout love to use the waves to glide in and attack the bait when a wave crashes. If the water is clear enough you’ll often see them in the waves. Ideal surf conditions are clean sets at 1-2ft wave height. Lastly, patience is key, if you have all the ingredients be patient as it may not have turned on yet. Wading the surf is by far my favorite thing to do and I’ve caught some of my largest trout doing so. Lures I like to use are topwaters, twitch baits, and soft plastics depending on bait and conditions. I really like a big twitch bait when the surf is a little bigger or water dirty. I’ve caught a bunch of 25in plus on the catch 2000, my got to twitch bait in the surf. Soft plastics I prefer in calmer conditions when it’s easier to stay in contact with the lure. Hope this helps a bit.

@oldtownyakboi - Thanks for the tips on lure selection. I have only thrown topwaters and soft plastics in the surf, but love throwing a big twitch bait in the bay, so I’ll have to give that a try next time out, if conditions are right.