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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting

Surf fishing in Jacksonville beach is fun, easy and your guaranteed to catch something!  Even if the fish don't bite, you can still catch some rays, a nice sea-breeze, a tan, and all the other good stuff that comes along with Florida beaches. No license is required for fishing from the shoreline in Florida. With a minimal amount of tackle and bait you can enjoy a fun filled day of surf fishing and you may even bring home some fresh Atlantic seafood.

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting

One of the very best baits, for surf fishing at Jacksonville Beach is finger mullet.  Finger mullet are freely available in the surf, several months of the year.  All you need is a cast net,and you can pull in more finger mullet than you'll know what to do with. The mullet in the picture above were caught August 17th 2013. 

Read more: My Favorite Bait (Finger Mullet)

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
It\'s very easy to put up finger mullet for future use.  During the late summer, fall and early winter, when mullet are plentiful in the surf, I typically put a few dozen bags of mullet in the freezer.  When I return home from fishing at the beach, I simply dump out my left over mullet in the grass, rinse off the sand, and put them in pint and quart bags.  I put these in the freezer, and during the rest of the year, I just grab a bag or two and head to beach.  They thaw very quickly at the beach and are usally good for a couople more days if put them in the fridge between fishing trips.  Mind you I have an old fridge in the garage that is used mostly for bait (and a few beers) as it tends to smell a bit fishy.

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
I was out in the surf trying to catch some bait with my cast net, when I noticed something much heavier than finger mullet in the net.  I gently dragged the net on shore and discovered a large horseshoe crab.  It\'s not too unusuall to see horseshoe crab shells that have washed up on the beach, but this is the first time I\'ve seen a live one since I was out scalloping as a kid.  I never realize how spinny the shell of these crabs are, until I tried to get this one out of the cast net.  This horeshoe crab seemed perfectly healthy and after a few pictures from beachgoers and some close inspections from curious children, I released him back into the surf, and he slowly disappeared.

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
This time of year (fall and winter) finger mullet are usually plentiful in the surf.  The mullet can usually be found in fairly shallow water, depending on tide and surf conditions.  As you can see in the above picture, the mullet can sometimes be found in water less than ankle deep.  The mullet are all heading south down the coast. 

Read more: Catching Finger Mullet in a Cast Net

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
I bought this Penn Pursuit II, about 3 months ago, mainly for surf fishing.  It's a bit smaller than the Penn Pursuit, and Penn Fierce, which I also use.  I wanted it to be a little lighter, so my 11 year old son could use it for surf fishing. I have it on a Tidewater 10ft pole.  So far we have used it on about a dozen fishing trips.  Overall I am very pleased with this reel.  It has a very smooth and tight feel.

Read more: Product Review - Penn Pursuit II

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting

If you've read any of my surf fishing reports, you've probably seen me mention fish bites artificial bait.  I use it everywhere one might fish with shrimp.  I've found fishbites to be just as effective as natural shrimp for atracting fish and getting bites.

Read more: Fishbites - Artificial Bait

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
We were  trying to catch some pompano last Sunday, fishing with live shrimp.  My neighbor Emily got the first bite of the day, and hauled in a fish I had never seen before.  As you can see in the picture above, it looks a little bit like a shark and a little bit like a stingray.  It's a guitarfish, which is a type of ray.  It put up a good fight.  We snapped a few pictures then tossed him back in the surf.

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
One of the most common questions I get while I'm standing on the beach surf casting  is "What kind of fish do you catch?".  Here is a list of fish species I commonly catch in the surf, in order of most commonly caught to least commonly caught.

Read more: What Kind of Fish Can I Catch From the Beach?

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Category: Surf Fishing - Surf Casting
Bluefish are one of the most common surf fishing species.  Bluefish travel in schools and feed voraciously usually on baitfish.  When a school of bluefish is nearby, it's hard to catch anything else.  They will strike nearly anything that looks like a piece of mullet.  Finger mullet is an excellent bait and works great, live or dead.  Bluefish have sharp teeth and are very skilled at swimming by and biting off pieces of bait, so I've found that cutting the mullet into smaller pieces results in hooking more fish.  I recommend using a wire leader to prevent line cuts from their sharp teeth.  Bluefish are regulated in the state of Florida, so please check here for current Florida saltwater fishing regulations.