I'm meeting a buddy in Corpus this weekend (we've got work un the area) and we are going to stay an extra day and fish the PINS surf. Both of us fish quite a bit but neither of us has done any surf fishing, so I come to TexAgs for pointers.

My impression is that surf fishing is getting bait into a gut and waiting, but I don't know:

1. Which gut
2. Best way to get said bait there
3. Rigging tips to keep said bait in said gut once it is there.

Any advice is appreciated

If its flat you can wade the 1st-3rd guts for trout with conventional tackle. if you're talking about setting up the big lines for sharks and reds then get a kayak and paddle your baits out past the 3rd gut and surf on the way back in

Do you have a castnet? If so, you should be able to sight cast for mullet.

Get some Fish Bites shrimp flavor, put them on a double drop leader with small hooks, throw in the first gut, and catch whiting for bait.

Put smaller live mullet or cut whiting and big mullet on a large circle hook and throw in the second or third gut (depending on how much line you have / how big your reel is) with a 1-4oz spider sand weight (depending on how tough it is), stick it in a rod holder, and drink beer.

How far down do you plan on going? Do you have a 4x4?

PINS has a hotline that they update daily that gives driving and surf conditions. Definitely check that.

Will you have 4wd? That's pretty much imperative for PINS.

My typical way to fish PINS is to slowly drive the beach looking for signs of bait working or being chased by evidence of big fish. When you see it get out & fish. You often don't need to cast beyond the 1st/wade gut and can barely get your feet wet.

Here is how I make my bait leaders and casting leaders

http://www.tx-sharkfishing.com/surf-fishing/leaders/

Great info so far, thanks!

I do have 4wd as well as shovels and an air compressor so i can deflate/inflate tires.

I'm bringing big bull red type rods as well as a flats rod.

Agreed with everyone's posts, above. I fish mostly the upper coast, but its virtually the same. Double drop leader with shrimp-flavored fish-bites. I'll catch a bunch of 12" whiting (wife enjoys fishing for these), then turn around and use the whiting as bait (cut or whole) on my big rods kayaked out a few hundred yards for shark and bull reds. Depending on the bait you are using, I'll use anywhere from 2-8oz spider weights to keep the bait from moving.

4x4, a shovel, lots of extra water, and a portable air compressor help a lot when you drive in the sand.

Bighamp nailed it.

Spider weights to hold if it's rough at all.

On the cut whiting, the heads last the longest so that's the first part I use.

PINS drops off fairly quick. There will be fish in the first gut also. I've had days where the whiting could only be caught in the first gut. Stagger your rods until you find them.

You want some kind of structure like a deeper gut, washouts, or point in the shoreline. Small coquina shells crushed up is a good sign to look for for reds, drum, and whiting as well.

If the water is clear throw touts, spoons and topwaters.

Good info so far. Also, the farther down you go on PINS the deeper the guts get, edpecially the first one. So be careful trying to wade through to the bar.

I'm getting excited; this has gone from a "lets drink beer on the beach" day to a "i might actually catch fish and have a celebratory beer" day.

Keep in mind there are really 2 distinct styles in fishing the surf.

1) use big, heavy gear and big chunks of cut bait, use a kayak to paddle the baits out 300 yards or so, come back and drink beer while you wait for sharks, bull reds, jacks, etc to eat

or

2) use conventional gear (or fly gear) and wade the surf very much like you would in the bay- look for bait, cover lots of water, throw live shrimp or even touts under a popping cork, or throw topwater plugs, or spoons- you might catch trout, you might catch reds, you might catch smacks or jacks, or you might hook a tarpon or shark on light tackle and watch helplessly as your reel is spooled because there ain't no way you're turning a big shark on light gear.

Option 2 is my favorite though option 1 is enjoyable if you've got a bunch of people- we used to do an Outdoors Board Bull Red Round Up over near High Island- camp on the beach, drink beer, bbq, catch bull reds and the occasional shark, BS with a bunch of Ags. Fun times.

I love PINS but haven't made it down there since the fall of 2013. Last time I went we had really clear water but the wind was blowing about 30 straight in from the gulf so you really couldn't cast out into it (we were all fly fishing). But, we found one spot where a bunch of anchovies had balled up in the first gut and were just getting hammered by smaller jacks, trout, smacks, and ladyfish. We were able to wade out to the 1st bar, turn out backs to the gulf and cast back towards the beach. It was amazing- I literally caught a fish every single cast for about 30 casts in a row and the water was so clear you could see the predators slashing through the balls of bait and ID individual fish as they chased your fly.

You're going to find it crowded as heck...SandFest at Port A and BucDays in Corpus. Over 100K expected on the island this weekend. Eat early...very early.

Bighamp nailed it. I would also recommend going to fiesta and buy a couple of bags of gulf shrimp. Get shrimp fish bits. Put half a shrimp and them a FB.

I went to matagorda last weekend and cast netting was poor.

quote:

---

I'm getting excited; this has gone from a "lets drink beer on the beach" day to a "i might actually catch fish and have a celebratory beer" day.

---

You might literally get sick of catching whiting. Like "dammit, can I just finish a freaking beer!?"

I use the smaller/medium ones for bait until I have enough bait, and keep the bigger ones for fillets.

quote:

---

You're going to find it crowded as heck...SandFest at Port A and BucDays in Corpus. Over 100K expected on the island this weekend. Eat early...very early.

---

Yikes!

Hopefully we can go far enough south to get away from crowds