Approach saltwater fishing as you would freshwater — seek access and fish. Pay attention to your surroundings, and watch for clues about what’s happening beneath the surface. Saltwater species often come closer to shore to pursue prey because the shoreline offers the habitat that creatures like crabs, shrimp, and baitfish need. In a feeding frenzy, larger gamefish chase huge schools of bait to the shore and, once the bait is corralled, the gamefish feed voraciously and fearlessly. You can catch feeding fish if you understand the saltwater fishing basics of tides, structure, and cover.
Tidal inlets, marshes, streams, and bays
To fish saltwater, you need to understand tides; they affect all oceans, but the tidal range varies from place to place. Sometimes the tidal range, which is the difference between high tide and low tide, can be less than a foot. But with irregular coastlines with inlets, bays and streams, the tidal range can be as high as 40 feet! Tides affect fishing just as current does in any stream: The fish understand that tides move baitfish and other prey, and they respond accordingly.Tides are basically predictable, and you can find charts informing you of the high, or rising, tide, as well as the low, or falling, tide. But even predictable ones can be very affected by storms and other natural events thousands of miles away. When the tide is neither rising or falling, it’s known as a slack tide. As in a river, where too little current often makes for difficult fishing, a slack tide tends to slow or stop the bite.
Who’s home?
Gamefish can’t survive without food; tidal inlets, marshes, streams, and bays offer a smorgasbord of baitfish, crabs, shrimp, eels, and the like. In warm climates, places like mangrove coves and flats provide plenty of food, so many species of gamefish will come close to shore in pursuit of it. Tarpon smash through baitfish near the pilings of a causeway. Snook chase bait in the shadows under docks. Stripers pick off bait near a jetty. Bonefish often cruise the flats. Sharks dash through the crashing surf. In late spring and early summer, stripers on the East Coast do the same, and redfish along the Gulf Coast fit this pattern. Saltwater fishing offers anglers a lifetime’s worth of opportunity and adventure.How to fish the water
In places like marshes or brackish streams, a high tide offers gamefish a chance to chase baitfish and other prey in prime habitat. But a low tide will force fish back into deeper water, so time your trips to coincide with moving tides. Falling tides are often as good or better than rising ones. Gamefish will often be following the tide, chasing the displaced bait. Fish inside harbor, bay, and creek mouths during high tides, as fish will be moving into shallow water, and outside bay mouths (downtide) as the tide recedes.All tides can consolidate and move fish. Look for ambush points like rock outcroppings that gamefish use (just as freshwater fish do) to catch prey being carried by the tide. Look for variances in structure — reefs, sandbars, and drop-offs — and watch for signs of fleeing baitfish. Birds won’t help you so much in most freshwater fishing situations, but in saltwater, they’re a valuable aid. Watch birds such as terns and particularly seagulls — they’ll respond to schools of baitfish, and if the birds are following the bait, you can be sure the gamefish are, as well. Sightfishing is often better in saltwater, too, as you can often spot fish like bonefish, tarpon, stripers, bluefin, bluefish, seatrout (specks), and redfish when they come into shallow water to feed. Polarized sunglasses will help you see the fish.
Surf fishing
Waves shake things up and attract everything along the food chain. Stirred up sand displaces everything from zooplankton to crabs, which attract small fish, which of course attract big fish. Surf fishing allows you to fish from the beach or shore, capitalizing on the feeding frenzy sometimes triggered by bait trapped by breaking waves.Who’s home?
Striped bass are popular quarry, but anglers catch everything from bluefish to snook to red drum to even bluefin tuna while surfcasting. Small sharks are often spotted cavorting in the waves, much to the dismay of beach-goers! Understanding the seasonal movements of particular species of fish will help you understand when and where to cast from the surf. Some species make what is called a run, or migration, up and down the coastline, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles. Ask the locals or in bait shops for information about the local runs of various species. DNR Web sites should help with this, as well.How to fish the water
Although some coastal fishing can be done with quality freshwater tackle, surfcasting requires a longer rod. A long spinning or baitcasting rod, say about 10 to 12 feet, allows you to cast heavy weights out beyond the breakers. You can use livebait or lures, depending on the species being targeted.
Fish staging outside a marsh during a falling tide.Watch the water to see the subtle differences in a long stretch of breaking waves. Running roughly parallel to the beach, you’ll often encounter an outer bar, essentially a sandbar that’s more shallow than the bottom on either side of it. Fishing around cuts and dips in the outer bar can be effective, and fish may hold in the drop-offs in front of or behind it.
As with all fishing, the more you observe, the more you learn. Experience trumps anything I can say about surf fishing here. Many anglers wade and fish at night while surf fishing, but know your limits so that you can safely take after more experienced anglers.If you use your freshwater tackle to fish in saltwater, be sure to rinse it thoroughly after you’re done. If you don’t, the saltwater will corrode the inner workings of your reel. And clean it more thoroughly after you get home, oiling and greasing the gears according to the owner’s manual. A local tackle shop or bait shop can do this work for you. If you plan to fish saltwater regularly, buy gear rated for saltwater use, which will feature higher-quality bearings and better seals. Rinse saltwater off all equipment, regardless of the grade.
Fishing piers
While pier fishing lacks the beauty and serenity of stalking bonefish on the flats, it makes up for any shortcomings with convenience. Piers provide a high, stable vantage point for shore-bound anglers (including those who are physically disabled), and offer a safe, inexpensive opportunity to pull fish from the ocean. Most anglers bottom-fish, but it’s possible to cast and retrieve from piers, and some enterprising anglers have developed special techniques to present baits far from the pilings.Who’s home?
Although it’s hard to imagine a cleaner, easier way to fish, pier fishing isn’t just for lazy anglers catching baby fish. Major fish are caught from piers every year, including big striped bass in New Jersey, sharks in South Carolina, and salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Depending on the season and location of the pier, it’s possible to catch a major tarpon or a mess of great-tasting weakfish.How to fish it
Many fish move in and out of the protection offered by the pilings of the pier itself, meaning that good fishing is literally underfoot. You may want to use bottom rigs to present livebait straight down (see the following figure), although you can also cast away from the pier, or let the tide or current carry your offering out. In the Northeast U.S., blackfish (a.k.a. tautog) love pier pilings.One way to present a live bait far from the pier is to use a three-way rig or try this trick: Cast only a sinker far from the pier and then attach a short leader loaded with a hook and live baitfish to the main line with a snap swivel. The baited leader then slides down the line and into the water. After hooking a big fish, either walk down the pier to the beach, or use the landing net on a rope that many piers leave available. Other anglers will likely assist you with the landing.
Anglers bottom-fishing from a pier.