Thread: October Fishing

Originally Posted by backwoods

It's nice to have an official spokesperson along to tell every tourist what you have caught, what bait you are using, and why you aren't fishing at x,y, or z.

Hint: have cards printed ;-) lol

Originally Posted by The_Duke

Ok so aside from my fishing poles and tackle, what are the must haves for surf fishing?

Cooler with ice, long needle nose pliers, sand spikes for rods to stand in, Aerator for live shrimp, insulated bait bucket, hand trucks or beach cart for hauling everything, umbrella, sunscreen, wide brimmed hat, camera, patience, sense of wonder, ability to enjoy catching and not catching, ....and uhh....I forget what else.

I usually stay at 4 seasons for a few weeks to a month every fall. At that time of year there is a group of regulars there that come every fall. Some of them for 15 years or more. Most are friendly and helpful at that time and willing to offer suggestions to a newcomer.

Originally Posted by bodebum

Cooler with ice, long needle nose pliers, sand spikes for rods to stand in, Aerator for live shrimp, insulated bait bucket, hand trucks or beach cart for hauling everything, umbrella, sunscreen, wide brimmed hat, camera, patience, sense of wonder, ability to enjoy catching and not catching, ....and uhh....I forget what else.

Awesome! Much appreciated!
What kind of portable aerator and insulated bait bucket would I need?

Originally Posted by Pier#r

Hint: have cards printed ;-) lol

Great Idea, ill do just that. From now until my trip I'm going to look over and memorize fish Identification as much as possible.

Originally Posted by The_Duke

Great Idea, ill do just that. From now until my trip I'm going to look over and memorize fish Identification as much as possible.

I have a "limits" card like this taped to the inside-top of my tackle box. I'll change it out if I'm fishing in FL. It serves as mostly a notice to enforcement personnel that I'm mindful of the restrictions. I also keep a tape measure in the top of my tackle box for the same purpose. I've had an enforcement officer ask me, before, "How do you know that your fish are legal size?" I show him/her the measuring tape.

Oh -- about the kind of aerator -- I use the one called, "Bubble Box" and it works really well. I use a bigger, five gallon insulated bucket in the warmer months (holds more water, of course) and a smaller, half-sized one in the Spring and Fall (easier to carry). Pretty sure that you can get them at J & M, when you get your bait.

Our sand spikes are 1 1/2" PVC pipe, cut to about 36" long, with a 45 degree angle on one end. We take them with us on our trip, and leave them there at the house we rent, or give them to someone.

After reading another post in this forum I've decided on buying the Penn Fierce II combo. Its cheap enough to where I can buy two of them, but looks like its a pretty decent rod and will hopefully hold up. Everywhere I looks it has great reviews. The reels seems to be stellar, but the few people who gave it sub par reviews said the rod was a bit weak. Again on every store I was looking at it had a 5/5 or 4/5 rating with lots of reviews.

I asked in another thread but Ill ask here as well, how do you guys transport your rods on your drive to the beach? Will be driving in a small ford escape so I cant really fit the rods in the car with the wife and kiddos. I know I cant be the only who's ran into this problem lol. My wife's car gets way better gas millage than my truck, otherwise I'd throw them in the bed.

Fishing around the docks at 4 seasons (if you are staying there) can produce pretty good.

All of our rods are 2 pc., just because of that pesky transport issue.