My brother in law is closing on a beach house on the beach down on Galveston's west end. I've seen people out there fishing in the surf but don't know what they are catching, using for bait, etc. Anyone have any experience with surf fishing? What type of equipment do you need? What can you expect to catch? What time of year is best? Thanks
West end....just to make sure, that's the stretch between, say san luis pass and the end of the seawall? eh well regardless, this is probably the slower time of the year. peak time is definitely summer time. but even now you could probably reel in a some good catches. your best bet is probably to use dead squid, shrimp, cut bait, etc. i'm not sure what live shrimp (or other live bait for that matter) will bring in this time of year. but in the summer time, eeeeveryone is going for specks (the mother of game fish recently) using live bait, and plastics under a cork. i guess fish you can expect year round are probably your basic trout, whiting, croaker, catfish, etc. i've never really fished in the winter time, but reading the reports it seems like that's generally what people are catching now. even some flounder. as for equipment, any spincast/casting reel will do. personally i go with a spincast. load that with 10-15lb test line and you should be fine. unless you hook a shark or something then you can kiss that goodbye. haha. anyway hope this helps.
There's a ton of variety: you can catch small fish, big fish; you can fish from the sandbars w/ light tackle or just cast from the sandbars & fish from the beach (w/ a bigger rig); live bait, cut bait or lures; you can fish from the piers; etc... Flounder should be making their run soon, I think. Great time of year for bull reds. Check out "Saltwater Strategies" by one of the guys at Texas Fish & Game magazine. Good, informative book for beginners. Probably have it, or something like it, at Academy. If you're in Houston, head over to Cut Rate Tackle, next to Carter's Country on I10, or to Beach Bait & Tackle down by Quintana, and talk to the guys there after you've done some research. Academy will have better prices on gear, though, but it's a crapshoot whether anyone there knows what they're talking about.