Tips on weights for your surf fishing arsenal

By Rich King, Special to Delaware State News
Posted 12/30/21

This overcast weather is perfect for striped bass, and here I am working and writing about it. Coincidentally, anglers have been catching stripers from boats off Cape May and still north. That is …

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Tips on weights for your surf fishing arsenal

Posted

This overcast weather is perfect for striped bass, and here I am working and writing about it. Coincidentally, anglers have been catching stripers from boats off Cape May and still north. That is good to hear. There has been a random school or two along the beaches and a couple miles out as well. Go fishing and find the action or hear about it later is the game. I recommend early morning, late evening and all day in overcast conditions. You never know.

Soaking bunker chunks on the beach is your best bet bait-wise for any action from migratory striped bass. I do know a few anglers that use green crabs and they have worked. Those fish were just up in green crab country, so it makes sense. If you are looking for a bait alternative to bunker, a big fat live blue crab (legal size) would be nice to try as well.

Throwing plugs and lures works, too, but is a lot of work for most anglers. Bait and wait is usually preferred. I’d do both. Casting in waders and wet/dry gear keeps you warm. In some cases it looks funny, too.

Otherwise it is skates and mostly spiny dogfish along the beaches. Beach combing has been good for the collectors, not to mention the exercise. You might not catch anything but walking and casting is a great way to practice surf casting with some exercise.

Tautog at the inlets has been decent action with occasional keepers. Green crabs are still in shops and frozen sand fleas. Boats are still going out for tautog when they can but are starting to turn their attention to striped bass.

White perch are still good action for the dinner table, using minnows, grass shrimp or bloodworms. I found a Sabiki rig with shrimp I want to try on these perch to see if it matches the hatch, so to speak. Perch jigs on bobbers work fine. Fly anglers are picking a few up as well. A half-ounce Mepps silver spinner is good for white perch.

Maryland has updated their creel limits for several species for the 2022 coming year, effective Jan. 1. Check their website for more information.

Delaware has more deer hunting seasons coming. Get your pistols ready, boys, we’re going wild west. There should be a dress code for pistol season. Three-piece camo suits? Camo wingtips? The state could do a photo contest for best “Goodfellas” costume.

If you are looking at all the newer weights for surf fishing, the surf claws or snag sinkers are good to add to your arsenal for rough conditions. Even the one-ounce ones work for the calmer wave but heavier current days.

Surf claws are delta shaped with a hollow center - the corner “claws” dig into the bottom and hold or “snag” the bottom. These are one of the next-best choices when frog tongue, storm or pyramid sinkers are not holding bottom. Surf claws are perfect for not only rough surf fishing conditions but strong currents as well.

Some surf fishing beaches have heavy current and harder sandy bottoms, such as Florida. Surf claws anchor in well in those conditions. These are the sinkers you use before you decide to try Sputniks or break-away sinkers.

In the softer sands of the Delmarva beaches, surf claws bury fast and can be difficult to retrieve. That is the only down side to using these in Delaware. Keep a constant pressure when the sinker gets jammed in the sand. Eventually it will break free. If you yank too hard it could snap your line. Yanking hard will also stretch and weaken your fishing line. Slow, direct pressure will break a surf claw free, or any rough conditions sinker.

Once it is too rough for a surf claw, you have to step up to the Sputnik or break-away sinker. Once I have to get beyond a Sputnik, either I drive the truck in to hold bottom, or go home. I prefer the latter, and so does the truck.

Another sinker to add to your arsenal for the calm days is the flat sinker. These do just that, lie flat on the bottom. ln low current and light wave conditions, these hold and are relatively inexpensive. They are perfect for top and bottom rigs during the summer, especially on the Delaware bay beaches.

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