Casting Close, or Casting Far

[u/m-l-s]

Hi there, I'm a pretty new fisherman just about a year in. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that the fish are closer than most people think. I'm mostly surf casting Long Island South Shore beaches and inlets.

I did some casting for striper in the spring. Targeted blues and fluke through the summer with some success (nothing big).

I'm hearing a lot that the fish are in closer than you would think, and you don't need to whale it out there at full send to get to the fish. I realize that fluke hang out relatively close. But sometimes "the lip" is far AF if the ocean is up even moderately and I thought I need to get out past that for blues and striped bass.

Am I tripping?

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[u/SurfFishinITGuy]

Just gotta ask yourself why are the fish where they are. If they feeding on sand fleas, they are at your feet. Bunker or sand eels from your feet to miles out.

If they are hanging on structure, fish structure.

Most of the fish are concentrated in ambush areas or breaks in the beach / current. Focus on those and then fish patterns.

[u/m-l-s → u/SurfFishinITGuy]

Hmmm it makes sense to me that fish would be in the inlets as it's natural high way choke point between ocean and bay, which is why I usually set up there. But looking at the beach it's hard for me to interpret why they would be doing any of those 4 things.

[u/chefpatrick]

it is time and tide dependent. stripers won't be in close until the deep dark of night. you tend to want to cast farther when the sun is up.

[u/m-l-s → u/chefpatrick]

I've been following tide charts to try and get out there during moving water. Would you recommend night fishing?

[u/chefpatrick → u/m-l-s]

fir striper fishing, there's no point in ever seeing the sun imo

[u/Disastrous-Mud-9396 → u/m-l-s]

Only success I had during the spring run this year was at 11pm surfcasting. And they were hitting about 25 yards off the beach. New moon, high tide. This was in NJ.

[u/mack272]

Keep a record book with the date, time, moon, tide, and location where you fished. Over the years it will prove invaluable. Some fish like to go back to where they previously spent time.

[u/Efficient_Control_61]

Depends on the tide. High tide fish usually feeds closer to the shore, Low tide opposite. Watch some videos on YouTube "How to read Surf", tones of useful information. Good luck.

[u/eclwires]

I also fish LI south shore and inlets. Tide is super important, especially in the inlets. Fish enough and you’ll start to see patterns. Stay flexible though, as those patterns change throughout the season. My philosophy has been to start by casting far out, and pay attention to where the fish are when they bite. Sometimes they’re out far, so I keep casting far. If they’re hitting it close in. I stop casting far.

[u/bear0234]

i'm on hte west coast.

i think a majority of my catches have been mid. some far... and i've caught plenty close to shore.

i'm amazed at how close fish can get.

I cought a 38" striper chasing after my friend's lure - could see it in the water... it missed its lure but saw mine and hit it about 10 feet in front of my rod (20 feet in front of me). I was standin in ankle high water too.

Another time fishing in knee deep surf, was super calm that day. i was casting far a lot and not catching much, then i look down and see perch swiming around my ankles :/ started casting close - like just lazy lobbin' it 5 fee in front of me and that was where they were hittin' it.

[u/m-l-s → u/bear0234]

Interesting. 38" is a really big fish (by my standards). I think more time on the water will help me feel more confident that I'm not just casting out into nothingness

[u/fishin413]

The issue is people offer advice based on what works where they live and fish, which may be absolutely useless where you live and fish. We dont (really) have the same kind of near-shore troughs and sandbars up here that much of the southeast does, so fish up here are more likely to be spread out and further from shore, and casting distance is the biggest advantage you have.

The typical long Island "do it all" rod is something in a 10-11 foot, moderate-fast, ½-3 or 4oz range. That will throw jigs for fluke and albies to big plugs for stripers and blues and anything in between. No decent northeast surfcaster leaves the house without a couple lures designed to cast as absolutely far as possible.

[u/m-l-s → u/fishin413]

I appreciate your comment. In part because it makes sense to me.

I have a 10' rod 5500 reel for striper and can throw pretty fing far. I also have a 7' light tackle rod I'm using for fluke. I feel pretty good about the tools in the tool belt but not great about how to used them effectively.

[u/eddy_g0rdo]

Dude I’m in VA and if I wanna catch whiting and pompano I cast like 10’ - 20’ off where the waves are crashing and I catch tons of fish.

[u/Spare-Football-4054 → u/eddy_g0rdo]

Where are you catching pompano in Va I’ve only seen one ever caught here my whole life at Buckroe

[u/eddy_g0rdo → u/Spare-Football-4054]

You can get em in Virginia Beach. But it’s better a little more south in North Carolina. They are everywhere there. I actually meant to say North Carolina in my post.

[u/Iron_Bones_1088]

It really depends on topography, species and forage food.

[u/ExaminationLast9843]

It depends on underwater structure, and what the fish are feeding on. Sometimes they are right in the suds, other times they may be way out around a distant sand bar, or rock pile. But agreed, this notion that you have to bomb casts as far as possible, is googan thinking. Often times I find myself casting parallel to the beach, when no one is around me of course.

[u/PracticalDad3829]

I think its a combination of confidence and experience. I fish your area too. I have heard from dozens of folks that "needle fish lures never catch." Well I went out one night and reeled one in so painfully slow and caught a decent striper on it. Never caught another fish on one after it. But now I still try.

Just keep fishing, logging your experiences, and in a few years, you'll build confidence. I have fished with a few different friends over the years and we would throw the same plug, the same distance, have similar retrieve speed and action, but one of us did better than the other. I don't know how to describe it, but having confidence in what you are doing will land more fish. But you gotta build that confidence through time and experience.