Surf Fishing with Live Bait: The Secret to Catching Giants!
Have you ever thought about using live bait for surf fishing? No bait or lure catches more fish than live bait. When you present a natural meal to your target species, it’s extremely tough for a fish to pass that up. That said, surf fishing with live bait is arguably the most productive method out there and live bait is quite likely the best bait for surf fishing.
What is Live Bait?
Live bait is essentially any bait you use that is living at the time you hook it. To name a few…
- sand crabs (sand fleas)
- sand worms, bloodworms, lugworms
- crabs
- anchovies
- grunion
- sardines
- mullet
- mackerel
- herring
For all the anglers who like to target species like corbina, spotfin croaker, yellowfin croaker etc., they know, sand crabs are the best bait for surf fishing. Why? Because sand crabs are what these species naturally feed on during the summertime.
While sand crabs might not be your first thought when you hear the term “live bait”, they are in fact live bait. But, in this article, we’ll be honing in on the more traditional version of live bait – live bait fish… specifically, grunion.
How to Surf Fish with Live Bait
The method we use when surf fishing with live bait is a standard Carolina rig (just like surf fishing with sand crabs) but you have the option of using a stinger hook or not using a stinger (trap/trailer) hook. Not using a stinger hook could result in you losing fish to tail bites, but it also keeps the bait alive longer and swimming more freely and naturally. In the story above, no stinger hooks were used.
I would use the same rod depicted in my lure throwing set up at the bottom of this page. I’d also use the same line, except where the leader is tied line-to-line on the lure throwing set up, you should just replace the Carolina rig leader with your heavy mono (anything 30lb or up).
Same swivels and same egg weights as shown on my page on surf fishing with a Carolina rig and same type of hook but up the size to a 1 or 1/0 hook.
Surf Fishing with Live Bait vs. Lures
The other night, I took a one night trip with a couple buddies to go fishing during a grunion run. After an unforgettable experience, we’ve got some results to talk about. Here’s a brief synopsis of the night from my buddy, Gary.
This was originally written as Gary’s Instagram post(@californiasurffishing), so you’ll see our insta handles rather than our names.
The Story
“The night started slow. Real slow. Somehow, the grunion were not running. Surf fishing at night can be tough… especially if the grunion aren’t running. It was looking like a bust. However, once in a while we could feel a grunion touch our feet as a wave rolled up onto the shoreline and receded. There was hope. @sd_surfslayer started having some success on swimbaits, catching a nice assortment of fish including a sweet surf cuda. The bite wasn’t hot, but if the grunion were to run, a switch might flip.
Well, the grunion never really ran. BUT, within a minute of each other, @rottweilers_von_der_sol and I were each able to grab a grunion. This was the ONLY grunion I was able to catch all night but I got him and put him on my hook.
I cast out. Water was full of weeds. Cast a couple more times with the same grunion (the grunion is basically dead at this point). All of a sudden, I feel BIG weight on my line. It starts running north and pulls me all the way to @rottweilers_von_der_sol. Before he has a chance to get his line out of the water, our lines tangle. This fish is running like crazy and I’m tangled with my buddy, trying to figure out what to do.
In the moment, I wasn’t sure what to do, but @sd_surfslayer starts coaching me, and I’m grateful he does because I had started panicking.
The fish keeps running, but after a few minutes I’m able to gain some ground (all while my buddy’s line is wrapped around mine). After another minute or so, the seabass is tired, and I can feel there isn’t much time left in the fight. At this point, I’m starting to believe we’re gonna land it.
Then the unthinkable happens. My buddy’s line that was already tangled with mine wraps around my reel. I can no longer turn the handle. @sd_surfslayer thinks quickly and tells me to walk backwards up the beach. With brute force, I pull this monster onto the sand. Through the darkness, @rottweilers_von_der_sol makes his way from the shoreline, up the sand with this monster of a white seabass.
What a night with the boys!
The Conclusion: Live Bait Is Better than Lures
One buddy was lucky enough to fish two nights while the three of us together could only make the trip for one night. The first night resulted in 10 – 12 white seabass, 2 barracuda and one yellowfin croaker. While he caught 3 on swimbaits in about an hour, the rest of his fish came on live grunion in the next two hours. Live bait was way more productive than lures.
The next night, I committed to swimbaits the entire night as grunion were tough to come by. I got about 3 hours of fishing in while my buddies got only 20 minutes of fishing in with grunion (they spent the rest of the time trying to catch the few grunion that showed).
Oh, and one buddy fished swimbaits for another 45 minutes. So, with close to 4 hours of swimbait fishing, I landed 4 calicos, 1 barracuda, and one yellowfin croaker (buddy skunked on lures). With a combined 20 minutes of soak time on the live grunion, Gary got the only fish but it was one heck of a fish!
So while lures yielded about 1.5 fish an hour over the course of two nights, live grunion yielded almost 5 fish an hour. It’s also worth noting that all the biggest fish were caught on live bait as opposed to lures.
Why Use Lures?
You might be wondering why this section of the article even exists after all that hyping up on “surf fishing with live bait”. Well, the answer is that it’s way more doable 99% of the time. Grunion runs don’t happen every night, let alone all year. In addition, you never know if they’ll show up to the beach you show up to.
Here are some pros to surf fishing with lures.
- Live Bait isn’t always an option.
- Lures are always with you.
- You can cast lures further than live bait.
- Lures still catch fish very well.
- You can control placement and presentation better with lures.
Along with these pros, we’ve had very similar days and nights surf fishing with lures and catching white seabass from shore and many other large fish. There’s also this video to prove the success you can have while fishing with lures if live bait isn’t an option.
My Lure Throwing Set Up
- Rod: Okuma SST-S-902HA – 1/2-2oz | 10-30lb | 9ft | H | MF
- Reel: Penn Spinfisher VI (3500 or 4500)
- Main Line: 30-pound braid
- Leader Line: 30-pound mono
- Lure Options:
At the end of the day, it makes sense that live bait is such a productive option. But, there are many anglers who find much more joy in fooling a fish to take on an artificial. It’s a different game and clearly requires more finesse and active work. That’s not to say surf fishing with live bait doesn’t require skill, work or finesse, but it’s a different game and I’m learning to love all aspects of all these games.
