What Line for Surf Fishing? Type and Strength

Like all styles of fishing, determining what line to use for surf fishing depends on a couple factors. Mainly, you should figure out where you’ll be fishing (rocky/reefy/sandy) and what you’ll be targeting.

In this article, I’ll be overviewing what line to use for surf fishing on the west coast. There are 4 main species groups that we target here in So Cal and for each, it’s best to use different fishing line and a different setup altogether.

If you’re looking for a comparison of when to use braid and when to use mono, here’s my article on surf fishing with braid vs mono. For now, let’s dive in to which line to use for surf fishing!

Carolina Rig for Corbina, Croaker, Surfperch and More

• Main Line – 15lb monofilament
• Leader Line – 15lb fluorocarbon

The first style of surf fishing we’ll talk about is the one commonly known as “light tackle surf fishing”. In this style, anglers will typically use a Carolina rig paired with sandcrabs for bait. The target species include corbina, spotfin croaker, yellowfin croaker, surfperch, and anything else that might eat sand crabs. 

For this style, you truly never know what you might catch. You might catch something as small as a 7 inch surfperch, as big as a 28 inch corbina, or even sharks and some rays weighing upwards of a hundred pounds. While it’s not super common to catch these massive fish on sand crabs, I would expect it to happen a few times a summer.

For the reasons listed above, I recommend using 15-pound monofilament fishing line for your mainline and finish it off with 15-poind fluoro. I can guarantee you these fish are NOT like shy so don’t worry about that. 15 is the right number to provide you the capability of landing these bigger fish while still matching your setup to your target species.

Curious about the whole setup, I use for this set of species? Here’s a detailed overview of the exact gear and tackle I use for each species set.

Jerkbaits for Halibut and Surfperch

• 20lb braid (30 if you want) to 15-20lb fluoro

The first lure most anglers think of when it comes to surf fishing in So Cal is the Lucky Craft. Jerkbaits are a great option and can yield you anything from surfperch to halis to seabass and much more. 

However, given the nature of the jerkbait, these lures will most commonly catch halibut and surfperch. When choosing which line for surf fishing with a jerkbait, I recommend using either 20 or 30-pound braid paired with either a 15 or a 20-pound leader of fluorocarbon. I personally go 20 to 20 but I’m not always consistent with that. 

The reason I use 20-pound line instead of what I use below for swimbaits (30-pound) is because with jerkbaits, I fish mostly sandy beaches with minimal (but definitely some) hard structure. So you don’t need to worry too much about fish dragging you into reef etc.

Curious about the whole setup, I use for this set of species? Here’s a detailed overview of the exact gear and tackle I use for each species set.

Swimbaits for Halibut, Calico, White Seabass

• Main Line – 30lb braid
• Leader Line – to 30lb fluorocarbon

If I think the habitat I’m fishing holds more surfperch and halibut, I’m likely throwing jerkbaits. Makes sense right? 

Well, if I’m fishing for bigger species more commonly found in reefy habitats like white seabass, calico, and also halibut, I’ll use swim boats rigged weedless. There are a number of ways to make a swimbait weedless, but surf fishing with the Texas Rig is my favorite method.

Given that these fish are typically bigger and more likely to drag my line over reef and into rocky holes, I up my line strength for both my braid (mainline) and fluorocarbon (leader line). 

Curious about the whole setup, I use for this set of species? Here’s a detailed overview of the exact gear and tackle I use for each species set.

Cut Bait for Sharks and Rays

• Main Line – 50lb braid
• Shock Top – 100lb mono
• Leader Line – 90lb wire

Sharks and rays are a whole different game. For these, you’re most often fishing sandy beaches (sometimes intermittent reef) but they’re both very powerful and also heavy.

When it comes to choosing what line for surf fishing for sharks and rays, it’s recommended to use the following. Spool about 200-300 yards of 50lb braid for you main line, with a shock top of around 25-50 yards of 100lb monofilament, and the a 90lb wire lead.

Curious about the whole setup, I use for this set of species? Here’s a detailed overview of the exact gear and tackle I use for each species set.