I have been trying to find some new spots to mix things up a bit, and I have had mixed results. I have followed this forum for a while, and watched richtroxler’s videos on YouTube among others to try and figure things out, and I have a question for you guys.
When you are scoping out a trough, how big do you think it needs to be to hold fish? I’m asking in regards to both the depth and the distance of the sandbar. I have found spots that I think should produce and don’t, and visa versa. I know a lot of it is just being there at the right time, but I always wonder if a spot is worth camping at for a while.
A bad day of fishing beats a good day of work anytime.
I like troughs that have water at low tide. Position yourself near the end that dumps out, usually a bit deeper there. Walk the trough. Look for sections of course sand and larger pieces of shell and rock. This indicates deeper water, fish those areas. And yes, they are close…sometimes really close, at low tide, ocassionally 20’ or less. Knee deep is plenty of water.
Here is a spot that had it all from earlier this year, water was still pretty cold then. Will probably hit it a few days this week. This was at dead low, as I was leaving the beach.
I used to fish a trough on SI that looked a lot like this before last year’s great flood. I always did well there. Thanks for the response, it was exactly the answer I was looking for. I have found a few spots on my own that I was wondering were worth bothering with and thanks to your answer I will try them again now that the water is warmer. It’s like they say: knowing is half the battle
Interesting topic I actually had some good result last sunday… At first I was hesitant to drop on the trough because at low tide it is only knee deep and there’s sandbar after it to get into the deeper water but its kinda awkward casting farther past the trough and sandbar so I decided let me cast it on the trough… Well gave me good result on the incoming tide… Catch 3 big black drum on it.
yeah I didn’t expect it I just follow some of the tips and hints from richtroxler’s videos on YouTube at first I was hesitant coz it looks impossible but when the tides comes in boom!
Please don’t get the impression that I am speaking as an expert, because I am not and personally do not know one. Surf fishing is my passion and I won’t waste my time fishing a beach that does not have troughs or a creek mouth. A beach that has both is a fishing “honey hole”. It is not so much about troughs as it is about bait. Troughs are “bait highways”. That really makes the fall the best time, but fish are there as soon as the water warms. Schools of finger mullet will draw in redfish (channel bass) and blues in late summer and fall as well as some flounder and an occasional trout. Glass minnows will draw in small blues and a few flounder and trout during the spring and early summer. Coquina clams are around spring through fall and draw in black drum. Sand fleas (mole crabs) draw in pompano, redfish, and black drum. All these baits are available during the fall and that is when I climb out of my boat and hit the surf. I have caught fish during all phases of the tide. You don’t really have to change your lateral location on the beach that much, you just have to move in and out as the water rises and falls and as the trough fills and empties. Ideally, you want the ocean, a sand bar, a trough, and the beach. At dead low I fish the ocean from the exposed sandbar. As the tide rises, I fall back to the beach and cast to the sandbar. You don’t need but about 12" of water on the bar for the fish to be there. The bar itself is a prime feeding area. As the tide peaks and starts to fall, I fish the trough until it becomes too shallow. I have caught many nice redfish and black drum in the troughs just a few feet from the beach. I catch almost all the black drum on shrimp. Redfish will hit almost anything (shrimp, finger mullet, fish chunks, crab chunks). Again, the key is the availability of bait in the water. Low tide will tell you a lot about that. Look for schools of finger mullet, mole crab pieces, large quantities of coquina clam shells, etc. In general, the larger troughs will give you more
