by: Joe Sheaffer
Many anglers love to spend the day fishing along our Florida beaches. With the warmer conditions of summer, the beach can be a great place to fish and keep fairly comfortable in the heat. There are many ways to fish along the surf and most of these can be productive. Many different presentations also have their place when it comes to beach fishing. I would encourage anglers to take advantage of the many opportunities that are available along the Florida coastline. Enjoying the incredible fishery that we are so blessed with. My favorite way to fish along the surf is to walk and sight fish. For me sight fishing doesnât mean that Iâm just looking for visible fish. Iâm looking for bait, birds, structure, and unusual features that may hold fish. I look for deeper sections along the sandbars, or a blowout where the water escapes through a sandbar. I look for noticeable points that stick out along the shore. Rocks or man-made structures that find their way along the beach from storms or heavy surf. All these and other features can and will hold fish. The more distance I cover, the more time I spend walking the more of the features I notice. Fish are very opportunistic, and they are going to hold or be around areas that cause breaks or changes in the current flow. These areas usually will attract smaller fish or bait and they are going to take advantage of that. Identifying these areas will definitely allow anglers to be more successful? The negative for many people is distance and time. How far do you need to go to find that area that will be most productive? Many features we can find on a satellite map, unfortunately the beaches and these features change quite often, here today gone tomorrow. Some days It doesnât take me long to find or figure out and area, I might walk a few hundred yards but there are days I am willing to walk a couple of miles. For me I need all the exercise I can get but it can be a chore walking that far in the sand. The positive, many times your efforts will be rewarded when you find an awesome area that has a large concentration of fish, and you have them all to yourself. Enjoy our beaches, good luck and keep casting.