Clumsy fisherman

I am going to try surf fishing for the first time in late June at Folly Island. I have the rod and reel and 30lb braided line. My question is what lb leader line I should use? I will be casting chunk bait on a double hook mounted on wire. I know some people use heavier main line, but 30lb was recommended to me and I already have bought it. Really, if I hook anything that can break 30lb braid, I am not sure I want to catch it anyway as it would probably be a shark or a sting ray.

LOL, I don't expect the color of the line to improve accuracy. I did hope that high visibility line would help me see where the lure is, especially when the wind catches the cast or the lure drifts after landing.

I try to match the color of the braid I use to the color of the water where I will be fishing, hoping that fish won't notice the line. I also use a fluorocarbon leader. Here is my problem: I can't see the line either and my casts are not always very accurate. Consequently I don't know where the lure has landed. What if I used a braided line with a highly visible color? Would this spook the fish?

I am waiting for other responses. I appreciate the comment about the sand spike.

I am trying to decide about which surf spinning rod to buy. I am a novice. I have never surf fished before. We will be traveling to Folly Island, South Carolina and there is what I would call moderate wave and undertow there. So this is not like casting on a Gulf beach that is calmer. I will have to use a 3-4 ounce weight to hold the bait in place. I have tenatively selected a team Daiwa surf spinning rod. I will be using a Daiwa BG 4500 spinning reel. I am only 5'6" tall. I have looked at some 10' rods and was somewhat intimidated by the length. Should I go with the 9' or the 10'? they both have the same rating for line and lure weight. Thanks for any advice you can give.

I understand that it is bad for the rod to exceed the lbs limit for fishing line. Is the limit on the rods for mono only or does it also apply to braid?

Is it necessary to use fluorocarbon leader line or can you just use fluorocarbon line for a leader?

I am planning on trying surf fishing. I have 2 questions: 1. I am looking at Ugly Stik surf spinning rods. There is a 9' and a 10', both medium heavy. I would prefer the 10', but I am only 5'7" tall. Which should I get? Specs of each are about the same. 2. I have a Daiwa 3500 BG spinning reel, which actually is equivalent to a 4000 in other brands. It will hold 240-210 of 30 lb braid, which is what I am planning on using. I caught and reeled in an approximately 20 lb sting ray against the current when fishing from a pier on an inshore creek last summer with this reel and a medium power Ugly Stik inshore rod. Maximum drag of the BG 3500 is 17.6 lbs. I know most surf casting reels are bigger than this, but can I get by with this for starts?

Can someone explain to me how to do that with step by step instructions that a 5 year old can understand?

I rarely use a bait caster. I bought it to be able to cast Texas and Carolina rigs. Now I find that you can cast those with spinning rods. I use the bait caster for plugs and chatter baits. I am not very adept with the bait caster. I have never caught a single fish with a chatter bait or plug. I do much better with spinning equipment and finesse plastics. So, I use the spinning equipment 98% of the time. I have buyer's regret for the bait caster. I would try to sell it, but I guess I need to keep it so I will have one in case I later repent. On the Zebco 33, the spincast reels are getting better and better. Better drag systems and better gear ratios than in the past. The spin cast reels cast magnificently even with cheap rods and are very forgiving. I bought my grandchildren cheap spin cast reels and looked at the specs. Then I wondered why we are buying expensive spinning and casting reels. The spin cast reels do not hold as much line and still don't have as much drag as spinning reels, but how much line and drag do you really need for ordinary fishing? A good spincast reel is able to handle a 5 pound fish.

I caught a bass from a fishing pier while using a 4.75 inch plastic worm on a drop shot rig. When I reeled the bass in and was able to get a look at the hook, the fish wasn't hooked in the mouth, but in outside of it's face, between the eyes, somewhat closer to the right eye than the left. Has anyone had anything like that happen? The fish flopped on the pier for a few seconds, before I could get ahold of it and I can see how it might have dislodged the hook from its mouth. But if that happened, I don't see how it would have hooked itself the way it was hooked when I got to it. It was securely hooked, and it took me longer to get the hook loose than normal. I was almost ready to cut the hook before I got it out. Second, I was fishing from the bank in a different location with a wacky rig with a weedless VMC neko hook, size 1 or 1/0. I had a very strong strike and pull but the fish got away after a couple of seconds. that's not unusual for me, unfortunately. When I reeled my line in the dinger was completely gone. It had been attached to the hook crosswise with rings. Anyone else have this happen?

That is a very expensive rod for me. But I liked the recommendation and I fish plastics most of the time. The rod is terrific. Wish I could remember who on this board made the recommendation.

Wacky rig and drop shot are my favorites. I may try shakey head and carolina rig late in the season. I am land based, no boat. I do have one pier I fish from. I have not caught anything on crankbaits, jigs or spinners. Plastics have worked better.

Your skin can be damaged even on cloudy days.

That's what I have always done.

I am right-handed and have always had the spinning reel handle on the left, so I use the right hand to hold the rod. I have recently noticed people using right side placement for the handle. I saw this on the beach last summer. Is it better to use the dominant hand for the rod or the reel handle?

There have been several posts on this topic. Apparently, the current science is that the fish has a better chance of survival if the line or hook is cut as close as possible to the point in the throat where the fish is hooked. This is about long-term survival. Please, someone correct me, if I am mistaken.

Thank you.

I glad I read this thread. I need to take fewer lures with me on my fishing excursions. I have enough plastics to sink a kayak, if I had one.

Has anyone had any good catches there lately? What lures work best there now?

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my OP. I wasn't more specific in the OP because I wanted a wide range of responses. Currently my family and I take a week vacation on the coast of South Carolina, usually in June, and may try North Carolina in the summer of 2024. It appears that most of what people catch surf fishing where we go during June are sharks and sting rays. I am not interested in catching either nor attracting them to the beach where people, including children, swim and wade. However, I would like a rod that is strong enough to handle bigger fish and throw more weight than the medium power inshore Ugly Stik I used last season. Also, in case I do get a chance to go somewhere that I would like to surf fish, I would like a rod versatile enough to do that. Based on my review of the responses to my OP, I have tentatively settled on the 9' MH Ugly Stik Big Water. I know it is not as sensitive as the ideal, but with spending just one week near the ocean, it doesn't make any sense for me to spend a lot on saltwater fishing equipment or buying multiple saltwater rods to meet every single condition.

Lots of good tips in this thread. I may try the pool noodles.

I have a 2010 camry. I can lean the front passenger seat about halfway down, put the butt of the rod in the floor of the front passenger side. The rod then leans against the front seat and extends over the back seat, but the tip does not touch the headliner or the back seat. Of course, that only works if I am the only person in the car. I don't know whether that will work in your car.

Thank you to everyone for the responses. These have been very helpful and maybe there will be some additional responses. I need a rod that can throw a 2-3 ounce sinker with a 2 hook dropshot rig baited with shrimp, squid or mullet. I have a long story on this board from last summer about my episode with a stingray that I caught from a pier about 8' above the water on an inshore Ugly stik medium 7' inshore rod. The rod was only rated to throw 3/4 weights, but I was throwing a 2 ounce sinker that probably was not heavy enough due to the current. That was very clumsy, but I could get a cast long enough to get the bait out in the river. I was fishing in the river that flows through Edisto Island. I was on the pier close to the mouth of the river. I would like a versatile rod that I could use inshore from a bank or pier, or surf, that will throw bait and sinkers 2-3 ounce weight. I know nothing about saltwater fishing and not much more about fishing, period. I have a Daiwa 3500 BG that may be a bit undersized for saltwater, but is as large as 4000 reels of other brands and has good 17.6 of drag. the reel handled the sting ray that was just a little less than 3 feet wide, wing tip to wing tip a bit less than 3 feet long from tip up to the base of the tail.