Hey guys looks like lately as far as surf fishing goes from some of the websites and what not (tackle shops) that drum and striper and sea bass have been the big catches.  Striper ranging from 32-29 inches.  Drum that are pretty good size with some pups mixed in.  Sea bass on the small side.

Anyone know of some good rigs to catch any of these guys?  This is only my second time out, my last surf fish adventure was a bust and I didn't catch anything.  

Advice on casting and a couple of rigs I can setup as a beginner at salt water?  We will have our own private section of beach as we rented out a cottage on the water from the 23rd to the 26th of the month for memorial day weekend.

So if you could:

List some easy rigs with maybe some how tos or how to websites.

What kind of bait will be my go to this time of year for catching these.  I read something about bunker???

How would you recommend casting?  Put the biggest weight that holds bottom and just launch it out as far as you can?

I surf fish quite a bit, usually in New Jersey sometimes in North Carolina. Here's basically what I do. I'm no expert -this is just personal experience and some might disagree but my friends and I usually do pretty well.

I'd use chunk bunker for the stripers. In New Jersey we use big clams as well but those are probably not available in Chincoteague.

Just tie a simple mono high low rig. Use 40lb mono and tie two short droppers about 8 inches apart. Tie on a barrel swivel to one end and a sinker clip to the other. Attach two big baitholder hooks 6/0-8/0 depending on what size stripers are around. Cut your bunker vertically into pretty good-sized nuggets. Thread them through once putting the hook under the spine. The head works fine for stripers but I usually remove the tail.

Just like so:

http://www.striperspace.com/simages/clam_bait560.gif

For bluefish I like mullet rigs. Finding quality ones can be hard in some areas. You just take off the hook and thread the mullet onto the wire through the mouth. Look at the picture and it should make sense.

http://www.hatterasjack.com/fingermulletrig.jpg

I don't have alot of experience with drum. I use a fishfinder with a short leader so the rig doesn't twist. I'd use a chunk of bunker or spot rigged on a circle hook depending on the most prevalent bait in the water. A fishfinder is also a fine choice for stripers

People get too hung up on making a superhero cast. Sometimes casting farther is important but you want to cast into the BEST water, not the furthest water out. Just like casting for bass you don't hurl your bait haphazardly as far from shore as you can. In my experience stripers can be caught almost any distance from shore. Drum tend to require a longer cast (at least when I fish for them in North Carolina rather infrequently).

Location is very very important on an open sand beach. You want to cast into water where there is structure or current flow. Look for deeper dark water. This can be in the form of a trough (or slough), sort of like a gulley running parallel to the shore, or a cut which is a deep channel running through a sandbar. There can be multiple bars running parallel to shore. Generally you want water that has sort of a choppy look where waves don't break and just sort of top off. Look for a steep beach or one that has lots of rocks or shells washed up. Where the water has eroded sand ridges or little cliffs indicates strong current.

Read This...

http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=417339

The fish can be 15 yards out or 150 yards out. It depends on alot of variables. Try to fish at dawn or dusk and during a moving tide. If you're in shallow water tide is more important than if you have a good deep hole. I like the outgoing for stripers and within an hour before or after the top of the tide for blues.

As for tackle....Rod 9-11 foot. I've always found thirteen feet or over to be a little unnecessary. Use whatever reel style you're comfortable with. For the fish you described I usually use 14lb test with a 40lb leader. Seventeen or 20 is probably the norm. Anything more and casting will suffer.

My main piece of advice is if the water in front of your cottage is overly shallow or lacks structure... fish somewhere else. Theres alot of sand out there and to maximize your chances you should be in a place that gives them a reason to be there too. And remember surf fishing is anything but consistant at times. Weather can really wreck things quickly. So don't be discouraged if the results aren't there at first. They'll come in time.

Just realized you're already there right after I wrote that book. Hope the advice gets to you in time or maybe someone else gave you some pointers.

Good luck.

Well my friend Troy and I got out and caught a couple.  His girlfriend caught a 24" Flounder on Saturday.  

Troy and I fished bluefish rigs and Flounder rigs for 3 and a half hours.  We fished mainly minnows and squid.  

Troy caught his bluefish (6lbs) off a minnow on a bluefish rig.  I lost 3-4bluefish as they bit so quick they would bite the minnow in half and tear out the insides.  Almost had one.  I did have a surprise.

As I was reeling in my minnows about 40 yards from shore slowly I had my pole double over.  Luckily I had 40lb braid on an ugly stick and that thing was on for good, no getting out.  After a 6-7 minute fight (longest of my life) I landed a hefty Weakfish.  All of the pier was pulling in their lines because it was running and tearing drag like crazy.  It was a parallel pier to the shore so it didn't go out into the water but ran alongside it.

I was gonna throw it back using my catch and release mentality but some older couple asked if we were gonna eat it and I said no.  So I gave it to them to cook up.  Needless to say they are gonna get some nice dinners out of that.

On another note, it didn't look like it had teeth at first and my friend jokingly told me it didn't so I was ready to lip it until he was like "no dumba**, it has teeth", then I saw them lol.  Lucky I didn't do that as it was whipping around pretty good.  After the guy got it on the stringer all the kids on the pier and everyone who came up to fish thereafter was asking what he had on there.  People kept coming over to me telling me it was one of the biggest sea trout they ever saw lol.  I was like thanks... lol.  It was luck.  If I hadn't reeled in my bait at that time he probably wouldn't have hit.

Nice fish J! I haven't been saltwater fishing in a while (sitting around bores me).  The fight must have been fun!

Just checked out the regulations page.

http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/vswft/2007/vswft_brochure_2007.pdf

30" is citation. I was 5 inches away. Bleh! Lol. Oh well, still a fight to remember.  Flounder are only 26".  My friend's gf was only 2" away with her catch.

WOW! Nice fish J!!! ;D I bet that was one heck of a fight.