Surf fishing for stripers is very popular on the Atlantic coast. Saltwater anglers cast a variety of swimming plugs, topwater poppers, jigging spoons, needlefish lures, swimbaits, bucktail jigs and soft plastic lures. Longer rods (8 to 12 feet) will help you cast farther and keep your line above the crashing waves. 17 to 20 pound test line should be fine for most of the stripers you’re going to catch on the beach. A real big fish may take out a lot of line, so make sure your reels are filled with line before heading out to the beach.
Some of the better times to fish the surf are incoming tides that occur during the morning, evening or at night. You will often find some stripers along the edges where shallow sandbars meet deeper water. Submerged reefs, rock jetties and beaches near an estuary are some other good areas to fish. Some of the best surf fishermen like to fish at night. Striped bass feed well at night, but you need to be very careful when fishing at night and it’s recommended to bring a friend.
