People are very picky about who they share their fishing spots with and it is generally poor ettiquette to ask people for their spots.
People often put a lot of time and effort into finding and learning about good fishing locations, and sharing them freely can lead to overcrowding and overfishing.
Instead, focus on finding your own spots and learning about them.
Use the "Location Types" section to get a better understanding of what to look for and when to fish certain areas.
Here are some tips for finding new fishing spots on your own:
Knowing the workings of a spot will be the difference between catching fish and getting skunked.
What does it look like at high tide? Is it fishable at low tide or is there not enough water to hold fish?
Are there big rocks or boulders visible at low tide that are covered at high tide?
Visiting a spot at low tide can help give you an understanding of the underwater structure and help you learn where to place your casts.
An "in the moment" scouting tip is to be constantly looking for signs of life.
This includes birds diving, fish jumping, or baitfish on the surface.
Always be on the look out for birds and monitor their behavior.
Birds don't expend energy needlessly, so if you see them diving in a certain area it is likely baitfish are present there.
Sometimes, your target species will be present and feasting on the baitfish as well, but other times the baitfish will be the only thing around.
It is still worth throwing some casts in the area to see if any larger fish are present.
Certain location types will benefit more from scouting than others.
Scouting a sandy, open beach at low tide can help you identify spots fish will most likely hang out at and give you an idea of where to aim your casts.
However, things like storms can change the entire underwater structure of a beach.
That means the spot you marked out as a potentially good spot to cast will most likely be changed by next season or even next week.
The "Location Types" section below goes more in depth on "reading" different spots including beaches.
Boulder fields contain large rocks/boulders that provide structure for fish to hide behind or near.
They are often accompanied by some kind of seaweed which further acts as cover for ambushing.
They are best fished during a moving tide as large fish will use the boulders as cover to ambush swept prey.
Scouting is a very good idea here as some large boulders may be covered at high tide and revealed at low tide.
Helping to give you a better idea of where to cast.
Recommended lures: needlefish (floating), bucktails, unweighted sluggos, metal lips
Open beaches are a great place to fish as they often contain a variety of structure that big fish use to ambush prey.
Identifying cuts, troughs, points, holes, and sandbars can help you find the best places to cast.
It is difficult to explain in text how to identify these structures.
I highly recommend checking out Rich Troxler on YouTube and watching his playlist titled "Reading The Beach & Understanding Wave Action" as he does an excellent job explaining how to read beaches.
Open beaches can be highly effective when the surf is rough as fish like striped bass are built for heavy currents and rough water.
As always, be safe and use caution especially when fishing in rough surf. No fish is worth your life.
If you are wearing waders, then make sure you always have a wading belt as a safety measure.
There are countless lures to use at open beaches and it usually comes down to preference and comfortability.
I'll give some of my preferred lures that I discuss below in the "Lures and Techniques" section.
Recommended lures: needlefish, bucktails, pencil poppers, minnow style, gliders and stickbaits, metal lips
Estuaries are areas where freshwater from rivers meets and mixes with saltwater from the ocean.
Estuaries are often rich in nutrients and often act as a nursery for a variety of species.
Both are usually best fished in the Spring and Fall.
In the Spring, many baitfish head to estuaries to spawn.
In the Fall, estuaries provide warmer water, shelter, and abundant nutrients which are ideal for fish preparing for winter.
Back bays are very similar, but are purely saltwater. They are often best in the Spring due to the warmer water.
Scouting can help you get an understanding of how deep the water is at both high and low tide and give you an idea of the layout.
The fish here are often smaller than those found on open beaches, but there are still some big fish mixed in.
Recommended lures: same as open beaches, but sized down a fair bit due to smaller fish
Most importantly: jetties and breakwalls are dangerous to fish. The rocks are often slippery and depending on the location waves can come crashing over the rocks.
Always wear appropriate gear which should include something like Korkers with spikes. Anything to help grip the rocks for footwear will work.
Due to the risk of crashing waves and unsteady footing, do NOT wear waders.
Fish often hug close to the rocks, that includes both baitfish and game fish.
It might be worth casting into the deeper water depending on what it looks like. For example, if you are next to a channel or inlet, then it might be worth some casts out.
I highly recommend using jigs when fishing jetties and letting the current take it close to the rocks.
Recommended lures: bucktails, weighted soft plastic jigs, metals (spoons, epoxy jigs, diamond jigs)
I'm grouping canals and channels together as they are more or less the same thing.
Lures and techniques will differ based on structure, depth, location, and a variety of other factors.
As it's one of my favorite places to fish, I will mainly be using the Cape Cod Canal as my reference and knowledge on canals/channels.
For those unfamiliar, the Cape Cod Canal is 7 miles of fishing with a variety of game fish, but most notable are stripers, bluefish, and bonito.
Canals can fish really well at lower tides when baitfish have nowhere to run and end up as easy prey for game fish.
Birds will often be your best friend as they signal where the fish are. As always, keep an eye out for breaking fish too.
If possible, a bicycle to keep up with the current allows you to get ahead of where the fish will be as well as better scout for fish.
Similar to jetties/breakwalls, fish will often push bait up against the rocks/structure on the sides. So you don't always need to worry about casting as far as you can.
Keep an eye out for points as well. Game fish will often sit near these waiting for prey to get swept by the current right to them.
Recommended lures: gliders, pencils, soft plastic jigs, bucktails
Often fish best in the Spring or Fall when fish are in estuaries or bays.
Best fished in a moving current either outgoing or incoming.
How you fish these is highly dependent on the location and it's worth trying a few techniques.
Sometimes the mouth dumps out into the ocean and you should fish the exit as fish can be waiting for their food to be "flushed" out and brought right to them.
Sometimes it's worth fishing in the channel itself. It's up to you to learn which to fish and when.
Recommended lures: pencils, jigs, bucktails
You might want to downsize your lures depending on the location and where you are casting.
Exit/entrance of an estuary versus the open ocean.
Whether it's baitfish or game fish, fish seem to love points and are always drawn to them.
Rocky points can be a mix between a boulder field and an open beach.
Current is important everywhere, but can be especially important at points especially if there is a drop off.
Many game fish ambush their prey and will wait on the outskirts of rocky points for bait to be pushed to them, especially if there is a drop off.
Knowing which way the current is moving and positioning your casts to float with the current can be very productive.
Rocky points, and points in general, are worth scouting at high and low tide.
Some places might be too shallow to hold fish at high tide, but be perfect to walk out on at low tide to access deeper water or drop offs.
When walking on any rocks, ensure you have the proper footwear which should be some form of spiked boots.
Recommended lures: metal lips, pencils, needlefish, bucktails
Jigs can be fished just about anywhere and are incredibly versatile.
This is due to the countless sizes and weights they come in and the ability to rig them yourself.
As well as their ability to be fished in just about any part of the water column.
Varying the weight of the jig, your retrieve speed, and the current you can target the bottom, middle, and even the top of the water column.
However, they are most commonly fished by "bouncing" them along the bottom.
Find a weight that allows the lure to almost glide along the bottom to avoid getting snagged and entice any fish waiting to ambush.
This often involves trial and error of either increasing or decreasing the weight.
Lifts of the rod to get them off the bottom and entice fish to strike. Fish will often strike when the lure falls so be prepared to set the hook after a rod lift.
At first, it is better to set the hook if you think you felt a fish as it can be hard to differentiate hitting the bottom versus a fish striking.
Types: soft plastic, paddletail, sluggos, bucktails, metal/epoxy
Brands: Fish Lab, Savage Gear, RonZ, Joe Baggs, Gulp
Top water lures are very similar to jigs in the sense they can be fished just about anywhere.
There is nothing like the feeling of a fish striking your top water lure.
They work well when you can see fish breaking or the fish are far away as they cast very far.
Wayne Hess of Guppy Lure Company has a YouTube video on how to use a pencil popper.
The goal is to keep the lure almost stationary by using the current to let it drift.
Shaking the rod creates a "walking" action that mimics a struggling baitfish.
One main takeaway is to NOT try and set the hook when a fish strikes no matter how tempting it is.
Often times fish will miss and setting the hook can move the lure out of their sight or out of the strike zone.
Some people prefer to pause after a missed strike and others continue working the pencil popper as if nothing happened.
Types: pencil poppers, polaris poppers
Brands: Guppy (now closed), Super Strike little neck popper, Tsunami talking popper (best budget choice)
Bucktails are more or less a classification or type of jigs.
They are so versatile and loved that I feel they deserved their own section.
The most commonly used weight range will be 3/4oz to 1.5oz, but some go up to 3oz for faster moving current or even 6oz in places like the Cape Cod Canal.
The goal is the same as jigs where you adjust the weight until you are "bouncing" the bottom.
I personally always use a trailer/strip and there are many kinds to use just make sure it makes sense for the bucktail size you are using.
Bucktails with more hair and hackle feathers added will often be more bouyant. That style is best used in rocky bottom areas like boulder fields.
John Skinner on YouTube has some excellent content on how to fish bucktails.
Types of heads: smiling bill, bullet, ball, minnow
Brands: S&S, Berkley, Spro
Trailer Brands: Fat Cow, Otter Tail, Gulp (or any soft plastic curly tails)
I've recently started making bucktails. Email me at bryan@castgrade.com and depending on how many I have, I am more than happy to send you some.
Needlefish seem pretty easy to fish, but you'll hear varying opinions on how to fish them.
Some people impart some twitches to add action while others say they are fine the way they are.
The most common seems to be to start your retrieve when it hits the water and do a slow retrieve.
Needlefish are easy to carry multiple of as they are just a stick of wood or plastic.
I personally carry a 9 inch floating in both light and dark, 7 inch floating in both light and dark, and 7 inch sinking in both light and dark.
If the conditions are rough I will also carry a 7 inch fast sinking in both light and dark.
There are also much larger versions that are 11+ inches which anecdotally seem to catch larger fish.
Types: floating, sinking, fast sinking, 7 inch, 9 inch, 11+ inch
Brands: Super Strike (fast sinking, sinking), 24/7 (slow sinking, basically floating), High Hook Lures (very long: 11 inch and 15 inch)
Metal lips are very versatile lures as you can adjust how deep they dive.
I will be mainly referencing Danny plugs as they are the most common type of metal lip and what I have the most experience with.
There are other types which I have listed below, feel free to research them if you are not a fan of the Danny.
To do this ensure you adjust the eye only, do not bend the metal lip part! The eye is the part you either clip your line to or tie your knot to.
Bending the eye up will make the lure dive deeper while bending it down will make it more shallow.
I personally fish it either on the surface or as close to as I can get. Watch the plug and ensure its rolling and moving side to side in a tight S pattern.
It is best fished on the surface so change your retrieve speed or bend the eye down to achieve this.
Metal lips work well in rough, white-water conditions as well as glassy calm water.
Size it based on bait around. If adult bunker are around, then feel free to go big.
Types: Danny, Pikie, Surfster
Brands: Gibbs, Beachmaster, RM Smith
A few brands have floating and sinking styles, but the overall concensus is that they dive similar enough that it is negligible.
Minnows come in different sizes so adjust accordingly to where you are fishing.
I personally swap the hardware on my minnow plugs.
One of the most common methods for fishing minnows is a simple straight retrieve incredibly slow.
The plug does most of the work, but some people like to add pauses and twitches.
As always, switch it up and figure out what the fish are looking for on that particular day.
Types: Regular Minnow, Darter, Swarter
Brands: Daiwa, Yo-Zuri, Bomber, JoeBaggs
Metals are things like kastmasters, spoons, epoxy jigs, and diamond jigs.
They fly really well making them great for open beaches and jetties.
Different types work for mimicing different baitfish.
Epoxy = peanut bunker, spoons = small baitfish, kastmasters = small baitfish or sand eels, and diamond jigs = sand eels.
There are a few ways to fish metals and you can target the entire column.
Fast, straight retrieve can skip the lure across the surface.
Let it sink a little and fish the middle of the water column with a steady retrieve.
Let it sink all the way to the bottom and bounce it along like a jig.
It is always worth keeping one around as they are cheap, small, and very effective at reaching places other lures can't.
Types: Spoons, Epoxy Jigs, Diamond Jigs (AVA style), Tins
Brands: ACME Kasmaster, Hogy, Joe Baggs
I grouped gliders and stickbaits as they are relatively similar.
I just started using stickbaits at open beaches last season and am looking at getting some gliders for open beaches.
Stickbaits are a mix between a glider and minnow style plug.
A slow to moderate retrieve with some sweeps of the rod to impart action is my go to with stickbaits.
I am a huge fan of gliders at the Cape Cod Canal, they actually take up over half my bag.
Depending on the maker, gliders move in an S pattern and are often just straight retrieveed.
I find landing them in a rip helps impart action and varying retrieve to see what the fish are looking for.
Types: Gliders, Stickbaits
Brands: Often local
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