It’s six in the morning. A mist hangs over the water, as gulls swoop down to pluck up finger mullet, flashing like little diamonds in the sea. The beach is deserted, except for you, and the gulls.
The tide is coming in, and with each incoming wave, bits of food are washed into the maelstrom of the surf, floating beneath the foam. Far offshore a ship plods along, bound for some foreign port in the Caribbean. The smell of the sea fills your nostrils; that fresh, clean, salty aroma you have loved since childhood. The sun is slowly rising behind you, shining through the breakers, making them translucent.

  You drive your sand spike into the sand at the water’s edge; bait your long rod while watching the wash of the trough. The water is clear, no weeds or detritus, and you imagine that you can smell the fish just beneath the surface. You wade into the surf up to your knees, the cool water a pleasant shock. You steady yourself and take a stance, left foot forward, bending at the right knee, and swing the long rod gracefully, releasing the line just at the apex of the cast. The rig sails through the air, landing with a plop fifty yards out. You take up the slack, check the hold, and slide the rod butt into the spike. Carefully, you loosen the tension on the drag. Just enough to hold, but loose enough to let a fish run.

  This is surf fishing.

  Hemingway made big game fishing famous, catching blue marlin off the coast of Cuba. Bass fishing tournaments draw thousands all across the country. Aficionados angle for the wily trout on a thousand mountain streams. These are all worthwhile pastimes, but they can’t compare to the simple joy of standing in the water, rod in hand, fighting a chopper bluefish or a slab pompano in the strong current of an incoming tide.

  In surf fishing, one becomes a part of the surf. The experience is total, exhilarating, and completely unparalleled.

 
  North Florida offers excellent surf fishing, year-round. From Jacksonville to the Cape, the species to be caught include flounder, snook, blues, whiting, speckled trout, drum, redfish, sheephead, and the aforementioned King of the Table, the pompano. With a small investment in gear and bait, you can enjoy the best the Atlantic has to offer, and fish doesn’t come any fresher.

  How do I get started, you ask? Try a little web-surfing first. An excellent site, filled with useful information (and some great people) can be found at:

http://www.floridasurffishing.com/


Remember – even if you don’t catch anything, it’s still a day at the beach!




Editor