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Finding Fish in the Surf "V.I.P.E.R."
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09-29-2007, 09:19 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Elite Member
BeachBear is
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Long Beach
Posts: 4,556
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Finding Fish in the Surf "V.I.P.E.R."
Finding Fish in the Surf
“V.I.PE.R.”       A friend of mine once commented about surf fishing, “Isn’t it just luck where you cast?” My reply was, “Not if you know where to cast.” It’s often written that, 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water and that 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the fish. This article is based on what’s worked for me in hopes of you finding that 10% of the water and being that 10% of fortunate anglers. Getting food easily without risk or great expenditure of energy is vital for a fish' survival. Fish could run a mile for a meal and risk being caught out in the open, or they can ambush their meals, or they can allow the waves to bring them their food. That structure which fish love to hide, wait, and hunt for food is not hidden by the ocean’s vastness or depth. Using the V.I.P.E.R. system you can find that structure. V View   Samurai law - “all decisions should be made in less than seven breaths” Knowing where to start should be made in the span of less than seven waves. When I fish all I do is “read the water”. The ocean won’t give you letters, signs or words, but its movements will tell you where to cast. Viewing high above the surf area gives a great view of a wide area. Viewing at the surf line limits your perspective. Viewing below the surf line and you’ll need goggles and a snorkel.  Lots of times if I don't have a sand dune to stand on, I'll just walk backwards from the beach to get a better view.I Indents and Increases of Waves   Where is there an area where an incoming wave gets delayed? Where is there an area where the wave reaches its peak? Where is there a certain area in which the wave increases in height significantky? You should be asking and answering yourself those questions. Look for anything out of the ordinary. Why are you looking for these? Structure would make a wave alter its natural course. Otherwise the wave would be uniform from sea to surf. In that structured area are often fish. Working your bait/lure in front of and behind is a wise choice as fish will be cruising these areas waiting for food to pop over. P Planes of Glass    Still waters run deep. Being deep allows for fish to avoid fighting the waves, thus conserving energy. Also, fish will wait for food to pass over these pockets/holes. I catch around 80% of my fish in planes of glass, smooth areas of water. Usually, I time the cast to land as a wave passes over the area, thus making minimal commotion. A friend of mine who reads the water very well highly recommends fishing the edges of the "glass". E Ebb and Flow on the Beach   Any sort of irregularity is a good sign. Those are signs that structure is apparent. It also helps to channel food into an area and kick food up. In the true surf area fish aren't usually eating fish, but more picking up debris. A great place to find fish in this area is along the trough. The trough is where the wave hits the beach. As the wave hits the beach a deep hole can form all along the impact areas. Food will get kicked up, fish have a place to cruise along, and forage in. Deeper troughs give fish a place to hide from the waves and hunt along. Casting parallel to the trough can be very productive at times as you cover a larger area and keep the bait in the zone longer. However, do be careful approaching the trough. They can be very deep areas of water that rapidly change in heigth, like an ocean bluff. Once while fishing with HomeSlice we observed a kayaker dismount and suddenly go straight down. The water was so deep he had to paddle to shore, but survived thanks to a floatation device. He was no more than 8 feet from shore.     These "constricor" areas are great places to fish. They channel so much water and push food into an area that fish can pick apart the food as it returns back out to sea. The surrounding areas of the constrictors in the ocean are usually deep providing fish an excellent place to hide from the surging waves. The most wide open bite I ever had was surf fishing during the twilight at Cherry Beach with ngounsay, SYthe Creations, and a few elders at a constricor. YFC were all WHOPPERS and we'd get hit on the sink. There was a hali that ate almost a dozen 5 inch MC SWIMBAITS. He ate all the 3/4 oz leadheads I had. Fishing the constrictors you want to target the outside of the ocean surge, as fish will wait for the food to come to them and save energy by not fighting the waves. Sometimes you can cast into the surge and let the bait/lure be taken out to sea to entice a strike. In this case pay attention to the sink rate of the line. R Riptides    A huge tremendous amount of food and debris is taken back out to sea by riptides. So much so in fact that many look like mushroom clouds painted from the sand taken from the beach. Fish will lay and wait for the food to come rushing out to them. They usually won't stay in the riptide because that would cause too much of an energy loss. If you get caught in a riptide, let it take you out to sea and then swim parallel to the beach in order to get out. V View the ocean from a high area. I Indents and Increases of waves PPlanes of glass, smooth areas of water EEbb and flow of the wave on the beach RRiptides Some things in life are 10 minutes to learn, and a lifetime to master. Surf fishing is one of them. V.I.P.E.R. is meant as a simple sytem of finding fish. From my reports you can see the overall effectiveness of it though. F.A.Q. How do I rig up? Carolina style with a red glass bead and size 14 swivel. Most often though I attach a 12 inch piece of mono as a shock leader, then put a fluoro leader of 14-18 inches in length. Sometimes though it's just braid, then fluoro. all knots are San Diego Jam. The sliding weight is 1/2 oz in light surf and 3/4 in heavier seas.  How far do you have to cast? That all really depends on structure, sometimes the trough has a hali hunting in it and other times the corbina are 50 feet from shore. What bait do you use? My go to bait is ghost shrimp which I pump myself. If I miss the low tide to pump, then Gulp Sandworm is next. If I want to fish plastics, then it's pure MC SWIMBAITS, just an awesome product. Here's a great link for ghos shrimp  http://www.hookupsportfishing.com/fo...hread8527.htmlWhat size hook do you use? I match the hook to the size of the bait, but basicly Eagle Claw size 4 and 1/0 bait holder hooks. I don't cast lightly out either, fastball all the way. What pound line do I use? 10# Sufix Performance Braid, 6# Sufix Siege (smoke green) for shock absorber, and 4# Def Bass fluoro. But, I also have a spool of 5# FC Sniper in my bag in case I need to retie. Replace the shock, the swivel, and the fluoro every time you go out. 
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Last edited by BeachBear; 09-30-2007 at 10:35 PM. |
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09-30-2007, 12:24 AM
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#9 (permalink) |
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Elite Member
BeachBear is
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Long Beach
Posts: 4,556
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Actually that's a funny story. TOM and I had stepped back to study, and saw the same structure. He cast before I did and it was FISH ON!! I think I even gave him the bait and went back for my own, something like that.
He's on his own now though, he really picked it up and reads the water well. Plus, he's more focused than I am. I daydream a lot out there 
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09-30-2007, 12:37 AM
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#12 (permalink) |
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Elite Member
BeachBear is
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Long Beach
Posts: 4,556
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I've heard about reading water in fresh water, I want to give it a shot, but mainly catfish in canals with my family or bluegill in a reservoir. A friend is planning on taking me to go freshwater fishing.
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09-30-2007, 12:43 AM
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#13 (permalink) |
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Elite Member
MOBassman is
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Missouri(former Cali boy)
Posts: 3,136
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Reading moving water, like in rivers, you'd have no problems. Lakes are a little different, but I think you'd have no problems there either. You have a very keen eye for detecting what makes one spot look different from the surrounding areas.
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