One of the best ways to start the day in my opinion is to stand on the sand and watch the sun come up - while fishing of course. Beach fishing is still a very effective way to get a solid feed of fish and its relatively easy once you know how.

Whiting and Tailor were my target species growing up when I was a kid and to be honest not much has changed. Tailor in particular are an under rated table fish in my opinion. Bled straight away and kept cool Tailor eat well same day but unfortunately don’t freeze well at all.

Not unlike fishing off the rocks I always bring two rods with me beach fishing, one that I’ll use with bait like pilchards or beach worms and the other with a metal slug to cast at feeding schools of Tailor or Salmon.

Reading the beach is the first step in catching yourself a feed. What you want to try and find are holes and gutters or even both together ideally. A gutter pretty much has small waves crashing behind it and then build again on the other side of the gutter. You’ll find the water is darker and it normally has an entry and exit point too. Often these gutters will spill into a deeper hole a little further off shore and there is your honey hole.

Too many times I have seen fisho’s set up on a beach and fishing what seems is just a shallow flat with no results. You need to pick up your gear if its not happening for you and search out these holes and gutters as that's where the fish will be 99% of the time.

One of the simplest rigs for tailor, salmon and Mulloway is a set of ganged hooks below a swivel and a sinker. The trick here is to not have your leader between your hooks and swivel too long as this will cause the rig to spin in the air when you cast. Keep your leader to around 400mm and that will help you if distance is needed.

I fish 20-30 pound braid (braid really cuts through the waves and even weed really well plus less drag than mono) and fish a 20-30 pound mono leader. You can definitely fish lighter and I often do but if you do hook a big jewie you might need the help. 

My list of gear available in our store covers off a few rods and reels that are perfect for beach fishing along with braid, hooks and a few lures too. If you can keep your set up to a back pack, two rods and maybe a bucket (good to sit on) you can keep moving up and down a beach far easier and find the fish. I really hope it helps in your fishing endeavours.

Cheers,