The first portion of my fishing career was strictly land-based fishing. This was natural due to the fact that I only had access to fishing off-land spots that my old Jeep would take me to. As time progressed, I learned more that surfcasting was more than just not having a boat. It was a totally different approach and method of fishing, which yielded a lot of self-satisfaction between the “hunt” and being grounded on land while targeting fish. Sometimes, it wasn’t even about the fish I was catching but more about the connection with everything going around me while the surf rolled in.
My forms of fishing from the shore were not only singled out to just striped bass fishing. I became a big fan of walking the shoreline and casting for fluke during the summer months. Probably one of my favorite forms of shore fishing to this day still is togging from the rocks of an inlet or the North Shore of the island. I’ve written a few times about this type of fishing and highly suggest it if you haven’t given it a shot yet. It can be so frustrating, yet addicting. Other targets from the shore include bluefish, porgies, albacore, and some weakfish. Clearly, most inshore species that around the Long Island/ Metro area are well within reach for shorebound fishermen.
When it comes to the boat, I would always go on the occasional boat fishing trip and enjoy it, but my added passion for fishing off a boat was when I ended up getting my own. There is something to be said, in my opinion, about getting up before dawn and then cruising out to the fishing grounds as the sun breaks the horizon. Aside from the joys of driving a boat and all of the ascetics of what you see when boating, the act of fishing itself from a boat is quite enjoyable. Between plugging stripers and bluefish in the early mornings, bouncing a bucktail in the shallow bays for fluke, or working shallow rock piles and boulder fields for fall tog, it’s all very enjoyable for me.
While you can cover significant ground with a boat, I’ve often noticed that a major difference between fishing off a boat and from the shore is that when on a boat, anglers tend to overlook or pass a good amount of spots that could potentially hold fish. When fishing from the shore, these fishy little spots tend to get worked more thoroughly by the angler on the shore since they can’t cover the ground that a boater can cover. I’ve said this before, but I firmly believe that being proficient in surf fishing will make you an excellent boat fisherman.
Of course, boaters have certain advantages when it comes to access, but there is definitely something to be said about working the surf and how it gives the angler a great opportunity to catch fish that a boater may never get. Some of these might be working a jetty at night during a ripping tide where it would be downright dangerous for a boat to drift through, but a jetty caster could work a bucktail through that productive piece of water without safety being as much of a concern. A heavy swell on a sand beach is another example. Stripers, as we know them, love those turbulent waters right on the beach – no place for a boat at all. But a caster armed with a heavy lure and an 11-foot surf stick will be the one able to take advantage of the potentially good fishing.
On the other hand, boaters can always reach those far-away blitzing fish or work a wreck well off the beach that a caster could only dream of on the slowest of days. As I said, both have pros and cons, and both types of fishing should come with an understanding from the angler of what they’re about.
Some days, the shorebound fishermen and boat fishermen meet in the middle. An angler fishing from the surf might take a long cast to reach the furthest water out right in front of him, while a boater who was quite a ways out might come closer to shore to cast back towards the shore – it’s funny to think about – at times one individual is trying to cast as far away from the shore while the other might be casting as close as they can to the shore, all to catch the same fish.
