Daytime surfcasting can be just as productive as the night, if you choose your days wisely.
There’s a stigma attached to daytime surfcasting. It’s almost as if surfmen don’t want to be seen fishing in daylight because the unwritten rules dictate that it shouldn’t be done. Of course, there are many other factors at play here, perhaps the biggest one is that most of us have to work! Another might be that accessing sensitive areas (ahem-trespassing) is not quite as easy to get away with when the sun is up and everyone is awake. But I think the factor that weighs heaviest is that it has been driven into our heads that if a big fish is going to “risk” the supposed “dangers” of the shallows, she’s going to do that after dark.
Let’s begin by alleviating those beliefs. A big striped bass is an apex predator that has very few predators of its own; sure they need to worry about seals and sharks, but that’s really about it. I will say that I do believe that stripers have a tendency to stage in deeper water in daylight and then move in along the beach after dark to hunt; and ‘hunt’ is the operative word in that sentence. Darkness acts as a cloak, nullifying one of the most crucial senses for their prey: sight. This is what makes nighttime surfcasting so effective and it is (I believe) why so many more larger surf fish are landed after dark.
On an average day, I do think daytime surfcasting is not much more than a wish, but given the right circumstances, it can be incredible. Don’t succumb to the myth that you have to be up before the birds and casting just as the eastern horizon begins to glow, either! I’m not going to tell you that this isn’t a magical time to fish the surf that holds great potential for a monster fish, because it truly is an amazing time to fish with immense potential. But I will also add that my largest daytime fish was caught at 10:20 a.m. and I was fishing a two-hour tide window that fell between 9:45 and 11:45, so it’s not like I had been there all morning. Factors were in place that made me feel like I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
There are two major factors that I look at to bring these fish inshore in daylight and it all begins and ends with the presence of bait. Typically, I’m talking about something that isn’t always there, like bunker, mackerel, herring or mullet; this gives the fish a reason to be there. The second factor is not as absolute, but it definitely ups the odds (and boosts my personal confidence) and that is a crappy weather day. Give me wind, rain, heavy cloud cover, choppy water, and I’m going to want to be out there.
Now we need a location. In my experience, the best daytime locations are either spots that accentuate the current or provide a little haven out of the greater push of the current. Spots like tide swept corners, prominent points, current-altering jetties or confluences between two greater bodies of water are all great spots for daytime fishing. Find a spot where the water is forced over a shallow hump and it might be magical. Find an eddy where the water slows down and turns back on itself and you might have a true big fish magnet.
The other thing that I think is paramount to being more than just occasionally successful in daylight is the attitude of your presentation. We’re fishing in spots with fast and/or rough water and we’re fishing around abundant bait. And with any luck, we’re also fishing around abundant and competitive predators. I like to fish large baits that I can fish at various speeds and I tend to lean toward fishing faster and more deliberately. I recently got on a day bite that required such rapid retrieves that I got a blister on my cranking hand! Must have daytime baits: the Doc, large pencil poppers, big glides, floating Stick Shadd, Magic Swimmer, 9-inch Tsunami Shad, large paddletails and NLBN K-Tail.
Daytime fishing can be every bit as productive and exciting as fishing after dark, you just have to learn to pick your days.
