help

[sachiko]

Hi there
I just got a surf rod for my birthday and I was wondering if anyone knows of any good websites and or books where I can study a bit before I hit the beaches. I do not have any idea about the gutters or how to find them. I live at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast and I really want to get into surf fishing. Where are the good spots etc??? Any helpers out there?
Cheers

[madman1]

Try the magazine "Hooked in Paradise" from your local newsagent. I'm pretty sure it goes into a little detail re surf fishing and locating gutters. It also gives you an indication of what sort of fish may be in certain parts of the gutter.

From memory it costs around $25 and is money well spent.


Good luck.

[Mick]

Welcome to ausfish sachiko.

Now is probably not the best time of year to find gutters as the north east winds usualy push alot of sand up against the beach and headlands. But when the trade winds (sou east) kick back in full strength the gutters should start to appear.
A gutter is the deep part off the beach between the dry sand of the beach and where the waves first start to break. Waves generaly break on the outside sand banks and then re form into an unbroken wave to break again on the shore, or close to the shore.
Try walking out for a swim one day. As you walk off the beach you get to a stage where the current is a bit stronger and its hard to touch. If you keep heading out to sea, you usualy come to another sand bank where the current stops and you can touch the bottom again. Waves should be breaking here. Between here and shore is the gutter. Different times of the year have deeper gutters then others and different parts of the beach have better gutters then others. This usualy depends on the direction of the wind and the way the beach faces the sea.
If you walk along the beach on a regular basis you should start to pick where deeper gutter are and where waves are breaking or not breaking.
...I have just realised that I could go on for about another million words so I will stop now. The more you fish the the more you will learn. Watch where surfers surf as well.