Lots of beach fishers still haven’t twigged to the fact that the biggest and most desirable targets in the surf are often swimming much closer to shore than we realise!

There’s a great deal of truth in the wry observation that land-based anglers seem to be fixated with casting out as far as possible, while boat and kayak fishers try to lob their baits, lures and flies as close to dry land and structure as they can! I guess it’s human nature… Something about the grass being greener, perhaps?

Nowhere is this shore-bound fisho’s fixation with punching holes in the horizon more commonly on display than along our ocean beaches. Most surf fishers love a big cast! Many specifically choose their gear and carefully design their rigs to achieve maximum possible distances, and they seem disappointed if their baits remain in the same postcode as them after an almighty heave. But are they missing something?

Don’t get me wrong: There are definitely plenty of surf scenarios in which an 80 to 100 metre hurl can be beneficial. Mostly these occur on very flat, gently-sloping beaches where deeper water can only be found a long way out. But in my experience, and on many of our beaches, a lot of surf caster are actually throwing straight over the top of the best fish by always uncorking the mightiest heave-ho they can possibly muster.

Think about it. In almost every angling situation, one of the most important fish-holding and concentrating structural elements is the shoreline itself. This hard interface between land and water is both a boundary and natural highway, where food and prey are pressed together and effectively forced to interact. That’s why bass and Murray cod fishers peg their lures tight to the bank, and smart trout fanciers carefully scan the shallowest lake margins for the glimpse of a fin tip or a subtle swirl before blithely wading in.

Of course, on the beach, this land/sea interface is very shallow and highly dynamic, with each crashing wave altering the boundary line. There might not be any worthwhile fish swimming in the scant centimetres of foaming white water washing around your ankles… but just a short distance further out, it can be a very different story.

All that wave action inevitably scours holes and gutters. These vary from tiny depressions the size of dinner plates to deep, defined channels that may run for hundreds of metres. Along the edges of such structural elements, sand is continually being torn away by the ceaseless surge and current, uncovering worms, crabs, shellfish and other tasty morsels. This is where the action is — in every sense of that term.

Often, these busy fish-highways lie within a band extending from just 10 to about 50 metres from the shore (depending on the state of the tide). Further out, beyond all that action, things quieten down dramatically and the environment becomes much calmer and less dynamic — and therefore less interesting to predators.

Whether its whiting slurping hapless worms from their burrows, bream crunching crabs, tailor chasing whitebait, or mulloway pursuing those very same tailor, the greatest concentration of catch-able, desirable fish will often be located in that busy 50 metre wide strip of prime real estate that lies between dry sand and what surfers like to call “out the back”. It’s all too easy to cast over the top of the best fish and into the veritable marine desert that so often lies beyond — where your most likely catch is a clump of old, dislodged kelp or a banjo shark.

My best advice to budding beach fishers is to try casts of varying lengths, rather than always reaching for the stars. Also, if your bait has sat “out the back” unmolested for 10 or 15 minutes, instead of simply retrieving and re-casting it, think about gently dragging it closer and closer to the shore: either by slowly cranking your reel, or by walking backwards up the beach, away from the water. You might be very surprised at where the bites finally come!

If you’re still not convinced, or you simply want to know more, I’ve made several YouTube videos in which I explain and demonstrate this simple trick. Just go to my Starlo Gets Reel channel on YouTube and search the Beach and Rock playlist… Tight lines!