This otherwise fine book suffers from the lack of meaningful illustrations, particularly with respect to casting. Verbal descriptions of casting procedures are impossible to follow; Burnley's descriptions are no exceptions. This book is apparently not for the novice, in that there few pictures or descriptions of surf fish species (if there was a single picture of a blue, then I must have missed it). More and better illustrations of standard rigs would be helpful. And why did he include a 3-page, 8-step illustration of the Bimini twist knot, when he went on to explain that it is seldom used in actual fishing conditions? On the plus side, Burnley hits about all related topics, from lunch to tackle, from buckets to buggys, from Maine to Florida. It is very well written, obviously from his own significant experience. As either a guide or a fishing buddy, Eric Burnley is probably one heck of a good teacher. Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast
I have been fishing since I was 12 years old and now I'm 32 but of all these years, I've never tried surf fishing. I found this book in my local Barnes and Nobel but am an avid user of Amazon so I had to come on here and give this book a stellar rating. I am heading off the Outer Banks of North Carolina this weekend and just purchased my first Surf Rod/ Real and tackle. I did not want to go into this spot blindly and come out disappointed. This book is LOADED with information and will bring the novice/beginner fisher up to date with terms, equipment, and techniques. Not only does it cover techniques, knots, hooks, rods, reels, but it also has a chapter on Fish and tells you all about the fish and best suggestion on how to land them on the beach. It also has a chapter about locations. It mentioned Duck North Carolina and that happened to be the exact location my trip is planned for so I am extremely pleased with book. I have not even cast my line out yet but I feel like I've been surf casting for 10 years now. If these is one thing I dislike, it's when you walk into a shop such as a tackle shop and you have no clue what your buying and then make faces and suggestions but who knows if your getting sound advice or not. Now I can walk the tackle shop in NC and say, I'd like to purchase a pencil popper lure for blue fish or do you happen to have any Hopkins style lures. The only con to this book is that it was published in 1989 so not sure if all the location information even applies anymore since Hurricane Floyd took care of NC in 1998. If you want to learn how to Surf Fish and feel like a pro and walk onto the beach with some confidence, read this book. You will not be sorry.
I recently moved from the midwest and bought a house near the Atlantic Ocean. A lifelong freshwater fisherman, I decided to take advantage of my proximity to the ocean and bought this book to get some background and info. Nothing will teach you about surf fishing like buying some gear and just going (perhaps with a few helpful tips from the people at the Sporting Goods store), but there is a great deal of information in this book that the neophyte may find interesting and/or useful. Topics in this book including bait, tackle, casting, and knots. There are two particularly useful sections in this book though. In one section, EB describes how understading various underwater features such as sand bars can be the difference between success and failure. He outlines where fish are likely to hover around such features and why, and how the surf angler can spot such features. Second, there is an extensive section that discusses the best surf fishing areas of each of the Atlantic states. This may be the most useful, even for veteran surf fisherman, if you are planning on travelling up or down the coast. I wouldn't put too much weight on some of the negative reviews about this book. Who would learn to cast from reading a book? As for Burnley being a jerk, that may well be true, but Robert Ruark was an abusive alcoholic who wrote some of the greatest outdoor literature ever penned. A useful reference for anyone surf fishing the Atlantic (particularly for a newbie), and a fine addition to any fisherman's library.
Some of us need an excuse - or at least an objective - in order to go out and face nature in its real, raw form. One of the purest forms of these endeavours is surf fishing. What the author describes here is a sport that can put you on a cold, wild beach in October, face to a raging surf, going manu a manu with a fish that may be as strong as you are. Recreating the ancestral challenges we all once faced to put food on the table doesn't get any more real than this.But there is no romance or deep reflection about the nature of things or why fly-fishing is like life in this book. It's nuts and bolts. And its about real surf fishing - not dropping a line while your at the beach. And its filled with the kind of information that - if you are really going to do it - you are really going to need.And remember - deflate those tires or they may never find you.
Not a bad book if you want to catch sharks and skates. I can tell you after moving to the NE coast from Australia, this book does not go into the best methods for surf fishing the atlantic coast, much of which can only be learnt through hours on the beach and pure chance events, such as pulling in an expert's rig by accident and seeing how it's set up!!
Good book with some good hints....but if you're looking for real advice on how to land some crocker for your pan or a flounder or two, well you won't find it in this book or any other for that matter.'
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