Caught The Strangest Fish Of My Life Tonight

[dale.m]

I'm on vacation in Sunset Beach, NC for this next week. I brought some inshore poles with me to do some sound fishing. I'm not to educated on in shore fishing, but I figured I would tie on a pearl white fluke and see what happened. After a few casts, I got a massive hit and set the hook into the most alien looking fish I have ever seen.

Apparently, its known as an Oyster Toad Fish. They have nubby teeth, poisonous barbs, and super strong jaws. They also grunt and wiggle like crazy, so its almost impossible to get them off a hook.

If any of you have tips for in shore fishing, I'd love to hear them! I'm fishing for whatever bites because I don't really know whats swimming around in the narrow channels of the sound. Do bass lures work for in shore fish?

Thanks!

[SirSnookalot]

Those look like "toadies", people come out in droves when they are running to catch them fro the dinner table, I have never fished or eaten one.

Yes, for inshore fishing just about any bass lure will work. IMO I would stick to some real basic stuff, spoons, bucktails, flukes on a jig head and a topwater lure will usually produce. One very main difference between freshwater and inshore is in freshwater you are looking for the fish, in saltwater you are waiting for them to appear. Fish most of the time will follow the baitfish coming in, when that happens you could catch them on your mothers old garter belt. No bait and you could go skunk for hours, happens all the time.

[Sam]

Yep. Catch them all the time off the Virginia coast when salfwater fishing.

Ugly little creatuers but they are harmless.

We throw them back.

[Sam]

For shore fishing:

1. Sand Fleas. If you don't know what I am talking about check them out on the Internet or discuss them with local tackle shops. You dig them up in the sand on the beach.

2. Cut up squid. Great saltwater bait. Catches everything.

3. Dead or live shrimp. If alive, cast out and hold on. If dead, cast out and hold on.

4. The Gulp! Saltwater series. The bloodworms are excellent.

5. Bloodworms. You can find them at local tackle shops. Catch everything.

6. Cut up bait fish. You catch some small bait fish and cut them up into strips and us the strips as bait.

Have fun and remember, if you wade into the water they can see you but you can't see them. Remember the movie Jaws.

[Sam]

P.S. Don't stick your finger into the Toadfish's mouth.

Just a suggestion.

[RyneB]

great thread. I will be heading to the Outer Banks NC in october and have never surf fished in my life. I have a few big rogues, a couple swimbaits, a few flukes. Im gonna try to catch a saltwater fish on a jig as well.

[AK-Jax86]

That's a crazy looking fish