Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast [Paperback]

Eric Burnley (Author), George Reiger (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1989

Updated information on tackle, baits, and casting techniques and new photos and knot-tying illustrations

Fishing sandbars, points, jetties, scalloped beaches, and inlets

Species include bluefish, striped bass, red drum, weakfish, spotted sea trout, flounder, sharks

A comprehensive guide to fishing along the coast, Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast describes where and when to locate all the popular species. You'll learn how to cast for distance and accuracy and how to find and keep bait, including squid, worms, crabs, clams, mussels, shrimp, and baitfish. In-depth sections on rods, reels, lines, the best knots to use, and a chapter on rigging and driving a surf-fishing vehicle cover all the gear you'll need to begin surf fishing. A rundown of the best access points along the coast from Maine to Florida tell where to begin. The first edition's ISBN is 0-8117-2301-1.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is a fine--nay, necessary--addition to any serious surf fisherman's library." --George Reiger, author of Wanderer on My Native Shore --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Eric B. Burnley has been fishing along the Atlantic Coast for over fifty years. A freelance outdoor writer and photographer based in Delaware, he also gives fly-fishing seminars and guides on the beach and from a boat. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 1 edition (April 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811723011
• ISBN-13: 978-0811723015
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,358,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs More Illustrations!, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book... Read It!, August 9, 2005

By 

Scott S. Dematteo "scott" (Shady Side, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast (Paperback)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine introduction to surf fishing the Atlantic, November 26, 2006

By 

Utah Blaine (Somewhere on Trexalon in District 268) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast: 2nd Edition (Paperback)

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.