I come from freshwater fishing so, not totally green but saltwater is new to me.

I want to get some basic saltwater gear for in-shore, surf, or bay fishing. I am signed up for the TPWD intro's in Galveston next week and hope to use some loaner gear there though, I will bring along some basic freshwater gear.

I don't want to buy something that is too specialized for a single fishing discipline since I am so new. Will I be fishing off a dock, or in the surf, or something else once I get the basics down? With that thought in mind, what is good today? I want "VALUE" not cheap. I want gear that is solid and won't frustrate me with difficult mechanics or maintenance needs.

And, what sort of budget do I need to get good value-oriented gear? Is there a good store in Dallas or Houston to buy this gear at a fair "street price"?

TIA,
Sid

Unless you want to sling hunks of meat for a bite, your bass gear works fine for your bay trifecta, reds, trout and flounder.

You don’t need your stiff rods medium or light action works best.
1/8 oz jig heads for plastics, topwater and maybe a spoon is your arsenal. 15# mono or 20# braid will handle whatever you hook.

Listen to the above.

Anything you need can be found at Cut Rate in Houston..

I use a 6500 Abu Garcia reel on a 6.6 ft med/hvy ugly stik rod. I have a bunch of them and use them in freshwater and the bay. They are fine for 99% of the fish in the bay. You may need something bigger if you fish the jetty. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Fish the beach front in the summer on the green water days. Keep it simple. Throw tails on a 1/8oz to 1/4 oz jig head. 20# Braid with 15# mono leader is a good start. Spinning rod or bait casting rod. 6’6” med light action. Probably about 3 colors of tails. Chicken on the Chain is usually a good color. One darker than that and another lighter.

Get a wading belt and net. Small over the shoulder tackle box. Neoprene Wading boots

Get there at first light. Start in the first cut and work out.

You can catch some nice trout in the surf. Some reds. Some other stuff.

If you are in the Katy Area stop at Anglers Anonymous. They have everything you need and a bunch you don’t. They fish so they are good to ask what you need.

Your equipment is just tools in a toolbox. The real question is how are you planning on fishing? Which might be a hard question if you're just starting.
Boat, wade, bank?
Bay, surf, jetties?
Target fish? Trout, redfish, flounder or something bigger?
Artificial or meat slinging?

Wading is your cheapest entry. Like told, a wading belt for your net and stringer, wading boots and a shirt pocket will get you started.

If you're wanting to use artificial, you do not need a ton of choices, fish are not that picky. I use three plastics, hoagie super minnow in pumpkin/chartreuse when it's dark or clouded water, red flake/white tail when it's bright, and norton sand eel in tequila/chartreuse in clearer water. A spook type topwater, and weedless spoon when the redfish are in the gunk. That's all I carry. You'll figure out what works best for you.

I only use Oldham 1/8 oz screwlock jig heads, 20# braid on spinning rods, 15# ande back country on casting reels.

You might want a heavier head if you hit the surf,

The biggest thing people moving from bass to bay have figuring out, the fish are going to be way shallower than you can imagine.

You'll learn what water holds trout, what redfish like, and the particular spots that attract flounder.

Rinse the reels off with fresh water after every use.

Also any hooks that got saltwater on them. I take my over the shoulder tackle box and throw the contents in the sink. Soak in soap and water for 30 minutes or so.Then rinse and a very lite spray with WD40.

Star Rods, Stellar Lite 7 foot, 12/20 test line, medium heavy... hard to beat it for around $100.. prefer spinning rod for all types of salt water fishing... from the piers, jetties, from my kayak, and even on party boats... with a 3000 size reel... I use it with a Shimano Stratic. Any longer and it makes them harder to transport inside a car and hard to use one on a party boat if it has an awning.. light enough to cast all day, enough spool capacity to not get spooled right away if you hang something big.



Dicks, Bass Pro, Cabellas, and several online stores will normally carry them... they dont seem to be as popular in Texas as they are in Florida.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...3sroustllrltsp7frod/23sroustllrltsp7frod

nice

I appreciate all the help so far!

The first day had me at an inlet where I caught Pincushions and Croaker being hunted by bigger fish. Lots of fun. Monday I hope to hit the surf.

I wouldn't have much expectations on surf for a while. Wind is screaming from the west here, which is the worst direction, turns the surf into mud.

Surf gets good when the wind lays and you have green water

Lots of surf cams to help make that decision If you see this it's game on

Yep! Sunday was heavy wind and heavy overcast skies with loose sand blowing everywhere until late afternoon. Had me a little worried for Surf conditions but, woke up early and walked the beach a little with basically no wind and a beautiful sunrise while I finished my breakfast.

Around 10AM conditions were ugly with heavy wind, muddy waters, and heavy flows in the 'troughs' I could reach. Overall, a great learning and education experience but, a total bust in terms of fishing. I got some really good casts with a 10' pole but, the wind just carried it almost parallel to the beach mostly. Casting 'upwind' worked a little better but, the water flow just beached it quickly.

Overall, it really helped me figure out what to start looking for in terms of gear. The 'open' spinning reel with an 8oz weight and ~8oz of bait I threw for a while was not much fun for ME. Perhaps more practice and better technique would help but, the conventional (closed) reel I used in the bay, while loaded with less weight and bait, was much easier for me to use and control. I didn't really have any major mishaps with the spinning reel but, with this novice and some wind, I had a couple of minor backlashes with the line in the reel that I fixed relatively easily.

In terms of going out in bad conditions, I was already in Galveston so, going to Academy and Walart to look at gear versus going out to the beach again before I went home was an easy choice!

Thanks! A great post after my few hours bay side fishing!

Those Pincushions and Croaker that day were smaller than most Bluegill I catch so, my Freshwater gear would have worked well there. What I have though isn't really setup for the heavier line I need so, the question becomes whether I want to 'restring' my reel between bay fishing and lake fishing.

Cut Rate Sports in Houston came up as permanently closed so, I didn't catch it on my way out of town.

Did they move and I had a simple Google failure on my cellphone?

I'm thinking one of my larger Abu Garcia 6500's loaded with some braid and a new rod will be a great introductory option for me in the bay.

My Jetty experience in Galveston is not something I particularly enjoyed for reasons of the Jetty itself, people around me, and the atrocious parking situation. Pier fishing somewhere else though, is something I would like to try.

I will definitely be back to the Bay! Even if I don't catch anything big enough to take home, the action when you find those little guys is huge fun!

Great post. THANK YOU!

Great tip there. Thanks!

Thanks! Lots of good info there.

Cut Rate Tackle changed to Fishing Tackle Unlimited many years ago.

You're way over estimating your equipment needs.
Nothing except a shark or a foul hooked porpoise will required that much line or rod. In the bay, now slinging out a dead chicken off the pier in the surf is a different setup, but after a half mile wade with a big reel and rod will have you cussing your choices.

Even a big ugly drum can be handled with 20# braid, 2500 reel and L action rod.

Thanks! For the Bay, one of my Abu Garcia reels with some braid on it and a Ugly Stick rod should work well.

The Surf fishing was from the beach with a little wading. I need a real saltwater rod for that to get my cast out to different troughs/guts depending on conditions. I'd rather be waist-deep in some shorts with an appropriate saltwater rod than spending good money on waders to use one of my existing rods or a cheap Ugly Stick.

~$200 at Academy looked like it would get me a great conventional saltwater Penn rod and reel that would throw heavier weights and baits than my freshwater gear. Chuck from TPWD was really awesome at showing me why a saltwater dedicated rod would be money well spent in the surf from the beach. It also demonstrated why I want a conventional (closed) reel over a spin-cast (open) reel.

If I was Pier fishing, my freshwater gear could be tweaked to work well with an appropriate rod.

I'm not going to trash a PREMIUM $200 freshwater rod which is spec'ed for light fish (Bluegill mainly) that lacks the strength for heavy surf and reasonable sized saltwater fish.

In terms of costs, one round trip's worth of gasoline will pay for a brand new Saltwater rod and reel so, in relative terms, I consider that to be a reasonable cost trade-off. The $100 combos I tried were simply rough and not something I would enjoy using long term so, instead of paying $100 plus $230 to get the better combo, I'm just going to get the better combo upfront for $230!

Thanks! I'll shop them next time I go down to the coast.

If you are wading, you will want to consolidate to the bare essentials. I use a fanny pack as opposed to a wading belt. In the pouch goes a couple bags of soft plastics, a popping cork, and a waterproof plano box with terminal tackle and a topwater lure (typically a super spook). I will typically have a couple 2' and 3' leaders made up with swivels on the end for quick depth changes.

On the belt of the fanny pack is a pair of pliers and a plastic lip grip, both attached with lanyards. I don't carry a net, but can see the value in it. I've definitely lost a few fish by not having one.

If I am planning to keep anything, then a saltwater stringer - the kind with the smooth plastic cord as opposed to the braided rope. Stringer is 20' long and attaches to the belt with velcro that I can quickly remove. It only takes one 6' blacktip tugging at fish on your 10' stringer to make you learn that lesson.

Nothing like a bull shark dragging you out to sea to make you reconsider life choices.