Beach fishing on the Buenos Aires coast: the gear, the bait, how to read the surf and the best spots for the croaker.
Fishing facing the sea
Surfcasting is fishing from the beach, casting far beyond the surf line to reach the species that come close to shore. On the Buenos Aires Atlantic coast it is a popular, social and low-cost way to start, with the croaker (corvina rubia) as the great protagonist.
The gear
- A long surfcasting rod, from 3.90 to 4.20 m, to cast far.
- A reel with good line capacity (spinning or conventional), with 0.35 to 0.40 mm mono or thin braid.
- Grapnel sinkers (with wires) that grip the bottom and hold against the current.
- Two- or three-hook rigs (paternoster), from 1/0 to 4/0 depending on the species.
The bait
The sea worm is the universal bait; cut mackerel strips, shrimp, silverside and fish fillet also work very well. For croaker, a mackerel strip or a worm is the classic.
Reading the beach
The secret of surfcasting is reading the beach: look for the troughs (deeper, darker zones between the sandbars), the holes and the places where the wave breaks differently. That is where the fish move. Jetties and piers also concentrate fish.
Species and season
The croaker is the most sought-after catch, best in autumn and winter. You also catch pescadilla (very abundant in season), flounder over sandy bottoms and smoothhound, a small harmless shark. The tides rule: the first hours of the incoming tide are usually the best.
Where
Mar del Plata, with its jetties and beaches; Necochea and the mouth of the Quequén; Claromecó; Pinamar and Villa Gesell; San Clemente and Punta Rasa; and the standout Bahía San Blas, in the south, famous for its big fish.
