Driving on a Beach….and Surfcasting for Stripers

Only drive on specifically posted legal access

There are many beaches to drive on all over the planet.

Let me preface this with the fact that this is based on mistakes I’ve made or seen others make. There’s tons of ways to do this. These are just my thoughts on the best way.

Im going at it from the most challenging beaches I drove on. Cambered, uphill rutted out dunes, small golfball sized rocks, salt water creek crossing, and getting yourself unstuck.

My Jeeps had probably 100days per year on east Coast beaches. We camped overnight, were given special permits for clambakes and campfires. Fishing and boating from the beach, etc.

Striped Bass are "street smart" by the time they hit the northeast coast. They've seen every rig thrown at them for the last 1000 miles. Keep that in mind when you're trying get one into the cooler.

Here’s my equipment list.

Fishing Rods - I used open end reel on a 9-10ft rod.

Line weight - 30# braided line

Leaders - honestly the less hardware you use the better. I use a single medium stainless swivel attached to 3 feet of mono 50# test tied directly to the lure. This is for stripers in September off Northeast coastline. Metal Leaders on lures on cape cod often spook the fish.

Lures -

You want to match the habitat(match the hatch in fly fishing)

Light colors in the daylight, dark colors at night. Fish expect shadows at night, a bright lure would spook them at night.

Increase the lure weight based on the wind you're fighting. I have 3 sizes of my favorite lures.

Olive colors work excellent.

Yellow works great on early morning sunny days.

Light Blue works excellent in the daylight as well.

Live Bait

Live bait is typically done with a rig and tossed as far from the beach as possible.

Clams on the south shore(Quincy to Plymouth)

Sand Eels East of the canal.

Sometimes chunk makerel.

Swivel first, then the two staggered hooks then a lead weight. The lead weight helps with wind, surf, and distance (depending on technique).

Sea worms work well on the elbow around Falmouth.

The two best live baits are live eels and herring.

Confused? I was too. Live eels as the locals call them are long, black slithery, snake things. The fish can't resist them and they've been the bait of more tournament winning fish than any other bait.

Live eels are different rigs. And I've never used them.

But Live eels at night on the Cape Cod Canal are how you get >45# fish. The sand "eels" are little minnows. And you really want them fresh, frozen ones don't work.

Stripers like 68° water. They also seek a certain pressure. When the pressure is low, they come up. When it's high they go down. Standard pressure is 29.92 inhg.

So that’s fishing gear…

Other thing I love to have on the beach is a Clam Rake -

nothing is better than clam chowder made with clams you just dug up. You will need a shellfish permit though. One of the reasons towns require permits is so they can tell you places NOT to go due to water microbial contaminants. So if you try and poach, chances are you'll get sick. Get the license.

Tire pressure gauge - you need to air down. Get one with increments of 1psi. 12psi is where I kept mine.

chain 20’ - chains don't stretch. This places all the tow force into the stuck vehicle.

Tow rope or strap. Straps are typically better. If you use rope, the longer the rope, the more susceptible to breaking it is. Believe it or not, shorter lengths of the same class ropes are stronger.

tow hooks in front and back of Jeep - recreational reasons really. I used them for securing tarps etc. They do make recovery easier and quicker. It's honestly my favorite thing to do on the beach; pulling other trucks out of being stuck.

2”receiver hitch in front and rear- front ones are for a rack system that holds coolers and fishing rods. The ones in the back are for recovery. Trailer hitches are mounted directly to vehicle frames, so if another vehicle pulls on it, it’s not coming off the truck.

3/4“ plywood 2’x2’- this is for if you get stuck. The plywood plank is placed under the jack so the weight of the vehicle doesn't just push the jack into the sand.

Yak tracks - these things are awesome. Lay them down in front or behind the wheels and drive on out of your ditch.

flashlight - seeing at night is key. There is no residual light on the beaches. Use an Amber or red lense. Reds best. Doesn't spook the fish. Though amber is brighter light. Headlamps are the norm.

2 fire extinguishers - the more you have of these the better.

heavy duty trash bags - leave only your footprints.

nylon parachute chord - this is great for rigging driftwood for a tarp for shade or shelter from the rain.

Variety of Zip Ties I use these for everything. Great for tying things to the roof rack, securing fishing rods or off grid repairs.

folding camping saw - at least a 14" blade....again, shelter.

Hatchet - great for making wood chips that help get the cooking fire going.

Folding spade shovel - burry the cooler with it, dig yourself out, dig a fire pit, slurry the water when putting the fire out. This is the most frequently used tool on the beach.

Machete - They're good for chopping firewood and those giant fish you'll catch. Firearms are not legal on mass beaches. And if you run into a Coyote, this could be an option. Best is a long stick. Put some distance between you and it. Frequently they takeoff once they see you.

Firewood - lots of it. I used to walk up and down the beach gathering firewood for a couple of hours. A beach towel is a great way to bundle and carry it.

metal water bin(farm style) - great for the fire. Keeps it contained. Without one, the sand smothers the coals.

frying pan - big one. Cast Iron

lobster pot - they sell these at most camping stores.

beach chairs - get something that's easy to jump out of for when you catch that fish.

cooler - duh

8 gallons of water - for boiling the lobster or steaming the taters, corn and clams. I use it for doing dishes too.

Long leash - for the dog.

Dog food - for the dog.

Shelter of some kind.

On board tire inflation of some kind. I use a Ryobi air tank with a rechargeable battery pack. Thing works great.

Full size spare tire.

Giant first aid kit.

When I get to the beach, I air down to about 12psi. Some guys go all the way down to 8, but if you have lockers and mud tires you only need to go down to 12psi. Don't let anyone tell you lockers aren't necessary on the beach. They're a dream! Mud tires work well too, but not the way they do in mud. Next rig I get will have front and rear lockers. With those you can go with a lighter tread tire.

Torque is the kiss of death on the beach. Use as gentle a pedal as possible. Too much torque and you'll dig yourself up to your axles. If you get stuck, 4 low, lockers on, light pedal.

The larger the grain of sand or stone, the worse the traction. Driving in loose beach stone is sketchy. Very little traction, even with low power. I'm talking small to medium beach stones that change places every day. Loose and unpacked. Steering in it is also a challenge.

Stay off the dune grass.

The Rangers will toss you AND your truck off the beach if they see you tearing it up.

There's some cool videos of trucks being pulled out of dune grass by the axle. And that's all they give back to the owners. They'd sooner let the truck rot there for the next 20 years than drag it through what takes 30 years to grow.

These beautiful places take centuries to grow properly.

I planted some of that darn grass when I was a kid.....if I see one blade out of place!!! :)' lol

Stay above the berm crest. There's tons of reasons for this. Below the berm crest is little tiny critters that feed little critters, that feed medium critters, that feed larger critters that feed us. Many of these little tiny, little, medium and large critters are rare, endangered or have protected habitats. Throw that out of balance and two things happen. One.....more expensiver foodages.

Two....beaches close to everyone and animals take back their turf.

Fires are usually permit only. But check local

Laws. Fishing....same thing. You need a permit. Even off the beach. The permitting places know where the hot spots are too. So not only do you get a cool piece of paper for your memorabilia, you get a locals advice on where they're catching keepers.

IF you get permission for the privilege to have a campfire, do NOT bury it when you're done. Walk to the ocean about 20 times and pour sea water over it. Many people burry their fires to put them out. What they have actually done is created an oven that can get to 1000°F. Unsuspecting people and pets have been badly burned by this practice. Stepping blindly onto a 1000° oven. Many don't know this is what happens. We're taught for years that to put out a fire, you can throw dirt on it or smother it. Which is true, but the heat is trapped. The smothering prevents the spread of fire by wind or fuel(blowing embers). The heat can rise depending on how much wood is buried. We actually cook this way on the beach using stones and seaweed for steaming lobster and clams, potatoes and corn.

For that reason never build a recreational fire right in the sand. Have one of those metal farm bins used for water. They're usually galvanized.

When the fire wood is almost burned away, drag the whole tub to the water and fill it with water. Soak the daylights out of it. Let the hot logs and coals roll into the ocean. Then bring water up and cool the sand where the bin was.

First time you pour water into the area the fire was, it'll spontaneously boil. Keep your face away from the steam. It'll burn ya.

Give yourself 40 minutes to properly leave a safe camp.

Don't rush this. And watch the kids and pets around the empty hole.

Bring some kind of leather gloves to protect your hands from the heat. Welding gloves work excellent.

And you thought campfires on the beach were easy. They are. Just be safe.

Fishing from the beach. My favorite thing to do.

You need a sand spike, a chair a cooler, some bait and patience. Or walk the beach and just toss different lures into the surf.

I prefer live bait. But you gotta match the hatch. What's nearby? Some places it's live eels, sometimes clams, sometimes sand eels or herring.

Herring and live eels are the top producers. There's little lights you can put on your rod tip, that way you can see it bend. I’ve also seen people use bells.

I love drive-on beaches. It's a combination of off-roading, off gridding, beach day etc. it's like one giant block party with all your ocean neighbors.

Just do it a favor and leave it nice. Or they'll close it. They can find a reason. One I used to go to got tired of the out of towners leaving trash, and I mean trash ALL over the beach. They can close them for turtle nesting, plover nests, bird sanctuaries.

If all this trash goes in the ocean, we won't have seafood any more.

And if you thought bankruptcy was bad,

Wait til you see bankrupt seas.

Leave only your footprints. And maybe a note with seashells. :)

Happy wheeling. It's a BLAST!! Plan a trip soon.