Where I fish most is a wide sandy bottom beach. No rocks. I fish chunk bait and clams alot. Are eels a good bait in this situation? I don't think they are naturally there. I've never seen any of the other fisherman using plugs, and there is rarely any surface sign of fish.
Appreciate any input on fishing open sand bottom beaches.

I usually catch small ones on the chunk and am hoping some tips might lead to larger fish. Thanks.

Open sandy beaches can be tough, you should scout the beaches at low tide and look for bars and troughs in the sand, fish will use this structure when moving about and feeding, any darker patch of water(deeper) surrounded by lighter water is a good place to target. Eels will work, as well as almost any artificial, and remember when looking for bigger fish, darkness is your friend.

Sea worms on the bottom. Sit, wait and enjoy yourself and company. That was how I fished before I got hooked on plugs.

Eels work. Look for features in the surf where waves change from short and choppy to long and stretched out. Fish the edge of those features.

Good Sized Sand Eels!:fishin:

Eels will def work, just cast them out and basically drift them. Sand worms will certainly work as well. Like Plankton said go @ low tide and find the structure and the cuts. I personally love fishing sandy bottom beaches.

Ice

If there are bass, eels will work...

what Cape Codder said. Eels will work in any environment. Not all the time but more often than not.

I personally would change it up from throwing a chunk and waiting. Instead of waiting for the fish seek them out and attack!

Try getting a nice swimming plug and put a teaser about 10-18 inches in front of the plug. Fish it at night and don't stop working it till it's on the sand. If you don't get something for 5 casts walk 100 ft down and do the same thing. I generally find that if there are fish around you will get hit's. Once they show themselves you can try changing to an Eel and throwing it out there and retrieving very very slowly. Just my .02 cents.

Try fishing tin--Pt. Jude Sandeel, Pojee, and styles like that in the sand. Have taken a few fish like this but I rarely fish a sandy beach. If sandeels are around this should work. Basically, you want the tin in contact with the sand to look like the sandeel is trying to dig in. Tins should also cast very well and this is a good method for scouting. You can also vary retrieves. I rarely fish tins, but in this situation I would give it a shot. You might even find a fluke that was cruising around too. Check out Laptew's Stripers Gone Wild if you already haven't. Gives a good insight on stripers in many different habitats.

like Squib said, you can't go wrong with eels. something about eels stripers can't resist!

One of my favorits for sandy beaches is a banana head jig, white 1.5 oz, with a red culpert worm, or a piece of pork.

Personally, if there was only one bait or lure i could use to catch bass on sandy beaches it would be a big, fat, snake. without question the best thing to get a big bass's attention.

Eels or swimming plug. If there is a current of any kind I like to cast up current and let the eel swim/drift with the current . taking in the line as the eels drifts by me, then paying some line out once it gets by. Of course you have to be sure there are no other people fishing near by. If thats the case a good heave straight out and a VERY SLOW retrieve is key. Wait for the hit, wait for the pick up, set the hook.

Dont forget your plastics too. Sluggo, hogy. Pt jude wobble tubes.

Check out breakaway's website (spider rigs)

Just last week on MV in Lobsterville area, took a buddy of mine who is a complete novice with three other friends who have been out with me at night. He won't eat or even touch the fish but he wanted to be out with the guys. He brings a chair out. I rigg an eel on a 7' tica and toss it out. I bring rod up to his chair and stick it into a rod holder and tell him to reel it in if it starts moving. One friend gets a small schoolie and a small blue on a small needle. Within minutes, while the rest of us are preparing to throw or are throwing plugs, his rod starts diving down. He asks "What do i do?". I tell him to first get out of the damn chair and reel it in. He does and the fight is on. He pulls in a 35", 15 pounder. I land it for him and we all have a great meal. The kicker is that two of my regular MV vacation fishing buddies have been going there for 15 years and have yet to catch a keeper, and one has never had even a schoolie. They instantly switch over to eels and nothing the rest of the night. The ribbing still hasn't ended.

That's what it is all about ......... the comraderie and laughs. (Oh, and a good set of fillets)