can someone tell what the best way to set up a rig for surfcasting???? and whats th best bait to use??

um im in the hawkes bay probably go 2 ocean beach in the weekends and i dont know what i want to catch but anything would be good.....

Mate just use flasher rigs if you are unsure, if it is in the surf or with a current and no rocks use a break out sinker (tie a snap swivel onto the bottom to make it easy to change sinker weights). Any of the reputable brands with work i use snapper flashes from black majic and they have caught me many a fish, if the fish aren't biting try another rig like Bozs one above but if you are new to the game flashers are the easiest thing to use and generally productive they allow you to have two different baits out there aswell.

when tieing up that rig that deacs mentioned ... make sure you tie your mainline and hook to the top and bottom swivels, and your sinker to the swivel that sticks out.  Because when your hooked up to a fish, you want that pressure to be pulling in a straight line. Hope you understand :)

I also like to add a little bit of cork to my hooked trace. just make a big enough hole in the cork so it can slide up and down the line freely ... keeps the bait off the  bottom away from crabs and gives it a bit more movement in the current.

Another rig i have used and is very simple... a 2-3 ounce ball sinker on the mainline (running freely), then a swivel and trace of about 1 meter, and a good sized hook... its the easiest way to 'strayline' if there is a bit of current.

 sorry to bump the thread guys but one i try now and then is a rig called walking the dog.

i use a casting leader attatched to the main line..tie your swivel to leader the from there use your prefer trace line ( usualy 60-80lb ) tied to your swivel.

your trace should be about 40-50cm use a bead to protect the knott,uni knott ok.then use a sliding swivel on the trace,preferbly smaller size swivel, tied on to the traceline.then 10-40cm of trace tied to bottom fixed swivel .

this is where you attach your sinker,you could use a breakout or other pending currents and surf etc.

now to the sliding swivel attach aprox 30-40cm traceline and tie your hooks, you can use eather fixed with sliding keeper or 2 fixed hook ledger style
the idea is basicly like a fishfinder so the free trace line will move freely along the line finding fish or if a big snap,picks up does a runner?bang!! game over.

yeh thats a sweet one if you dont know where to set up for fishing ... takes a little time and patients... but hopefully after a few casts you will find where the fish are ... if not, walk that dog some more down the beach :)

If you are in the Hawkes Bay, I suggest having a look on the www.tackletactics.co.nz discussion board. The majority of posters are surfcasters from the HB. Helpful and informative bunch. Good luck.