Spottail bass, or redfish, the state's most popular inshore saltwater fish, are commonly fished for in the surf but usually later in the year.

"Most people fish for spottails in the surf during the fall, around October," Oliver said. "The fish begin showing up in the surf now and build as the water cools. You can get a head start on them, especially since marsh fishing can be slow due to the heat."

Oliver suggested fishermen use a fish-finder rig for spottails in the surf. A fish-finder rig consists of a short Teflon sleeve that slides onto your main line. Attached to the sleeve and hanging down is a snap swivel for the sinker.

"The advantage of the fish-finder rig as opposed to other setups for the surf is the fish can pick up the bait and move off with it without feeling the resistance of the sinker. You will want to use enough weight to keep the rig from rolling with the surf."

After the sleeve is threaded onto the main line, attach a barrel swivel to the main line. The fish-finder sleeve should be free to slide up and down the main line.

"You can catch a pretty good spottail in the surf, so I use a fairly large leader," Oliver said. "Mine is 40- to 50-pound monofilament line about 24 inches long. Hook size will be a No. 3/0 or 4/0 straight shank hook. You can use a similarly sized circle hook if you prefer," he added.

Because spottail bass are not picky in their diets, Oliver recommended a variety of baits.

"Baits such as cut mullet or menhaden will work. Live mullet or whole shrimp, alive or dead, are two more good baits. You can even use half of a blue crab."

Whiting, also known as sea mullet or kingfish to some anglers, are the model fish species for the surf. They are abundant nearly year 'round, require a minimal tackle, eat nearly anything and are darn tasty on the table.

Whiting have a torpedo-shaped body with an under-slung mouth positioned below a pointed nose. The whiting's pointed sniffer and mouth position allow it to snoop around on the bottom for some of its favorite prey. Don't look for whiting to get big, with a fish just below a pound about average.

"Rigging for whiting is very simple," Oliver said. "The standard two-hook rig that you can find in any tackle shop is all you need. It comes with a swivel on the top to tie to your main line and a snap swivel on the bottom for your sinker. You only need to add enough weight to the keep the rig from rolling in the surf."

Because whiting are small fish, you don't a big outfit for them. For redfish, you would use a 7- to 8-foot medium- to medium-heavy-action rod spooled with 15-pound-test line, whereas with whiting you could use a 6-foot ultralight or light-action rod spooled with 6- to 8-pound-test line.

"Whiting have small mouths, so you don't need a large hook," Oliver said. "If you use too large of a hook, you might miss some bites. I would recommend a No. 2 or No. 4 straight shank hook for whiting. The tradeoff is if a larger fish, such as spottail, picks up your bait you might lose him unless you are patient in fighting the fish."