How to Catch Redfish

How to Catch Redfish

Whether for sport or eating, it’s without a doubt that the redfish is one of the most sought-after species in the southeast. Here’s a brief overview of how and when to catch this fantastic fish.

                    Florida Redfish Season - When to Catch Them

Fortunately for us, redfish are available year-round, particularly in Florida where they can tolerate the mild changes in water temperatures. Perhaps the most infamous season for catching big reds is in the fall, where large fish aggregate to spawn. They will also be around for all other seasons, moving with the tides, and by the day searching for food or preferred water temperatures.

Redfish are primarily inshore species, spending much of their time in the brackish water, bays, and saltwater lagoons of our coasts, but are also common along the beaches and even offshore in some locations. Their locality within those sites will vary depending on the season and time of day. In general, the fish will spend the winter, spring and summer within the brackish areas, and leaving for the inlets, or in some areas offshore, where they will spawn in the fall. There are some areas – for example, A large bay some redfish spend their entire life cycle within the bay system, even spawning inside the deep channels rather than the inlets or offshore.

A good place to start looking for reds year-round is directly in and around mullet schools. Whenever you see mullet jumping erratically in and out of the water, they're kicking up food that redfish would normally have to root around for. This makes finding forage much easier for the redfish, so Redfish always tend to be on the back-ends of the mullet schools. Keep your eye for finger mullet along the shoreline inside the bay. You can bet there will be some reds keeping their eye on those mullet.

                                               Redfish Tackle

There are two basic levels of fishing for redfish: fishing for redfish and fishing for “bull” redfish. A bull redfish is somewhat of an arbitrary definition, but it is basically anything over 30 inches, which requires a bit heavier tackle.

Anywhere between 6-to-14-pound test line, paired with a 20-pound leader will hold for average redfish, where a 20-to-30-pound line, paired with a 40-pound leader may be desired for the bulls.

Me myself I love red mono line for all fishing, 12-20pd is what I use most of the time, if you tackle is to large, it’s no fun because you just horse the fish in and it’s over, I like to play the fish and use my skills and try not to lose him, I have caught 38inch bull reds on 12 pd test and hoping the fish did not find any rock or shells, it was more gratifying after I won the fish.

• Spinning Tackle for Redfish Spinning reels are easy to use and can be essentially used in all situations – top-water lures, Deepwater jigs, or live baiting. A spinning reel is also good for casting for under docks, mangroves, and other structures where redfish often can be found.
• Baitcasting Tackle for Redfish When extra leverage is needed for pulling big fish out from structures such as docks, pilings, or thick mangroves, a bait-casting setup may be desired. Bait-casting reels give you more power when reeling in those big fish. As for casting, bait-casting reels give a more accurate cast, as well as a farther one. One of my best rigs for reds is a baitcasting reel spooled with 15pd red mono line. One day I was in the water, playing with my underwater camera and playing with red, blue and green fishing line and the sun was nice and bright and guess what color disappeared first, you got it right red, that’s one reason I use red most of the time, for the mono, well the monoline has some stretch to it and is more forgiving if you know what I mean. The only time I use hard line is if I am worm fishing for bass so I have a better hook set.
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                                                Best Bait for Redfish

• Redfish primarily feed on crabs during the first few years of life, and after which switch to a more varied diet of crabs, fish and shrimp. Therefore, there are many baits to choose from when targeting redfish. If purchasing from a bait shop, live shrimp are almost always available, while other baits such as mullet, pinfish, ladyfish, sardines, small blue crabs, or fiddler crabs may have to be found on the water.
• One of our favorite live baits for catching Redfish is live shrimp. Especially while they are actively "tailing" or rooting around for food. If you don't have any terminal tackle and can get within casting range without spooking them, you will get a hookup.
• That one big, big advantage of being in a kayak you can sneak up on them, later I will explain how boat pressure can spook fish before you even stop the boat to fish.
• Some of the most consistently caught redfish are done so on artificial lures. Several lures are effective, and each has its strengths. A weighted shrimp or fish-mimicking jig and spoons are effective in both shallow and deep waters, whereas a top-water plug is only effective in shallow waters.
   One of our favorite artificial baits for catching Redfish is Gulp! shrimp because they smell. Redfish use their nose to root around on the bottom to look for food. Gulp! are probably the #1 bait for redfish in the whole state of Florida. Gold spoons are also a very popular and effective artificial bait for redfish, but you can’t beat a 3-4-inch new penny color gulp shrimp. I use them with a jig head, size of the jig head determines the deep of water your fishing in. how fast do you want your bait to fall or how deep do you want your bait to go in the grass?
  More later on Redfish.
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