Please help -- Redfish fishing out of St. Marks

[TheWhaler15]

Hey guys,

I've been fishing out of St. Marks for quite some time now, usually with my brother and my dad. It's great anytime you can go fishing. But one thing really does frustrate us: we can't seem to catch redfish.

We have (literally) caught 5 or 6 reds in all of our time fishing out of St. Marks. It seems we have tried nearly every location and every method there is but we just can't get the man in the red suit to our boat.

We've gone back into the East River at high tide. We've tried the oyster bars at the mouth of the river at low tide. We've fished Stoney Bayou, Palmetto Island, and Deep Creek. We've been out to Grey Mare and the Rock Garden at low tide. We just can't seem to find the darn things. We've thrown pinfish, shrimp, finger mullet, Super Spooks, Skitterwalks, gold spoons, Gulps under Cajun Thunders, grubs, bucktails, etc. We just can't get them to us.

It's just a matter of finding them. But everywhere we look we come up empty handed. Do we need to anchor and wait for them to show up? Are we being too impatient and moving too fast?

Everyone else makes it look so easy. But we can't find the fish! We have a trolling motor, so noise isn't a problem.

Also, we're usually on the water at 7am.

Any help would be appreciated guys, Redfish have to be the funnest fish to catch (probably because we don't get to do it that often ).

Thanks.

[captkeyser]

Sounds to me like you are throwing the right lures in all the right places. Do you have a trolling motor or push pole? You do need to be somewhat quiet when stalking. Keep doing what you are doing and YES, kill the motor. Generally takes 5 to 10mins for the tails to pop up, once the motor is killed, if they are there that is.

Keep it up. You are in the right place with the right plugs. It will happen!

[Rainman]

I feel your pain. Been fishing those same waters for years and never caught a red on the flats. I have rode over a few but no bites. Most of my reds are caught around sunset either in stoney at the deep bend that has all the rock grass or at the oyster bars close to the light house. The bar that runs out from the broke dock in front of the light house is a good spot. Also the bars that point into the channel of the river as you go in from the light hous are good at times. If you don't get a bite after anchoring for half hour id move. If your not following the daily feed times I would definately start. Good luck!

[SHOWBOAT]

It's just a matter of finding them. But everywhere we look we come up empty handed. Do we need to anchor and wait for them to show up? Are we being too impatient and moving too fast?
Thanks.

my guess is just the opposite. there are redfish all over the coast and they bite at different times in different locations. I have a couple "holes" where if patient enough a fish will be caught, but I mostly hop from one location to another until I understand which patterns are working that day. Some I know before I even depart b/c I've spent enough time in those locations to know if the fish will eat with different winds, tides, etc. Not atypical to hit 10-15 different locations a day. Your're using the right stuff. Get shallow and finds changes in the water flow or work structure.

[silverking]

Several good suggestions already posted. Patience is the key sometimes.

Your hull design might be part of the problem, however. The cathedral-style hull of the Whalers tends to slap a bit and that might be just enough to spook the fish if they are on the wary side. Use the trolling motor to prospect or anchor and wait 'em out on a bar or near a creek mouth. A stake-out pin might help in that situation to position the boat (in combo with the anchor) to minimize hull slap.

Keep trying. You'll get on 'em.

[TheWhaler15]

Ok guys, thanks for all the advice and tips. I certainly hope my hull has very little to do with it!

Thanks again.

[prebleg]

There might be some fishermen who can catch them year around but I usually only get them in the fall when he water is starting to cool off - late October or November.
I fish in the creeks with live bait, preferably bull minnows. Best to go in at high tide and look for a deep hole then wait for the tide to start falling, that seems to set them off.
Good luck.

[mastercaster]

I do good with the floppy rod on a low tide with my aluminum james boat (lots of rocks). i usually wade then climb up on good head rock or any rock and sight fish for them.

[juan sapatos]

I've had a similar experience to you, but have started to have success two ways. First is poling along the shoreline blind casting a suspending plug. Second is anchoring up outside an oyster bar when the tide is coming in hard and pitching a tiny pinfish up to the bar . Rig for this is line through 3/8 ounce egg sinker to swivel to 18 inches 30lb mono leader to size 2 circle hook; hook the pinfish in front of the dorsal. I use size 14 bream hooks and squid to catch the tiny pins. Same method works with live mullet if you like to throw a net -- hook the mullet through the lips. Can also use a jig head or weighted worm hook. By the way, you can get the size 14 bream hooks at Rivers on South Adams street south of the post office.

The blind casting is not really blind casting because I'm throwing to moving water. It's blind in the sense that I can't tell if I'm throwing at mullet or redfish. It takes a fair amount of patience because it seems like you can throw a long time without a bite and then its a bite every other cast for 20 minutes. I would love to throw to tailing fish, but I have not been able to see that yet.

[woopty]

I'm more of an "anchor in a good spot and let the reds come to you" kind of guy.
I have several favorite holes that usually produce according to the wind and tide.
Get enough of these holes and you can find fish somewhere in various conditions.
Tidal knowledge is essential though.
Use a chart for where the water should be, then factor in the previous 24 hour winds to come up with a rough estimate where the water actually is. North wind will keep the tides lower, south wind will bump them up.
If the tide and wind are right, they usually show up.
I have had the best luck at St. Marks on a hard incoming tide.
At St. George, I have the best luck on an outgoing.