Hi Everyone,
Okay, so I have been fishing inshore around St. Marks for about three years now and finally have trout fishing pretty much figured out. I know basically where I should go, and what I should do, to catch trout. But I have not had very good luck finding - or catching - redfish. I have been working around oyster bars - trolling, anchoring, drifting - with live shrimp, spinners, jigs, you name it, and have been working up into the creeks as far as I can go without having to wait for the tide to come in, but I have yet to catch a keeper red around St. Marks.
For the record, when I went with a guide down around Sanibel last year I caught 10 in less than an hour. But there we were back in mangrove swamp that was barely moving, and we chummed and used cut bait. This technique doesn't seem to work around here.
So, any advice about what the heck I'm doing wrong or where I am doing it would be more than helpful.
And we all know how much you guys like giving out advice...
Thanks!
-Bill
Redfish Anguish
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
Bill, I've only been concentrating on the redfish for a short time. But I'll share what I've learned.
1. Go early. I've been running to where I want to fish in the dark.
2. Watch the bait. Especially the mullet. The reds follow the bait.
3. Don't lock yourself in to one type of area. Fish the bars, creek mouths, up the creeks, and, at times, open water out from the creeks.
4. You're chasing reds, not trout. They spook easily, and, most of the time, have to be talked into biting.
5. One or two reds per trip constitutes a good day. Occasionally you'll have that banner day where you get into a school and catch a bunch. I've already had my one banner day this year.
It's not uncommon to come home with an empty fish box.
6. Keep going, and go often. I'm convinced you have to pattern redfish, just like you have to pattern bass. They aren't in the same place every day.
7. Vary your baits. I fish a topwater, a spoon, a spinnerbait, and a weightless eel. I'll switch between baits, and change the presentation of each bait, in hopes of finding the right combination.
Red fishing isn't easy. There might be those that have been red fishing a long time, and are sucessful, that would argue this. If it were easy, more folks would be targeting them.
All that said, when you do hook up and land that one good red, you'll probably be addicted for life.
1. Go early. I've been running to where I want to fish in the dark.
2. Watch the bait. Especially the mullet. The reds follow the bait.
3. Don't lock yourself in to one type of area. Fish the bars, creek mouths, up the creeks, and, at times, open water out from the creeks.
4. You're chasing reds, not trout. They spook easily, and, most of the time, have to be talked into biting.
5. One or two reds per trip constitutes a good day. Occasionally you'll have that banner day where you get into a school and catch a bunch. I've already had my one banner day this year.
It's not uncommon to come home with an empty fish box.6. Keep going, and go often. I'm convinced you have to pattern redfish, just like you have to pattern bass. They aren't in the same place every day.
7. Vary your baits. I fish a topwater, a spoon, a spinnerbait, and a weightless eel. I'll switch between baits, and change the presentation of each bait, in hopes of finding the right combination.
Red fishing isn't easy. There might be those that have been red fishing a long time, and are sucessful, that would argue this. If it were easy, more folks would be targeting them.
All that said, when you do hook up and land that one good red, you'll probably be addicted for life.
What was I supposed to do today?
The best way I have found to catch reds is either feast or famine.
Pick an oyster bar in the bay, outside the creeks. I don't know how to tell you which one the reds will choose, they shift around.
On a falling tide, while the bar is still well covered, anchor the boat off the down tide side of the bar, so when the tide gets low your boat won't be hung up.
Get out of the boat and wade (sturdy shoes that cover the ankles are a must, be careful (old sturdy shoes, the oysters will cut them up, but better the shoes than the feet)). Start casting up tide. Keep at it. Eventually, the reds will fall out with the tide. When they do they won't be schooled up, but kind of loosely grouped. Like a crowd of people not in a group, but all going in the same direction. If you're on a hot bar just about any lure that runs shallow enough to keep from getting hung up on the bottom will work.
Like I said, this method is feast or famine. If you're not on a hot bar the reds won't show. If you are on a hot bar you'll catch fish as fast as you can reel them in and unhook them until they get by you. A lot of these reds will be over the slot.
The longest I've ever seen a bar stay hot like this is about a week. That was the one I wrote about in the West Side Story post. That bar I could walk in to, so how close to shore a bar is doesn't seem to matter.
This is also a good way to catch big trout. Sometimes BIG trout.
Pick an oyster bar in the bay, outside the creeks. I don't know how to tell you which one the reds will choose, they shift around.
On a falling tide, while the bar is still well covered, anchor the boat off the down tide side of the bar, so when the tide gets low your boat won't be hung up.
Get out of the boat and wade (sturdy shoes that cover the ankles are a must, be careful (old sturdy shoes, the oysters will cut them up, but better the shoes than the feet)). Start casting up tide. Keep at it. Eventually, the reds will fall out with the tide. When they do they won't be schooled up, but kind of loosely grouped. Like a crowd of people not in a group, but all going in the same direction. If you're on a hot bar just about any lure that runs shallow enough to keep from getting hung up on the bottom will work.
Like I said, this method is feast or famine. If you're not on a hot bar the reds won't show. If you are on a hot bar you'll catch fish as fast as you can reel them in and unhook them until they get by you. A lot of these reds will be over the slot.
The longest I've ever seen a bar stay hot like this is about a week. That was the one I wrote about in the West Side Story post. That bar I could walk in to, so how close to shore a bar is doesn't seem to matter.
This is also a good way to catch big trout. Sometimes BIG trout.
My son and I always had good luck around Aucilla. Alwways went on the rising tide,pushed right up in the grass along the small creeks or a small "bay". Fished wid cut bait under a popping cork, not 6' out from the grass.
We caught some monsters, at least the ones that didn't break off.
FUN
I had a go-devil then and it was easy to move around parking in the grass, following the schools.
We caught some monsters, at least the ones that didn't break off.
FUN
I had a go-devil then and it was easy to move around parking in the grass, following the schools.
Work 2 fish 4 days
1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
What little bit of luck I've had (I just started looking for the reds myself) was fishing something different from the rest of the surroundings. If your at an oyster bar, look for the points. Same for a the grass line...points,small cuts in the grass or patches of grass just off from the main line, etc.