Shallow Water Redfish

Spotting redfish in shallow water seems easy enough, by looking for the obvious tails sticking out of the water or that wake they make cruising the banks. But, on windy days that may be tough at times. There are more ways to detect schools of reds that you may have never noticed. Watching bait fish is certainly one of those. Many times you may never see the tail or the wake. It may just be bait fish running for their lives or popping on the surface trying to escape those hungry fish. Today was one of those have-to-be-observant type of days. Southeast winds creating small waves usually makes it tough to see the fish, but if you look for certain breaks or ripples that are not in the same direction as the wind is blowing it's a dead giveaway. Tossing the lure in front of the school will net you many fish that may have gone undetected and resulting in more hookups than just casting blind. The bait of choice today, catching these schooling reds was a suspending shad bait. But tossing live bait such as shrimp or minnows will prove to be very effective also. Touts and swim baits, as well as spinners and gold spoons are also a great choice. So next time you see a change in the water, it just may be a hungry school of those beautiful golden reds. One other note that is important, is a good pair of polarized sunglasses. Today's ultralight choice, which is the standard for me since the fight is more exciting than the catch, was a Shimano Sedona 1000 series spinning reel with a 7 foot Diawa Laguna 701 medium light action rod with 12 pound Nanofil and a 20lb mono leader. The leader may be just as important as the line or more so. Those big redfish can fray your line with that rough mouth, so having a leader that will hold up is always a safe bet. Good luck fishing. Hope to see ya on the water.

Comments

  1. GarrettApril 17, 2017 at 10:39 PM

    Excellent Tips from an Excellent Angler. Thanks Bob.. Tight Lines!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Catching That Crappie Wave

Image
Every year, starting late winter, well-into late spring and even early summer, crappie begin their spawn. The wave starts here in the deep south and will continue as far north into Canada. It is perhaps the favorite time of year for crappie anglers. It's that time of year when even the novice of novice fishers can catch numbers of spawning fish. Just like clockwork, the spawn occurs here in the southern regions of the United States and progressively moves like a giant wave of crappie fishing heaven. Typically starting late January to mid February, the flurry begins and spreads north through the middle states from middle March through April. The wave continues north through April and May. So if you are a crappie enthusiust, and have time to travel, you can ride this crappie wave all the way to Canada. This may be a little far fetched for most of us, but it is possible to catch part of the ride by traveling a few hours north of where you are fishing. Perhaps the best example here in ...
Read more

Shallow Water Live Scoping

Image
Shallow water livescoping is not as easy or simple as one might think. The sheer amount of noise can make it difficult to spot the targeted fish you are trying to catch. When talking shallow, I mean 6 ft or less. So you have bought the coveted holy grail Garmin livescope or the new Lowrance Active Target. These innovations have changed the way fishers fish for certain. Deeper lakes/reservoirs are easier to navigate and spot brushpiles and fish. Shallow water seems to be more difficult. The settings are basically the same, usually noise rejection on low or medium. Then you adjust the gain and depths accordingly. Some scopers like to keep the bottom at the lower part of the screen which works fine in deep water. But sometimes in real shallow water, the view gets distorted and it's harder to see the fish. I like to put the depth at half or three quarter screen. These are only personal preferences that work for me. The key to catching more fish in real shallow water, is knowing what t...
Read more

Big Trout light tackle topwater

Image
With this warm weather here in south Louisiana, the top water fishing has been fantastic. For most folks using medium to heavy tackle would seem to be the best bet. But for me I op-out for the lightest tackle I can get away with. After all what is more exciting than hooking mule trout on 8-10 pound line with a medium to light weight 7ft spinning rod and a 1000 series spinning reel.. Crazy right? Most folks would think that, but that's exactly what I have caught over 40 fish with in the 3-6lb range these last two months. Plus this type of finesse fishing is great if you are using plastics or suspending baits. I prefer braided line also. but the key to using a light braid, is to have at least a 15-20 mono leader.. Those big trout have very sharp teeth and will slice through that braid better than any knife. As far as lures, that's a matter of preference. But a good topwater for the novice would be the mirrolure she-pup with high pitch rattles.. color seems to be secondary. Depend...
Read more