When we go after redfish in my region, we’re targeting specific groups of fish—either the slot-sized reds or the trophy reds. These schools aren’t in the same locations and they don’t mingle together, so you need to pick one and chase it. Slot fish in my area probably average around 23 inches, while the trophy fish average 38 to 45 inches, with fish over 50 inches common. Over-sized or “trophy” fish as we call them fish typically hold along hard bars or channels in 2- to 4-feet of water. Because these fish are larger, they need that extra water depth, so you don’t typically see them along shorelines unless the water is deep, and even then, it’s usually only one or two fish, not an entire school of big reds.
These big fish need a lot of food to keep up their body mass, and they feed primarily on pinfish and mullet, but there are specific times of the year (late winter and early spring for shrimp and summer for crabs) that they target crustaceans as well. Mullet seem to work really well in the summer and fall when the mullet are running, and pogies are a good bait out on the beaches.
The one default bait you can go to year-round and get these big fish to eat is a cut piece of fresh ladyfish. You want to use a big piece, say 5 or 6 inches in length, something big enough that the catfish can’t eat it. Ladyfish is oily and puts a lot of scent in the water, so you want to fish it up-current of the fish and let them smell the bait and come it it.
These big fish are smart and rarely eat artificials, but when they do, it’s usually a topwater plug like a Rapala Skitterwalk or a large soft plastic jerk bait like a Bass Assassin Texas Shad. For colors, you want something with gold or gold glitter in it.
Standard tackle for these larger fish is 12- to 20-pound monofilament or 20- to 30-pound braided line with a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader and a 4/0 or 5/0 Diachi Circle Wide or the VMC Tournament Circle hook. I like circle hooks with bait because they decrease the chance that you’ll hook the fish deep and since we know we want to release these fish, we want to do everything we can to make sure they go back into the water in the best shape possible.
We target slot-sized redfish much like we target spotted seatrout, in water that’s less than 24 inches deep around the mullet pods or glass minnow pods. Redfish and mullet have a working relationship where the larger mullet will forage the grass, kicking up small shrimp and crabs and the reds are there to pick them off when they get exposed. Mullet are herbivores, so they don’t eat the shrimp and crabs. Glass minnows are the most common fish species in the Lagoon and Rivers, and the staple of redfish forage.
Continue reading this article at this LINK…..
—–
Join ODU Magazine on Facebook here at this LINK…..
Join ODU Magazine on our Twitter fishing site here at this LINK…..
Join ODU Magazine on our Twitter hunting site here at this LINK…..
.
.