Fishing Report Answering Some Questions About Redfish
Not many days will go by when I’m asked a variety of questions about redfish. Hopefully, you’ll find the helpful.
Despite windy conditions fishing has been good! Fishermen finding protected shorelines and bait are often catching fish. Small redfish are plentiful. Often when a fisherman feels a bump when pitching plastic there’s often a small redfish. Small rattle floats are excellent when targeting redfish. Live or dead mullet are an excellent bait favorite for larger redfish. Redfish are usually found close to structure. The rule of thumb is in for redfish, out for seatrout. More redfish are missed because fishermen are too quick on a hook set rather than too slow. In general the faster your bobber or disappears the faster your hook set . When you’re fishing close to the bottom with little or no current a redfish might walk a bait. Let the fish walk your bait. The fish should feel absolutely nothing! Usually a redfish will walk a bait only a few feet. Then your float should vanish. When your float disappears pause slightly then set your hook! Hook sets should be firm. When fighting a redfish the first thing to keep in mind is the fish’s habits. Sharks will seek deep water. Redfish will usually make short powerful runs to any available structure. Drags need to tight enough to power a fish out of close at hand structure. Drags that are too tight will snap leaders on the hook set every time. My preference is 25 pound fluorocarbon. My preference is to fish 30 power pro with a 25 pound leader. You can tie line to line using a uni-knot. I make five wraps with the power pro and three with the fluorocarbon. I know it doesn’t seem like many wraps. This is what works for me. I use another uni for jig or whatever I’m fishing. When tying a superbraid to swivel or a jig go through the eye twice and make another five wrap uni-knot. My favorite rods for redfish are 6-12 pound jigs rods and 8-15 pound spinning rods for float fishing. There are many fine rods on the market. A favorite of mine are Key Largo rods sold by Chuck King of Cranman’s Sporting World. The key to a good rod is action. The rod needs to have plenty of strength and power in the lower third and plenty of flex in the tip. Chuck worked with the owner of Key Largo Rod’s Rick Berry to bring these rods in our area. These are fine rods. A good rod needs to have the proper action, a reasonable price as well as a solid warranty. Key Largo rods have an over the counter life time warranty. Support your local tackle shops.
Back to Fishing
We’re into storm season! Keep in mind what storms are doing regardless of planning to fish or not. Winds that churn waters and slow drifts will make fishing difficult. Fish can still be caught but finding clean water is a must. Fish lee shores. Tides for the coming are not large tides extending the time fishermen can get into and of low water areas. Minimize your noise and you’ll likely catch some nice fish. Redfish, flounder and seatrout are biting. Lots of small trout, not quite keeper size. Redfish are doing well with several reports of fish in the 18 to 27 inch range. The storms for the coming week are big question. Watch and listen to local weather reports!
Capt. Jack McGowan