"How To Fish For and Catch Red fish"," There are many ways to fish for Red fish, and none of them are wrong. Red fish are primarily bottom feeders. The structure of their head shows that it is easier for them to look down and feed off of the bottom, as opposed to a Snook or Tarpon who spend more time looking up and have a mouth better suited for ambushing bait from underneath. This is when Red fish are feeding in the sand and grass flats in shallow water, and they expose the tip, if not all of, their tail fin. This is an exciting time for an angler, because we now know that they are there and hungry. The first thing to remember about Red fish is to be aware of is that they have very keen hearing. Their eyesight is not that great, but they can hear very well. Long casts to the fish work best, and baits that do not make a lot of noise when hitting the water are also a plus. Allow the bait to sink to the bottom, and give little twitches to get it to come off bottom to show itself. Again, you can give a little pull to expose the bait for a second, but then let it go back to the bottom. Being patient is very important - Always let the fish come to the bait. At this time they are going to the places that the bait fish will be looking for safety. Casting up under structure like mangroves is a challenge and takes some practice. This will get your bait or lure up under the structure to where the fish are. Combine that with an almost gulfing movement of your fishing rod about 2 feet off the water and a quick hard snap of the rod and your bait will skip across the water and under the structure. If you are using lures, use weedless ones if possible and stay away from anything with treble hooks. In small creeks and edges of saw grass or along banks try to keep some distance, and work all the way up against the shore. When you are not able to get under structure to the fish, you can use sound to attract Red fish. The sound that a popper cork produces is similar to bait being attacked by a predator. Cast your bait close to the edge of the mangroves or structure where you believe the fish are located. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and then repeat. Red fish also have a very strong sense of smell, so this is another thing to focus on when fishing for Red fish. Use scented baits or use scent products applied to lures to help get the fish to commit to the bite. Live bait has their own scent, so we do not need to do anything with them, however, chumming an area will help to bring more fish in and create a feeding frenzy. Ballyhoo is another highly scented fish, which put off a great scent and are a great bait for Red fish if you cut them into chunks. Something about the flash and the vibration of these lures provokes an attack from Red fish. I prefer to use weedless spoons, since I normally would be casting this lure in grass flats. Contrary to popular belief, top water plugs can be used to catch Red fish. This is not true at all. However, in deeper water and along waterways that Red fish are cruising, top water and even suspended plugs can produce some epic fish battles. Pound for pound, Red fish are one of the strongest fish you will ever hook into and we need to ensure their longevity. With this respect, I hope that you will help in the conservation of them and other fish by following a few simple rules. Keep the Red fish out of the water for as short of a time as possible. I hope that I have helped to put you on the right track to becoming a successful Red fish angler.
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