Redfish Fishing Tips From Florida To Texas

The redfish is perhaps the most highly sought after game fish off the Gulf Coast. They inhabit many different types of waters in several different states along the Southern Coast. This article will deal with a few tips that will increase your catch ratio when angling for this species.

The absolute best place to fish for Redfish are in the grass flats that are common in the Florida Keys but are also available all along the gulf from Southern Florida to Texas. The term "grass flats" refers to large sections of water that are no more than one to three foot deep. On the bottom of these areas is thick sea grass. Redfish, along with other species, like to feed on the small fish and crustaceans that inhabit these grass flat areas.

When fishing these flats you should think more like a hunter than a fisherman. Fish in these areas are very wary and there are a few steps you can take to immediately increase your catch:

1) Refrain from using a motor as much as possible. I often use the motor to arrive in the general area and then use the current of the water to bring my boat into the target area I want to fish. The use of a push pole to maneuver once you reach the flats is even a better idea.
2) Keep your line as light as possible. I use only fluorocarbon line when fishing these areas due to its invisibility factor. If you have a good rod and reel with at least two hundred yard line capacity there is no reason to use line that is heavier than six or eight pound test.
3) Learn to fish with a jig. The bait of choice in these areas is the simple jig head. Jigs that are forward weighted work best.

Once on the water the first key is locating where along the flats the Redfish are located. If the wind is calm and you are observant this can often be much easier than you think. When a Redfish in the flats feeds it will stick its head deep into the heavy thick grass in an effort to root out crustaceans and small fish. When it does this its long body will become somewhat vertical in the water. You will often in these cases see the tail of the Redfish break the surface of the water and give away its position. Observation as you can see clearly is very important.

Once you have found the Redfish it is now very important that you make a proper presentation. You can fish with a variety of live or artificial baits. I like to use jigs primarily for artificial bait. You can however effectively use spinners, spinnerbaits and spoons to catch big Redfish. When using live bait nothing beats a very large lively shrimp. You can also use pilchards or pinfish; in fact if you are more concerned with catching a trophy fish than quantity of fish I would change to a large pinfish to target the monsters.