How Do You Fish For Redfish In Surf?

Cut bait is the go-to bait when surf fishing for redfish. It’s durable, stays on the hook well when casting, and will catch just about anything that swims. You can use any small fish that’s readily available, but mullet, porgies, croakers, and pinfish are typically most effective for redfish.

How do you catch a redfish on the surf?

Two to four inch chunks of bunker or mullet will do the trick. Frozen bait works, fresh is better, just make sure to cut them in chunks. Cut bait bleeds out oils and blood which attracts bull drum at a distance. It is a more powerful attractant than live bait in the tumultuous surf.

What is the best bait to catch redfish?

mullet
During the spring, the best baitfish to use are mullet, pilchards, greenies or pogies. Although redfish also eat shellfish and crabs, they’ll eat the prey that’s easiest. If you’re not able to get some live bait, you also can use dead bait too. Use a 7/0 hook and put some mullet fillet on it.

How far offshore do redfish go?

You can catch redfish from just about any water depth from 6 inches in the back country shallows to more than 100 feet deep when you are fishing the offshore reefs, wrecks and oil rigs.

What is the best time of day to catch redfish?

The best time of day to catch redfish is in the morning before the sun heats up the shallows and in the afternoon off in deeper water features like jetties, wrecks, and bridges. Redfish funnel back into deeper water in the afternoon because it is both cooler and holds more bait than the shallows.

Is it better to fish on high tide or low tide?

An incoming tide, or rising tide, is considered one of the best fishing tide times. Water that enters an estuary area from the ocean can have a lower temperature, contain more oxygen, and have better clarity than the water that exists in the estuary during low tide or slack water periods.

Are redfish hard to catch?

But after years of targeting redfish with both live bait and artificial lures, I’ve found that redfish are one of the easiest of all the inshore game fish to fool with lures.

What do redfish like as bait?

The baitfish that redfish love to hunt are pogies, mullet, pilchards and greenies. They also feast on crab and other shellfish, but the baitfish are easier to catch. If you’re fishing for redfish in the spring, look for large baitfish schools, like pogies, on the warm tidal currents.

What size hook is best for redfish?

Hook Size for Redfish: So you may be wondering what the best size hook is for catching redfish with white bait. I recommend 1/0 to 3/0 size circle hooks. For small white bait (2-3″) I usually use smaller 1/0 size circle hooks to avoid affecting the way the bait swims.

Can you catch redfish on the beach?

Finding Beach Structure & Where To Cast
Redfish can be in really shallow water and very close to shore! They’ll be cruising the troughs chasing baitfish and on top of sandbars feeding. Make sure you have baits out in different places so you have the best chance to find their feeding zone.

How do you catch redfish in the summer?

If you fish in coastal marshes or creeks and want to catch more redfish this summer, look for them along the banks during low tide, and around points, creeks mouths, coves, and oyster bars at high tide. Several lures will work, including topwater lures, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, paddletails, and gold spoons.

What does redfish taste like?

What does redfish taste like? Is it fishy, steak texture, flaky, white, or fishy tasting? Redfish or Red drum will have a mild, sweet flavor with a medium-firm texture. Not a steak texture like Shark or Swordfish and not as flaky as say a Flounder.

How do you hook a shrimp for surf fishing?

Hook the shrimp through the head when casting or trolling.

1. Insert the hook from under the shrimp’s head, and push the barb out on top, avoiding the vital organs.
2. Insert the hook through the top of the shrimp’s head, working the point under the vital organs before pushing it out elsewhere on the top of the head.

How do you catch redfish at low tide?

As water fills up creeks that were previously dry at low tide, bait follows the water into those areas to look for shelter. Redfish, who are hungry and not scared to get in really shallow water, follow the bait up the creeks. Therefore you, as the fishermen, need to follow the fish and water up the creeks, too.

Do you need a leader for redfish?

Having a good leader line with strong knots is absolutely essential for inshore anglers who want to land big snook, redfish, trout, tarpon, etc. However, many inshore anglers simply have never been taught how to make their own leaders, or in many cases, they were taught an inferior way to tie leaders.

What size circle hooks for surf fishing?

2/0 hooks are the best all around hook size for surf fishing. A 2/0 circle hook will catch smaller fish like whiting and pompano but are also big enough to catch bluefish, mackerel, fluke, flounder, redfish, snook and tarpon too.

Is fishing good in rough surf?

Absolutely! You will be able to catch a lot of fish in a rough surf because choppy surf conditions provide fish with more favorable conditions to leave the shelter, approach the shoreline, and feed within your casting range, making it an ideal time to pack your gear and go fishing.

What kind of rig do you use for surf fishing?

The most simple rig is the fish-finder rig. It consists of a leader with a hook, and a barrel swivel is tied to the mainline behind a fish-finder weight slide. The fish-finder rig is ideal for large pieces of bait because an angler can “drop back” to a biting fish, and give it time to ingest the bait.

Can you surf fish in big surf?

Yes, as long as you are actively using no more than two rods at any one time.

What is the best tide to surf fish?

High spring tide is the best tide for surf fishing, not only because it produces the highest levels of water, but also because the water takes longer to rise or fall and as a result generates more water movement. Consequently, fish will spend more time eating and looking for food.

Is it worth fishing at low tide?

Beach Fishing and Tides
Different beaches fish differently over different stages of the tide. Many steep shingle beaches will fish well regardless of the stage of the tide as there is always a good depth of water to cast into. However, on some shallower sloping beaches, the best fishing can be had at low tide.