10 Best Redfishing Spots
St. Simons Island, Georgia.
St. Simons is a special place, one of only four barrier islands (nearby Jekyll, Sea, and Tybee islands are the other three) that are publicly accessible out of 13 on the Georgia coast. Have you ever fished in a hayfield? That’s what high-tide redfishing on the Atlantic seaboard is like. The “hay” is spartina (cordgrass), and when the water gets high enough (tides run as high as 8 to 11 feet) 7- to 14-pound redfish work their way into the grass and feast on fiddler crabs.
In spring, small reds school by the hundreds in the shallows, and tripletails (from 3 to 20 pounds) can be fished from the beaches. In summer, you can sight-fish for tarpon on the flats around the nearby Golden Isles.
St. Simons has both incoming-tide and low-tide fishing, with the fish changing locations as they follow the advancing tide into the spartina flats, then back to the outside flats as the tide falls. After the fiddler crabs burrow into the mud for winter, the flats water is often dirty, but the fish, typically in schools, can be seen when they wake and flash, providing good boat fishing through the winter.
There are bull reds along the beaches in fall, but the most fulfilling challenge is—with the help of a guide—spotting and casting from a 15-foot skiff to tailing reds in the spartina or quietly wade fishing for them. Capt. Greg Hildreth advises his clients to cast about 5 feet in front of a tailing red, allowing the fish to find the twitched fly.
Best times to fish include spring and fall. On an average day, you can expect shots at from 15 to 20 reds.
Morehead City, North Carolina.
Beaufort Inlet supplies the Newport and North rivers with plenty of tidal water, and redfish prowl the marshes along the Morehead City rivers and flats. The reds—and there are many—take Clousers, Dahlberg Divers, Crease Flies, and weedless crab imitations, and on a good day with a guide and boat, an experienced caster can expect to hook from six to ten reds in the 4- to 10-pound range.
Capt. Joe Shute also fishes Bogue and Card sounds, Shackleford Bank, and occasionally as far away as the town of Oriental for drum up to 60 pounds in the August to September spawning period.
The Cape Lookout area seasonally has big gamefish including sharks (caught behind commercial fish trawlers) and offers exceptional fishing for false albacore (October to November), amberjack (spring and fall), dorado (spring), and bluefin tuna (fall and winter). Flounder, seatrout, and black drum are side shots while you fish for reds. The fly fishing is from a 16-foot flats skiff or (offshore) 23-foot Parker.
South Padre Island/Port Mansfield, Texas.
While fishing at the extreme south end of the Laguna Madre, you can wade for reds on vast white-sand flats extending from the south end of South Padre Island to beyond Port Mansfield. There are lots of redfish, trout, flounder, snook, and tarpon. There is a 4- to 5-inch tide, and you wade in 12 inches of water or less—wearing stingray-proof boots—and fish spoon flies from East Cut Saltwater Flies (eastcut.com), which are favorites with Texas coast fly fishers. A sinking deer-hair Slider is another favorite redfish fly here.
On good days, experienced fly fishers can average 20 shots at reds and land from five to six fish weighing between 3 and 8 pounds. Best fishing conditions occur from July through October. The shallow, clear waters call for fluorocarbon tippets.
Biloxi, Mississippi.
Mississippi has salt marshes similar to those in Louisiana. There are many grassy, shallow ponds connected by a series of cuts and bayous around Big Lake. Inland ponds that get heavy fishing pressure have redfish averaging 3 to 8 pounds, but some ponds get less pressure and can produce fish that weigh more than 30 pounds. During the winter (November through January) 20-pound-plus reds are the prime targets, and these large bull reds provide good skiff fishing in the shallows through January and February. Boat rides can be chilly.
In November the water clears, and sight-fishing while wading or from a flats skiff is excellent on white-sand flats around the Gulf Islands, 12 miles offshore. Schools of reds averaging 6 to 8 pounds make for exciting visual fishing. The islands are popular with guides, and the fish get hit hard.
Best seasons here are late fall (November and December), winter (January and February), and spring (May and June). March and April are windy, and in summer the water is often cloudy with algae and the days are hot. Tides are 1 to 3 feet and determine fish movements.
Capt. Rick Lauman prefers fishing on falling tides, especially in clear autumn water, because falling water forces the reds from the grassy shallows into slightly deeper water where they can still be spotted easily. Large black drum provide added fishing, but these freight trains can take a long time to land.
Biloxi is a casino gambling hotspot for nonfishing companions.
Indian River Lagoon, Titusville, Florida.
Researching this article made me realize how much fishing pressure is impacting the red-drum in my Indian River Lagoon home water. We have the fish, but they are fished heavily. [See “Fishing Florida’s Space Coast” by John Kumiski, Feb. 2004 issue. The Editor.]
In addition to redfishing by skiff, hand-powered boat, or by wading, several other species are available in season, including trout, black drum, jacks, snook, and tarpon. Redfish that average 5 to 10 pounds, but occasionally top 30 pounds, are the most popular gamefish.
Beaufort, South Carolina.
Beaufort is somewhat like Rockport, Texas: a lovely small town with visual and performing arts venues, and nearby salt marshes full of redfish. Capt. Tuck Scott says, “Fifty percent of the inshore marshes in South Carolina are in Beaufort County, so there’s an enormous area in which these redfish thrive.”
The tides average around 7 feet, so your success revolves around the tide chart. Fortunately there are both high-water and low-water hotspots, so fishing is possible all day.
Pine Island Sound, Florida.
Pine Island Sound has miles of shallow grass flats. There are oyster bars and mangrove shorelines, but the main concentrations of fly-fishable redfish are on grass flats surrounded by deeper water.
Snook, seatrout, tarpon, and several other species are also available for most of the year, and if the low tide is a foot or less, and it’s not too windy, any unmolested flat should hold tailing redfish. If the mullet are jumping, the herons are wading, and the water is moving, they will be there.
Most fish average from 3 to 8 pounds. Redfish tail throughout the year but late fall, winter, and early spring have the best tides (a foot or less) for shots at these fish.
Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana.
I’m not a fan of blind casting with a fly rod, but I’ll make an exception for Big Lake (the local nickname for Lake Calcasieu). During my last visit there in December, two of us caught 34 redfish and trout in one day by blind casting various streamers.
Lake Calcasieu (south of Lake Charles) offers three distinctly different kinds of redfishing. There is shallow-water marsh fishing—in 2 feet of water or less—in ponds, cuts, and bayous, or back in the marsh. There is bay fishing in Big Lake, along shorelines and over oyster reefs in 6 to 7 feet of water. Then, from the end of August to the end of October, there is fishing for bull reds along the beach in the Gulf, a mixture of sight and blind fishing.
Honorable Mentions
Several other places deserve honorable mention, and perhaps this article should have been called “The Best 14 Places for Redfish.” Here are some great places that didn’t make the top 10:
Oriental, North Carolina, at the junction of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound. Capt. Gary Dubiel, (252) 249-1520, specfever.com.
Everglades National Park, Florida. Capt. Eric Herstedt, (954) 592-1228, flori dalighttacklecharters.com.
Appalachicola Bay, Florida. Robinson Brothers Guide Service, (850) 653-8896, flaredfish.com.
Wilmington, North Carolina. Capt. Seth Vernon, (910) 256-4545, intracoastal angler.com.
Gearing Up
Most redfish guides prefer 8-weight rods with weight-forward saltwater floating lines, although 7- and 9-weights also work, depending on what you own, the weather, and the size of the fish you expect to catch.
Leaders. Where fishing pressure is light, guides like short leaders, about 7 feet, but where reds are pressured, leader lengths of 14 feet may be required on calm days.
Tippet strength depends on local conditions. When fishing in heavy grass, or around oysters, use 18- to 20-pound fluorocarbon, but on clearwater flats with no obstructions, 10- or 12-pound-test is right.
Flies. Redfish have simple dietary preferences—crabs, shrimp, and baitfish—and your fly box should reflect this. You will cover the water column from top to bottom, with both attractor and imitator patterns. Attractors include poppers, spoon flies, flash flies, and rattle flies. Imitators include crab, shrimp, and minnow imitations.
With the exception of patterns for big bull reds, most flies should be in the #4-1/0 range. Weighted flies should be just heavy enough to get them down. Many, if not all, flies should have weed guards, because reds feed around grass and shells, and getting hung up can seriously limit your fishing time and the number of fish you catch.
On my research trips, I carried just one box of flies. Only in Louisiana did I need something I didn’t have—a big crab pattern that sank like an anvil. Fortunately, my guide, Bryan Carter, had what we needed. We got the fish.
John Kumiski is a redfish guide in the Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s east coast (spottedtail.com). His latest book is Redfish on the Fly (Argonaut Publishing, 2007).
Copyright © 2012 Intermedia Outdoors
Comments