Catching Redfish with Artificial Baits

The two keys to catching redfish with artificial baits is matching their diet and quiet entry to the shallow water.  There are a lot of different artificial baits that are effective for catching redfish, but here are the most popular.

Gold Spoons For Redfish

A weedless gold spoon, worked through cuts, pot holes and just above or through the top of grass resembles a bait fish reflecting light as it twists and turns through cover.  The vibration it creates combined with the flashes of light off its side is irresistible to feeding redfish and is a time proven favorite.

Soft Plastic Lures for Redfish

Soft plastic baits that imitate fish or shrimp, such as paddle tails, jerk baits or tout tails, can be rigged and worked several ways and are the most versatile of the artificial baits. Rigged weedless with a small bullet weight, like a Texas Rigged bass worm, these lures can be worked through grass and along reefs to imitate fish or shrimp that are feeding along the bottom.

A similar presentation is to rig them Carolina style with a small egg weight above a small swivel and 12” to 18” of leader.  This presentation allows the weight to sink into the grass and stir up the mud while the plastic bait suspends above the disturbance as if it is feeding on the churned mud.  Redfish will ambush this smaller unsuspecting “fish”.

One of the most common presentations is simply hooking them on a lead jig head and retrieving them above grass lines and letting the jig drop into holes or cuts to bounce along the muddy or sandy bottom. This is also effective when bumping the bottom along reefs and hard bottoms of the open flats.

Soft plastics can also be very effective suspended below a float or bobber.  Several variations of this exist, but it basically comes down to either a weighted float with a free lined soft plastic or an unweighted float with a weighted soft plastic, such as a jig head mounted plastic being thrown to pot holes, cuts or desirable habitat and being worked like a popping cork with live bait.  Small clip on egg shaped or peg type floats are typically used.

Hard Plastic Lures for Redfish

The most common use of hard plastic lures is for the excitement of top water action.  Few things get the adrenaline flowing like a redfish exploding the top of the shallow water attacking a twitching top water lure.  Shallow running lures capable of running above the top of grass and over pot holes are also commonly used in attracting redfish.