Redfish are among the most popular and widely available inshore fish in the United States. From Texas to Virginia, and most anywhere in between, you’ll find redfish and people who enjoy catching them.
One of the most common and effective ways to target redfish is by using live shrimp. Many consider live shrimp to be the best bait for redfish. What follows are some practical tips for using live shrimp to catch more redfish and to do so efficiently.
Keeping Your Shrimp Alive
Perhaps the most important consideration when using live bait is keeping it alive. When it comes to shrimp, this involves providing a steady supply of oxygenated water.
If you’re fishing on your boat, your live well can circulate water. If the water is warm or low in oxygen, you can add some oxygen tabs or use an external aerator. These aerators work great for bait buckets as well.
If you are wade fishing or fishing from the surf, the Frabill Magnum Shrimp Flow-Troll Bait Bucket is a good bet. Its design allows necessary water flow to keep your shrimp alive.
Whatever your setup, you’ll want to carry enough live shrimp to keep you fishing without overloading your bait bucket. The more shrimp you have, the more oxygen you’ll need. If they start to die, remove the dead ones from the bucket—dead shrimp is a great bait too.
Locating Redfish
Surf Fishing for Redfish
If you are trying to catch redfish in the summer, there are several great places to look. In many places you can catch redfish from the beach. This generally involves casting a surf rig past the breakers and waiting. When using live shrimp, you’ll want to check your bait often and keep an eye on your line. There are lots of other fish that will be happy to rob your bait.
Sight Fishing for Redfish
If you are fishing for redfish from a boat, sight casting to feeding fish is a great bet. This is not only more efficient, but it will keep your precious supply of live shrimp out of the mouths of all of the bait thieves.
When it comes to sight casting to fish, your approach will depend on where you’re fishing. If you’re on the flats, you can search for the iconic tailing redfish. Position your boat ahead of the fish and cast your shrimp close enough to the redfish that it will see it, but not right on top of it (otherwise you’ll spook the fish).
For more context on how to target bigger redfish, check out this article. For context on how to find them where you fish, read this.
You can also search for feeding redfish. A puff of mud emerging from around the sight of a group of redfish on the flats is a telltale sign of feeding fish. In this case, cast your shrimp either in front of the action or just past the fish and retrieve it into position.
Around Charleston anglers target redfish on flood tides in marsh grass. This is an exciting form of sight fishing.
Reading the Water to Find Redfish
There are also several ways to use the water to locate places where you are more likely to encounter redfish. Understanding these dynamics can help make your live shrimp go further.
Look for places where current brings water on flats or channels. Redfish and other predators will often stack up in eddies or in the lee of structure. They will wait for the current to bring bait past them. In this case, cast your live shrimp upstream of the target and allow it to drift past. You can do this with a free-lined shrimp or by using a small split shot.
You can also blind cast shrimp into sand pockets or deeper holes on grass flats. Redfish will often hide in these places to ambush bait that cruises past.
Rockpiles, docks, and jetties are also good bets to find redfish in the summer. Pull your boat into position and cast your live shrimp around the structure from different angles. To work an area effectively, you’ll want to cast toward all sides before moving on.
Rods and Reels for Redfish
When targeting redfish on the flats or in the bay, spinning tackle is a good bet. A well-matched spinning setup will allow you to make precision casts while sight fishing. Pairing your spinning outfit with braided line will provide the line capacity to handle a bull redfish should you encounter a bigger fish.
The AL13 Spinning Reel from 13 Fishing is a great all-around reel for sight fishing redfish. Spooling the reel with 10 pound Spectra braid is a great option for this kind of fishing. The line is not only great for casting, but its small diameter allows you to pack enough line onto the reel to have a shot at handling bigger fish. Braid also offers increased abrasion resistance, which will come in handy when trying to pull redfish out of structure.
Which type of rod you use depends on personal preference. If you’re sight casting for redfish with light spinning tackle, you might consider pairing the AL13 spinning reel with the 7’4” Medium 13 Fishing Fate saltwater spinning rod.
Some opt for longer spinning rods that allow longer casts. Longer rods are also good for fishing for redfish at the beach. When you put them into the rod holder they have more clearance over the waves. The 7’10” Medium Heavy 13 Fishing Fate Combo from 13 Fishing is a great option for targeting redfish in the surf.
Terminal Tackle for Targeting Redfish with Live Shrimp
When using braided line, you’ll want to deploy a fluorocarbon leader. Fluorocarbon is great.
It is abrasion resistant (which helps the fish not chafe through the line) and drastically decreases the visibility of the line in the water. 25-pound fluorocarbon is a great all-around choice. If the water is super clear and you are trying to induce more bites, you can size down a bit. If there are big fish around and you up your tackle, you can increase the size of the leader as well.
When it comes to hooking live shrimp, Owner light wire tournament mutu hooks are a great bet. If you opt for circle hooks, which result in most fish being hooked in the corner of the mouth, just remember not to set the hook. Light wire j hooks are a great choice for sight casting to redfish as well.
When catching redfish on live shrimp, you’ll also want to bring various sizes of split shots, a popping cork, some jig heads (these are great for rigging dead shrimp), and a DOA shrimp or three (in case you run out of live and dead shrimp).
Rigs to Catch Redfish on Live Shrimp
When it comes to catching redfish on shrimp, there are as many approaches as there are fishermen. This article breaks down four tournament-proven redfish rigs used by the pros.
When targeting redfish on the flats, your approach will likely involve a hook and a small amount of weight. You’ll need to apply the split shot to be able to cast to redfish that you are targeting.
You’ll want to hook the shrimp through the head, between the two dark spots. Most people hook live shrimp from left to right (or vice versa), but you can also run the hook from the bottom of the shrimp’s head and out the top—just be sure not to hook the dark spots.
You can adjust not only the amount of weight, but also the distance from the hook that you apply the split shot. The closer you put the split shot to the hook, the closer the shrimp will be to the bottom. Placing the weight closer to the hook also helps with casting accuracy.
If you are fishing an area where current spills into a channel or onto the flats, you can free-line live shrimp with the current. This approach involves fishing the live shrimp without any weight and allowing the shrimp to drift naturally.
If you are searching for redfish in murky water or in a broad area, a popping cork can be very effective. You work the cork to create a chugging noise that imitates the sound of feeding fish. This sound attracts redfish to your bait.
You can also use dead shrimp for bait. You can put them onto a popping cork or rig dead shrimp for casting on a jighead.
If you are sight-casting to fish, you might pinch the tail off the live shrimp and run your hook from the tail through the shrimp’s body. You can a split shot near the eye of the hook. This rig will not only allow accurate casting, but permits you to retrieve the shrimp more quickly than if you hook the shrimp through its head. Pinching the shrimp’s tail also introduces scent to the water.
About the Author:
Elliott Stark is a fisherman, writer, and marine biologist. He publishes FishTravelEat.com and is the author of The Book on Travel Fishing.
