How to Catch Redfish on Live Shrimp

Redfish are among the many hottest and extensively accessible inshore fish in the USA. From Texas to Virginia, and most anyplace in between, you’ll discover redfish and individuals who get pleasure from catching them.

One of the widespread and efficient methods to focus on redfish is through the use of reside shrimp. Many think about reside shrimp to be the perfect bait for redfish. What follows are some sensible ideas for utilizing reside shrimp to catch extra redfish and to take action effectively.

Preserving Your Shrimp Alive

Maybe crucial consideration when utilizing reside bait is maintaining it alive. In terms of shrimp, this includes offering a gentle provide of oxygenated water.

When you’re fishing in your boat, your reside properly can flow into water. If the water is heat or low in oxygen, you possibly can add some oxygen tabs or use an exterior aerator. These aerators work nice for bait buckets as properly.

If you’re wade fishing or fishing from the surf, the Frabill Magnum Shrimp Circulation-Troll Bait Bucket is an effective wager. Its design permits needed water stream to maintain your shrimp alive.

No matter your setup, you’ll need to carry sufficient reside shrimp to maintain you fishing with out overloading your bait bucket. The extra shrimp you’ve gotten, the extra oxygen you’ll want. In the event that they begin to die, take away the useless ones from the bucket—useless shrimp is a good bait too.

In terms of fishing with reside shrimp, a gentle provide of oxygenated water is essential.
Brent Schirmer

Finding Redfish

Surf Fishing for Redfish

If you’re attempting to catch redfish in the summertime, there are a number of nice locations to look. In lots of locations you possibly can catch redfish from the seaside. This typically includes casting a surf rig previous the breakers and ready. When utilizing reside shrimp, you’ll need to examine your bait typically and regulate your line. There are many different fish that shall be glad to rob your bait.

Sight Fishing for Redfish

If you’re fishing for redfish from a ship, sight casting to feeding fish is a good wager. This isn’t solely extra environment friendly, however it should hold your treasured provide of reside shrimp out of the mouths of all the bait thieves.

In terms of sight casting to fish, your method will depend upon the place you’re fishing. When you’re on the flats, you possibly can seek for the enduring tailing redfish. Place your boat forward of the fish and forged your shrimp shut sufficient to the redfish that it’ll see it, however not proper on prime of it (in any other case you’ll spook the fish).

For extra context on tips on how to goal larger redfish, try this text. For context on tips on how to discover them the place you fish, learn this.

You can even seek for feeding redfish. A puff of mud rising from across the sight of a gaggle of redfish on the flats is a telltale signal of feeding fish. On this case, forged your shrimp both in entrance of the motion or simply previous the fish and retrieve it into place.

Round Charleston anglers goal redfish on flood tides in marsh grass. That is an thrilling type of sight fishing.

Studying the Water to Discover Redfish

There are additionally a number of methods to make use of the water to find locations the place you usually tend to encounter redfish. Understanding these dynamics can assist make your reside shrimp go additional.

Search for locations the place present brings water on flats or channels. Redfish and different predators will typically stack up in eddies or within the lee of construction. They may look ahead to the present to convey bait previous them. On this case, forged your reside shrimp upstream of the goal and permit it to float previous. You are able to do this with a free-lined shrimp or through the use of a small break up shot.

You can even blind forged shrimp into sand pockets or deeper holes on grass flats. Redfish will typically conceal in these locations to ambush bait that cruises previous.

Rockpiles, docks, and jetties are additionally good bets to search out redfish in the summertime. Pull your boat into place and forged your reside shrimp across the construction from totally different angles. To work an space successfully, you’ll need to forged towards all sides earlier than shifting on.

Rods and Reels for Redfish

When concentrating on redfish on the flats or within the bay, spinning deal with is an effective wager. A well-matched spinning setup will mean you can make precision casts whereas sight fishing. Pairing your spinning outfit with braided line will present the road capability to deal with a bull redfish do you have to encounter an even bigger fish.

The AL13 Spinning Reel from 13 Fishing is a good all-around reel for sight fishing redfish. Spooling the reel with 10 pound Spectra braid is a good possibility for this sort of fishing. The road shouldn’t be solely nice for casting, however its small diameter permits you to pack sufficient line onto the reel to have a shot at dealing with larger fish. Braid additionally affords elevated abrasion resistance, which can turn out to be useful when attempting to drag redfish out of construction.

Which sort of rod you utilize is dependent upon private desire. When you’re sight casting for redfish with mild spinning deal with, you would possibly think about pairing the AL13 spinning reel with the 7’4” Medium 13 Fishing Destiny saltwater spinning rod.

Some go for longer spinning rods that permit longer casts. Longer rods are additionally good for fishing for redfish on the seaside. If you put them into the rod holder they’ve extra clearance over the waves. The 7’10” Medium Heavy 13 Fishing Destiny Combo from 13 Fishing is a good possibility for concentrating on redfish within the surf.

Terminal Sort out for Concentrating on Redfish with Dwell Shrimp

When utilizing braided line, you’ll need to deploy a fluorocarbon chief. Fluorocarbon is nice.

It’s abrasion resistant (which helps the fish not chafe by means of the road) and drastically decreases the visibility of the road within the water. 25-pound fluorocarbon is a good all-around selection. If the water is tremendous clear and you are attempting to induce extra bites, you possibly can dimension down a bit. If there are large fish round and also you up your deal with, you possibly can improve the dimensions of the chief as properly.

In terms of hooking reside shrimp, Proprietor mild wire event mutu hooks are an ideal wager. When you go for circle hooks, which lead to most fish being hooked within the nook of the mouth, simply keep in mind to not set the hook. Mild wire j hooks are an ideal selection for sight casting to redfish as properly.

When catching redfish on reside shrimp, you’ll additionally need to convey numerous sizes of break up pictures, a popping cork, some jig heads (these are nice for rigging useless shrimp), and a DOA shrimp or three (in case you run out of reside and useless shrimp).

Rigs to Catch Redfish on Dwell Shrimp

In terms of catching redfish on shrimp, there are as many approaches as there are fishermen. This text breaks down 4 tournament-proven redfish rigs utilized by the professionals.

When concentrating on redfish on the flats, your method will probably contain a hook and a small quantity of weight. You’ll want to use the break up shot to have the ability to forged to redfish that you’re concentrating on.

You’ll need to hook the shrimp by means of the pinnacle, between the 2 darkish spots. Most individuals hook reside shrimp from left to proper (or vice versa), however you can too run the hook from the underside of the shrimp’s head and out the highest—simply be certain to not hook the darkish spots.

You possibly can modify not solely the quantity of weight, but in addition the gap from the hook that you simply apply the break up shot. The nearer you place the break up shot to the hook, the nearer the shrimp shall be to the underside. Inserting the burden nearer to the hook additionally helps with casting accuracy.

If you’re fishing an space the place present spills right into a channel or onto the flats, you possibly can free-line reside shrimp with the present. This method includes fishing the reside shrimp with none weight and permitting the shrimp to float naturally.

If you’re trying to find redfish in murky water or in a broad space, a popping cork will be very efficient. You’re employed the cork to create a chugging noise that imitates the sound of feeding fish. This sound attracts redfish to your bait.

You can even use useless shrimp for bait. You possibly can put them onto a popping cork or rig useless shrimp for casting on a jighead.

If you’re sight-casting to fish, you would possibly pinch the tail off the reside shrimp and run your hook from the tail by means of the shrimp’s physique. You possibly can a break up shot close to the attention of the hook. This rig is not going to solely permit correct casting, however lets you retrieve the shrimp extra shortly than if you happen to hook the shrimp by means of its head. Pinching the shrimp’s tail additionally introduces scent to the water.