Red hot

The Great Outdoors

[Comment Below]

By Ryan Rhodes

It happens every summer right about the time it gets hot enough to spontaneously combust a stray cat that steps out of the shade. Redfish flock to the shallow bay waters and surrounding areas to gorge themselves on any and all food they can find before the big ones head back out to sea.

Coastal anglers who are willing to get out there in early morning hours reap the rewards of thrilling battles with bronze, spotted tailed behemoths, which any Louisiana angler will tell you is just about the most thrilling experience for inshore fishing.

The best places for this kind of action hardly ever changes. Grand Isle, Laffite and Venice just to name a few are the main redfish hotspots right now. Areas like Lake Bourgne and Delacroix are a few that vary. Delacroix is pretty hot right now, but Lake Bourgne is a much more hit and miss this year. The reds seem to very picky there right now. Some days they feed, and some they won’t. It seems to vary upon the salinity of the water. Heavy rains decrease the salinity and usually drive them further into the gulf.

But any other bay area that maintains a regular high salinity attracts reds because it attracts the reds prey. If you go down to one of the bays on the coast, you’ll immediately notice all manner of baitfish or shrimp in the water. Reds love to follow these baits, especially in the shallow areas, mainly because the spawn takes a lot out of them, and they want to eat with out a lot of effort to catch food (most of us can relate to that). The shallow areas and cuts around bays give the bait less room to get hell away, so the reds view it as an open bar at the Golden Corral.

The biggest challenge in catching these reds is finding what they want. Reds have a very contradicting appetite. Reds like all sorts of bait, but only one at a time. They may want cocahoes one minute then completely change their minds and want shrimp, but then suddenly decide they’re not hungry altogether, grow a hand and flip you off all within five minutes. They’re a moody fish. So the best strategy is to rotate bates.

Early fishing on shore or on the points is the best time for a Top Dogg or other topwater bait. Closer to mid day is the best time to try live bait or swim baits. If you’re fishing when the waters murky or in a shallow area by any by vegetation, redfish go totally apeshit over anything shiny. That means gold spoons, sparkle baits and even spinner baits.

As the summer winds down and the last summer semester ends, this is the best time to get out on the water and get your fix of fishing in. Because before you know it, the fall semester is going to start up, and we’ll all be too busy pretending to study and planning for tailgate parties.

Originally Published: Issue 694 - July 23, 2008

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