Fall has arrived bringing with it shorter days and cooler weather. Don’t put your rods and reels away just yet because we’re about to experience the best fishing of the year! Fishermen will continue to find success with live bait but artificial lures should become increasingly productive. Make time to get out on the water, you will have a great time!
Redfish, including bull reds, have been hungrily eating cut and live bait fished on the bottom. Mullet especially have filled our waters and can be easily netted. We’ll rig the bait on a size 3/0 circle hook paired with a carolina rig. Use enough weight to keep the bait from swinging around and getting stuck. You can use this setup on the flats as well as under docks. Just put your rod in the holder and wait for the reel to start screaming as the fish hook themselves.
Artificial lures have started to really perform for trout and the traditional paddle tail design has been awesome. I’ll use a 1/4oz. Trout Eye jighead and tie a loop knot to give more action to the lure. Vary your rate of retrieve as you prospect different spots for pockets of fish. To make your offering even more attractive, try putting a piece of shrimp on the hook. You can use pieces of frozen or live shrimp and it will put a scent trail on your lure that fish find hard to ignore.
Even as artificial lures become more effective, keep throwing those popping corks. Live shrimp, artificial shrimp and mud minnows have been working great when suspended about 18″-24″ below the cork on a fluorocarbon leader and a size 1 circle hook. Redfish, trout and flounder alike will eat these baits as they pass by suspended in the water column. Corks have been working best fished along grassy banks at mid and high tide.
See you on the water!
