Here’s a quick redfish tip from Capt. Garrett Ross, of Miss Judy Charters out of Savannah, Ga.
While using a traditional adjustable style cork, adjust depth to allow the live shrimp to sit directly on the bottom. This means that your cork will be laying completely over on its side. Now, when the cold-water red fish decides to take the bait in its mouth, you will not know until the cork stands up right and starts to make way. It is suggested to reel lightly tight and allow the circle hook to do its job of lip hooking your redfish!
Capt. Garrett’s reasoning for the technique’s effectiveness is that a redfish has plenty of time to eat the shrimp and begin to swim away before the angler holding the rod even knows the fish is there. It might sound counter-intuitive, but circle hooks have a way of coming unbuttoned when there’s an over-eager angler holding the rod.
For more from Capt. Judy Helmey, see missjudycharters.com.