It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Holding a Redfish
Why is it the most wonderful time of the year? It’s time to stop worrying about fishing with live bait and break out the artificials. October and November provide some of the best fishing in the Lowcountry. Grab a few bags of grubs and hit the water. The redfish start to school up, and the trout are heavily podded up as well. This is the time to go out and enjoy some 50-plus fish days.
As the water temperature begins to cool, the baitfish slowly begin to disappear and become harder and harder to find. What does this mean for the angler? If it is hard for the angler to find bait with which to fish, it’s harder for your predatory species to find dinner. This makes them chomp grubs, paddle tails and jerk shads.
Where do you fish? Oyster rakes, structure and drop offs. A slow ride through a creek with a few paddle tails or curly tail grubs out of the back of the boat is a great way to find fish, and it also helps you find structure and other fishy locations.
When choosing a grub, lean towards something that looks like a baitfish. We have glass minnows, menhaden and mullet. Transparent, gray and darker baits are great choices. However, I always keep a few crazy colors up my sleeve like the Christmas tree color or Festivus if you fish ZMan or the good ole’ standby Electric Chicken.
This time of year, you can also downsize the tackle you’re using. No matter what tackle you fish with, all of the major tackle companies make 1000 size spinning reels, and that is my go-to reel. A Penn Conflict and Shimano Ci4+ are the reels I find myself fishing with most. They pair well with a Star Plasma or a St. Croix Premier. Stop by your local tackle shop to check out these items, and spool them up with some lighter braid 8 or 10lb and you can cast forever. ZMan makes great artificials, and they are made locally! Buy local, support local. The ZMan Slim SwimZ, MinnowZ and Swimmin’ Trout Trick are the baits I fish most often. Pearl Blue Glimmer, Smokey Shad, Ralph Shad, Mud Minnow and Bad Shad are my go-to color choices. Pair these artificials with a 3/16-ounce TroutEye Jighead attached with a 15lb fluorocarbon leader, and you’re sure to have success.
This is the time to get out and fish. Cover lots of water until you find the bite. Trout and redfish will eat like they are starving. If you’re lucky, you might even find a flounder or two. Get out and have fun.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Simon Owens
Haddrell’s Point Tackle
simon@haddrellspoint.com