Redfishing with Spoons Best Tricks, Tips and Techniques
Gold spoons are one of the oldest and most popular lures for catching redfish because they work very well. Redfish cannot resist a gold spoon that is worked within 12 inches of the bottom where the redfish are feeding.
Redfish are probably the most popular inshore fish species in the Southern parts of the United States. They are just about anywhere that there is saltwater.
You can catch them in a saltwater drainage ditch to and offshore oil rig. This is probably why everyone loves to catch redfish so much. They are not finicky and can be caught just about anywhere.
They are also delicious and some of the strongest fighting fish in the sea for their size. Redfish are very fun to catch.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats, mangroves, oyster bars and just about everywhere else in Florida for more than 40 years. Redfish are one of my favorite fish to target inshore.
In the article below, I will teach you everything that I know about catching redfish with spoons.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with spoons.
Gold spoons are one of the oldest and most popular lures for catching redfish because they work very well. Redfish cannot resist a gold spoon that is worked within 12 inches of the bottom where the redfish are feeding.
Redfish are probably the most popular inshore fish species in the Southern parts of the United States. They are just about anywhere that there is saltwater.
You can catch them in a saltwater drainage ditch to and offshore oil rig. This is probably why everyone loves to catch redfish so much. They are not finicky and can be caught just about anywhere.
They are also delicious and some of the strongest fighting fish in the sea for their size. Redfish are very fun to catch.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats, mangroves, oyster bars and just about everywhere else in Florida for more than 40 years. Redfish are one of my favorite fish to target inshore.
In the article below, I will teach you everything that I know about catching redfish with spoons.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with spoons.
Redfishing with Spoons around Oyster Bars
Oyster bars are one of the best places to fish for redfish. Redfish love to root around the oyster clumps for food. They will eat the various types of crabs, shrimp and small fish that use the oysters as a refuge.
When you see a redfish tailing in the shallow water, that is probably what they are trying to eat. They will keep their bodies vertical in the water column as they forage for food. This is a great time to run your spoon by them because you know that they are in feeding mode when they are tailing.
Gold spoons work the best but a silver one will work just fine too. You can go with a weed less spoon for best results around the oyster. The non weed less spoons will most likely get snagged. You can go through a lot of spoons if you are fishing around oyster bars.
It is best to cast your spoon up current and bounce it on the bottom back to you as you retrieve it with the tide. The best speed to retrieve your spoon is roughly the same speed as the tide is moving. That is usually the best speed to retrieve your spoon but if you are not getting any bites, then you might to try varying your retrieval speeds.
Spoons are great search baits for finding redfish. They can cover a lot of water so that you can figure out where the feeding redfish are. If you can find a tidal creek that is full of oysters, then you can just float in with the tide and float out with the tide and cover the entire creek.
My favorite way to fish a tidal creek with oyster bars is with a kayak. They are great for covering the entire creek for redfish before you move to another creek and repeat the process.
The key to using weed less spoons for redfish is to bump them into the bottom. Redfish are used to eating things that bury themselves on the bottom. The sound of the spoon hitting will also attract redfish to the lures.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail the best baits and lures for catching redfish. You can learn more about what to use for catching redfish by clicking right here.
Redfishing with Spoons on the Mud Flats
Redfish are one of the first fish to hit the mud flats after the tide changes from outgoing to incoming. They will belly swim with half of their bodies out of the water as the scoot across the mud to the puddles of water in search of food.
They like to get first dibs on the small fish, shrimp and crabs that are stranded in the puddles before the incoming tide covers the mud flats. The key to catching the redfish on the mud flats is to get to where they are going before they do.
I like to find a pinch point where the redfish will have to come through to get to the food that is on the mud flats. You will want to look for a cut between the mud flats that will funnel the redfish right to you.
You can sight cast to the redfish as they move with the tide into the super skinny water right as the tide begins to turn. Get your spoon in front of the where the redfish are headed and get ready to set that hook.
You usually only have an hour or so to sight fish these redfish because as the water rises they will usually disappear. When the water gets high enough the predators of the redfish will start to appear. The sharks and dolphins will come to the mud flats and will gladly eat any redfish that they can find.
WANT TO CATCH REDFISH? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Watch this video and learn the other lures that can catch redfish.
Redfish are one of the first fish to hit the mud flats after the tide changes from outgoing to incoming. They will belly swim with half of their bodies out of the water as the scoot across the mud to the puddles of water in search of food.
They like to get first dibs on the small fish, shrimp and crabs that are stranded in the puddles before the incoming tide covers the mud flats. The key to catching the redfish on the mud flats is to get to where they are going before they do.
I like to find a pinch point where the redfish will have to come through to get to the food that is on the mud flats. You will want to look for a cut between the mud flats that will funnel the redfish right to you.
You can sight cast to the redfish as they move with the tide into the super skinny water right as the tide begins to turn. Get your spoon in front of the where the redfish are headed and get ready to set that hook.
You usually only have an hour or so to sight fish these redfish because as the water rises they will usually disappear. When the water gets high enough the predators of the redfish will start to appear. The sharks and dolphins will come to the mud flats and will gladly eat any redfish that they can find.
WANT TO CATCH REDFISH? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Watch this video and learn the other lures that can catch redfish.
Redfishing with Spoons on the Grass Flats
Grass flats are another great place to find redfish. Grass flats are a haven for all sorts of fish, shrimp and crabs that the redfish love to get in their bellies. The redfish will be rooting around in the grass and sandy patches for some food.
The spoon is a great way to locate where the redfish will be. They will hit the gold spoon like crazy. Some old timers that I have talked to only use gold spoons for catching redfish. That is the only lure that they tie onto their lines for catching reds.
The key to targeting redfish on the flats is to cover a lot of water. I like to drift the grass flats to figure out where the feeding fish are. You have to cover a lot of water and avoid fishing dead zones.
You want to find feeding fish and life in motion if you want to catch a bunch of fish. Look for diving birds and feeding fish or bait schools to figure out where you can catch some redfish. If you can't find those three situations then you will have to drift the flats to find the feeding fish.
The sandy spots that are in every grass flat that I have ever seen are a great place to search for redfish. Those sandy potholes are a great spot for predators to ambush their prey items.
The redfish, snook, flounder, speckled trout and many other predatory fish like to use those sandy potholes in the grass flats to find some food. The key to fishing these potholes is to cast your gold spoons up current and bounce it through the sandy potholes.
The redfish and other predators will be facing into the current waiting for the tide to bring shrimp, crabs and small fish to them. You have to present your lures and baits the same way. Bring those baits and lures to the redfish from up current for the best fishing results.
A weed less gold spoon will work wonders when you pull it through the grass into a sandy pothole. You will want to vary your retrieval speeds until you figure out what the redfish want on that given day.
I created a FREE online fishing course for redfish on this website. You can find that online redfish course by clicking right here.
Redfishing with Spoons around Docks
Redfish love to hang out around docks. They especially like the older docks that have a lot of growth on the dock pilings. The pilings of the older docks will have sponges, barnacles, oysters, aquatic plants and all sorts of other stuff that will attract marine creatures.
Small shrimp, crabs and fish are attracted to the dock pilings which in turn attracts predators like snook, redfish, speckled trout, flounder and many other species of fish.
A weed less gold spoon is a great choice for fishing around the dock pilings. You will have to cover the entire dock to figure out where the redfish are hanging out.
Some times they are in a foot of water and other times they are under the deep end of the docks. You will have to fish a lot of docks to find the ones that have feeding fish around them. Spoons are great search baits so you can cover a lot of docks in a day's worth of fishing.
Your presentation will work the best if you bring the lure from up current. Make sure to bounce the spoon off of the bottom and bump it into the pilings as you retrieve your lure. Those low frequency sounds of the bait bouncing into things attracts redfish.
Redfishing with Spoons around Mangroves
Redfish love to cruise the mangrove roots during the higher parts of the tide. The redfish, flounder, snook, and all sorts of other predatory fish like to search the roots of the red mangrove roots for shrimp, crab and small fish.
The key to catching the redfish is to get your spoons up into the roots. The redfish are usually cruising very close to the roots so you have to get your spoon within a couple of feet of the roots to catch any fish.
You will end up using a lot of different lures because you will lose plenty of them in the roots. Even if you are fishing with a weed less spoon, you will still lose a bunch of spoons. The good news is that spoons are very cheap compared to most other types of lures.
You will want to pitch the spoons up to the roots and slowly work it off of the bottom to get the attention of the redfish in the area. The weed less spoon are harder to set the hook with than the spoons with treble hooks so make sure to set that hook hard when you get the hit.
How do you tie a spoon on a fishing line for redfish?
The best knot for tying on a spoon for catching redfish is the loop knot. A loop knot allows for the spoon to wiggle a lot more than when using a knot that is cinched down to the lure.
I wrote an article about how to tie a loop knot in great detail. There are videos and much more detail about tying my favorite loop knot for fishing with lures. You can see that by clicking right here.
What is the best tackle to use for redfishing with spoons?
The best tackle to use for redfishing with spoons is a 2500 series reel and a medium heavy 7 foot rod when you are fishing out in the open like the grass flats.
The best tackle to use for redfishing with spoons around structure like docks, mangroves, bridge pilings..... is a 4000 series reel and a medium heavy 7 foot rod.
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