Redfishing with Popping Corks Tips and Techniques
Redfishing with popping corks is one of the most effective fishing techniques that smart anglers use to catch tons of redfish. The combination of a lure or a bait of some kind with the noisy fish attracting characteristics of popping corks and rattle corks is a winning combination for redfish fishermen all over the Southern United States.
Redfish are one of the most sought after species of inshore fish in the southern parts of America for many reasons. These fish are excellent fighters, very prevalent along coastal areas and excellent to eat.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the mangroves and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, I will teach you everything that I know about redfishing with popping corks.
Watch the video below to see redfishing with popping corks in action.
Redfishing with popping corks is one of the most effective fishing techniques that smart anglers use to catch tons of redfish. The combination of a lure or a bait of some kind with the noisy fish attracting characteristics of popping corks and rattle corks is a winning combination for redfish fishermen all over the Southern United States.
Redfish are one of the most sought after species of inshore fish in the southern parts of America for many reasons. These fish are excellent fighters, very prevalent along coastal areas and excellent to eat.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the mangroves and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, I will teach you everything that I know about redfishing with popping corks.
Watch the video below to see redfishing with popping corks in action.
Redfishing with Popping Corks by Oyster Bars
Oyster bars are one of my favorite places to fish for catching redfish with popping corks. Oysters are one of the favorite buffet restaurants for redfish. Oyster bars have oyster crabs, mud crabs, blue crabs, fiddler crabs, shrimp and many species of small fish that redfish just love to eat.
In other words, if you can find a healthy oyster bar, good water temperatures and some current, then you have an excellent chance to catch some redfish.
I like to find choke points between oyster bars that will funnel the redfish to me. Redfish are one of the first fish to move into mudflats, creeks, oyster bar cuts from the dead low tide. This is why I like to find these spots and set up camp waiting for the redfish to come to me.
If you noticed in the video above that I found a choke point between two oyster bars. This forced every redfish that was coming up that shallow creek to swim right past my location. That is what I look for when fishing around oyster bars for redfish.
It does not necessarily have to be two oyster bars. It can be an oyster bar and a mudflat or an oyster bar and a sand bar. It doesn't matter very much what the combination is as long as there is an oyster bar and some other barrier that forces the fish to come to you.
Once the tide rises the redfish can swim around your location through the grass so the lower parts of the tide are my favorite to ambush hungry redfish.
LIVE BAITS:
The best live baits around oyster bars are shrimp, crabs and mud minnows. You just have to make sure that your leader from the cork to the live bait is just a little bit too short to snag on the bottom. You want your bait to be within 24 inches of the bottom but not so close that you get hung up all of the time.
I use a 2/0 circle hook for redfish when I am fishing for them under a popping cork with live bait. As soon as your cork goes under start reeling and don't try to set your hook. The circle hook with be right in the corner of the redfish's mouth almost every time.
Berkeley GULP 3 inch Shrimp:
Quite often a Berkeley Gulp Shrimp will out fish a real shrimp under a popping cork. The reason is that the small bait stealers like pin fish and lavender grunts will pull the real shrimp off of the hook. It is very hard for them to pull the tough Gulp shrimp off of the jig head.
My favorite colors for redfish are white, molting and new penny Gulp shrimp. I am agnostic about what popping cork works the best. They just have to be noisy enough to get the redfish to notice your lure. Learn more about the best Gulp lures for redfish here.
The key to this technique is to keep the lure in the redfish's strike zone. Redfish spend their lives rooting around in oyster clumps, grass, mud and sand looking for food. The spend their lives looking down so you want your baits and lures to be right in front of their face; not too high above them.
They can look up and I have caught them with top water lures but you will catch more of them by catering to their downward looking lifestyles. Most redfish will stay within a couple of feet from the bottom so make sure that your bait or lure stays within a couple of feet from the bottom too.
DOA 3 inch Shrimp:
Any fake shrimp will work but the DOA Shrimp seems the most realistic when it is in the water. They all work very well as long as they look something like a real shrimp. Learn more about the best DOA redfish lures here.
The key to fishing with lures for redfish is to cast up current and pop your cork often as you retrieve your lures. Underwater predators are very curious and redfish are no exception to this general rule. The noise from your popping cork or rattle cork will get their attention if they are near.
My favorite colors for fake shrimp lures are natural colors with gold or copper glitter sprinkled through them. I am sure that the white ones and the darker colored ones work too. I have only used the realistic gold and copper ones.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with popping corks.
Redfishing with Popping Corks near Docks
Docks are another great spot to find redfish. Docks are like mini ecosystems. What I mean by that is the dock pilings are a great spot for sponges, marine plants, oysters, barnacles, mussels and all kinds of creatures to attach themselves.
Those creatures in turn attract shrimp, crabs and small fish. Those creatures in turn attract larger fish and so on and so forth. Eventually up the food chain the redfish show up on the scene to eat all of the smaller creatures.
Popping corks are a great tool for catching shallow water redfish around the docks. I usually have a 2 to 3 foot leader between the cork and the bait or lure. I want the bait or the lure to be within a foot or so off of the bottom for best results.
The problem with dock fishing for redfish is that all docks are not created equal. Some docks just never seem to hold any fish. Some docks seem to always have fish on them. It is one of those mysteries that I do not understand.
My point is that you will have to fish 40 or 50 docks some days to figure out where all of the fish are. Once you find the fish, stay put for a while because there are probably more than one there.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail how to a redfish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
This is another one of those facts that inshore fishermen often forget. The fact is that most of the fish will be in the same general location. So if you start catching one type of predatory fish then you will usually start catching lots of different types of predatory fish in that same spot.
It is usually a combination of the right tide, the right water temperature and the right bait. So if you start catching speckled trout, then you might start catching reds soon. If you catch a black drum, then you might start catching reds soon. If you catch a snook, then you might start catching reds soon....
My points that I am trying to make are: DO NOT FISH DEAD ZONES! and DON"T LEAVE FISH TO FIND MORE FISH!
LIVE BAIT:
I like to use live shrimp to fish the docks with popping corks. A shrimp under a popping cork will catch everything under those docks. Redfish, black drum, snook, speckled trout, sheepshead, mangrove snapper, flounders...…..
Berkeley GULP 3 inch Shrimp:
Gulp shrimp on a 1/8 ounce jig head is the best lure that you can use to catch redfish. They are kind of expensive and they get all dried out easily, but there is no other lure that comes close to the redfish catching properties of this lure.
So if you can get some Gulps just fish with those for the best results. They are what the redfish want. Stinky and lifelike. I am not sponsored by Berkeley Gulps or any of the other lure companies that I mention in my articles. I use their products and I like them so I tell people like you to use them too.
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Redfishing with Popping Corks in Tidal Creeks
Tidal creeks are amazing places to find redfish. The characteristics that I like about tidal creeks is they are usually lined with spartina grass, mangroves, sandbars or mudflats. All of those are great places to find hunting redfish.
Spartina Grass:
In the central and upper parts of Florida, most tidal creeks are lined with spartina grass and other saltwater tolerant grasses. The redfish love to cruise those grass lines looking for crabs, shrimp and small fish to eat during the lower parts of the tide.
During the higher parts of the tide they will venture into the grass to do their hunting and are much harder to target. You can target them in the grass but not with a popping cork. You will get hung up every time.
The lower and middle parts of the tide are the best for fishing those tidal creek grass lines. Just have your leader set at the proper depth to stay in the strike zone and fish within a foot or so of the grass lines. If the tide is super low just fish the mud or sand that is within a few feet of the grass line.
Flounder will be hunting here too so expect to catch redfish and flounder when using this technique.
I am not going to cover the best live baits and lures again because they are the same every time. Live shrimp, Gulp Shrimp and DOA Shrimp coupled with your choice of popping cork or rattle cork.
Mangroves:
In the central and southern parts of Florida Red and Black Mangroves rule the tidal creek shorelines. The roots of the Red Mangrove are particularly appealing to predators like redfish. They love the mangrove roots because of all of the small shrimp, crabs, fish, snails and other marine food items that they like take refuge there.
As soon as there is enough water to get the reds into the roots they will go in and start searching for crabs, shrimp and fish or whatever it is that they can eat.
I like to fish the mangrove roots for redfish during the higher parts of the tide. You will want to send your popping cork as close to the mangrove roots as possible. Sometimes the tide will bring your lure or bait perfectly down the line of mangroves with the tide. That is the perfect scenario.
Mudflats and Sandbars:
Inside many tidal creeks the tide will have carved out mudflats and sandbars within them. This is a great place to find redfish. The mudflats and sandbars act as a funnel funneling shrimp, crabs and baitfish to the waiting mouths of the redfish. They also funnel the redfish right into the waiting hooks of savvy fishermen like you.
The key is to keep your popping cork and lure/bait combination close to the edges of the sandbars and mudflats. That is where the redfish like to herd baits against the shorelines.
Redfishing with Popping Corks by Mangroves
Mangroves aren't always just around tidal creeks. Sometimes they surround openings that become small saltwater ponds during the higher parts of the tide. These are great places to hunt for redfish.
Redfish have no problem foraging for food in a foot of water. They are usually the first fish to hit a flat when the tide starts to come in. I know of a few nearly inaccessible hidden tidal ponds that hold HUGE redfish.
There is nothing like fighting a big redfish in 12 inches of water. These mangrove ponds rarely get more than 3 feet deep even during higher parts of the tide. Popping corks work great in this environment but you will usually have to shorten your leader to 18 inches or less to fish the area effectively.
This kind of fishing is more of a sight fishing adventure. You will want to wait to see tailing redfish, scared baitfish or shrimp, v wakes from redfish...… and then get your popping cork close enough to attract the redfish to your bait or lure without spooking it.
Mangroves aren't always just around tidal creeks. Sometimes they surround openings that become small saltwater ponds during the higher parts of the tide. These are great places to hunt for redfish.
Redfish have no problem foraging for food in a foot of water. They are usually the first fish to hit a flat when the tide starts to come in. I know of a few nearly inaccessible hidden tidal ponds that hold HUGE redfish.
There is nothing like fighting a big redfish in 12 inches of water. These mangrove ponds rarely get more than 3 feet deep even during higher parts of the tide. Popping corks work great in this environment but you will usually have to shorten your leader to 18 inches or less to fish the area effectively.
This kind of fishing is more of a sight fishing adventure. You will want to wait to see tailing redfish, scared baitfish or shrimp, v wakes from redfish...… and then get your popping cork close enough to attract the redfish to your bait or lure without spooking it.
Redfishing with Popping Corks by Sea Walls
Sea walls are another great spot for redfishing with popping corks. Predators love to pin bait fish against shorelines, rocks, oyster bars and sea walls. The perfect sea wall has a comfortable water temperature, moving current and food for the redfish.
I like to cast my popping cork with a live shrimp or a Gulp shrimp up current and let the water retrieve the combination to me. I just reel in the slack and give it a pop or two every few feet.
Give each good looking sea wall a few casts and move onto the next likely redfish hangout. Cover as many sea walls as you can until you find fish. Sea walls are just like docks when it comes to holding fish.
Some sea walls always seem to have fish on them. Other sea walls never seem to have any fish on them. You might have to pitch to 40 or 50 lengths of sea wall until you find the good ones if you are not familiar with the area.
Once you figure out which sea walls are the best, then you can optimize your redfishing by hitting the good ones first. Lots of bait is usually your best indicator of a good fishing spot.
Sea walls are another great spot for redfishing with popping corks. Predators love to pin bait fish against shorelines, rocks, oyster bars and sea walls. The perfect sea wall has a comfortable water temperature, moving current and food for the redfish.
I like to cast my popping cork with a live shrimp or a Gulp shrimp up current and let the water retrieve the combination to me. I just reel in the slack and give it a pop or two every few feet.
Give each good looking sea wall a few casts and move onto the next likely redfish hangout. Cover as many sea walls as you can until you find fish. Sea walls are just like docks when it comes to holding fish.
Some sea walls always seem to have fish on them. Other sea walls never seem to have any fish on them. You might have to pitch to 40 or 50 lengths of sea wall until you find the good ones if you are not familiar with the area.
Once you figure out which sea walls are the best, then you can optimize your redfishing by hitting the good ones first. Lots of bait is usually your best indicator of a good fishing spot.
Conclusion:
Using popping corks to fish for redfish is one of the most underutilized fishing techniques. It is kind of counterintuitive to use a lure that makes a ton of noise and looks ridiculous. I thought that too the first time that I saw someone using a popping cork combination.
I was in Northwest Florida fishing for speckled trout and a boat about 50 yards from me was using the technique. My friend and I laughed and said, "Look at those yahoos. They wont catch a thing with that set up."
Then we noticed that they were catching 3 or 4 times as many trout as we were catching. Those yahoos were actually fishing Einsteins. It didn't take us two yahoos very long before we were fishing with popping corks too.
That was 20 years ago and since then I have seen the popping cork with a lure or bait combo catch redfish, speckled trout, flounder, black drum, snook, mangrove snapper, whiting and many more.....
Redfishing with popping corks is a very effective and efficient way to catch a lot of fish. Give it a try next time. I bet you will catch more redfish.
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