Winter Fishing for Redfish in Florida
To catch redfish in the winter effectively you will have to fish in the deeper pockets early in the morning and near the dark mud flats later in the day when the sun heats up the water. You need to use fresh dead or live shrimp on the bottom to catch redfish effectively in the winter.
Redfish a.k.a. red drum are one of those fish that everyone wants to catch. They are extremely hard fighters and are very widespread throughout Florida.
Many fishermen say that they just can't figure out where the redfish are in the Winter. They are still around but Winter fishing for redfish is a little different from the rest of the year.
My nephew Kevin caught this 43 inch Winter redfish on a live shrimp in the intracoastal waterway by Flagler Beach. He and his friend were fishing side by side with live shrimp and this redfish picked up both baits. They both fought this redfish for 15 minutes until they got it in.
I love Winter fishing for redfish. I can sleep in and take my time getting to the boat ramp, drink a cup of coffee, because I know that the good redfish bite won't happen until the water gets warmed up by the sun for a few hours.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and I have been fishing the oyster bars and mangroves for over 40 years. Redfish are one of my favorite fish to catch and I travel all over the state of Florida to do it.
In the article below, I will teach you simple tips and techniques to catch Florida redfish in the Winter months.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to catch more Winter redfish.
To catch redfish in the winter effectively you will have to fish in the deeper pockets early in the morning and near the dark mud flats later in the day when the sun heats up the water. You need to use fresh dead or live shrimp on the bottom to catch redfish effectively in the winter.
Redfish a.k.a. red drum are one of those fish that everyone wants to catch. They are extremely hard fighters and are very widespread throughout Florida.
Many fishermen say that they just can't figure out where the redfish are in the Winter. They are still around but Winter fishing for redfish is a little different from the rest of the year.
My nephew Kevin caught this 43 inch Winter redfish on a live shrimp in the intracoastal waterway by Flagler Beach. He and his friend were fishing side by side with live shrimp and this redfish picked up both baits. They both fought this redfish for 15 minutes until they got it in.
I love Winter fishing for redfish. I can sleep in and take my time getting to the boat ramp, drink a cup of coffee, because I know that the good redfish bite won't happen until the water gets warmed up by the sun for a few hours.
I am an INSHORE FISHING GUIDE on the Treasure Coast of Florida and I have been fishing the oyster bars and mangroves for over 40 years. Redfish are one of my favorite fish to catch and I travel all over the state of Florida to do it.
In the article below, I will teach you simple tips and techniques to catch Florida redfish in the Winter months.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to catch more Winter redfish.
Winter fishing for redfish--Docks
Redfish like to stay in deeper water in the Winter time until the sun gets a chance to heat up the top part of the water column. You can find them around deep docks and bridges early in the morning. The water down deep is usually warmer than the top part of the water column after a cold Winter night.
A great way to target deep redfish is with dead bait. It takes a cold redfish a while to get warmed up and get moving on a cold Winter morning. I am kind of the same way on a cold Winter morning. AND I have hot coffee and redfish don't.
Redfish have an extremely evolved olfactory system. They can smell a dead bait from a long way down current. They actually have 4 nostrils. That tells you that smell is probably their primary sense that they use to find food.
Dead bait fishing is a patient man's game. I expect to soak the bait for at least 20 minutes unless I actually sight fish the reds. Just let it sit and stink and the redfish will come.
There is no way that a freezing cold redfish is going to want to chase a vivacious mullet or your top water walk-the-dog style of lure. Especially when there is a big, stinky, delicious smelling dead bait around. The dead bait wins every time.
I like to use a big chunk of lady fish, mullet, a big pin fish or even a chunk of blue fish. The rig that I like is a hook with a sliding egg sinker above it. It is simple but very effective. You will have to figure out the appropriate weight to use based on the current and depth of the water.
Once the water has had a few hours to get heated up by the sun, then you can start fishing for redfish in more traditional ways. Now you can break out the lures and the live bait.
I wrote another article on this website that is all about how to catch a redfish. It covers tips and techniques in great detail and you can read that article by clicking right here.
My favorite live bait for fishing the shallow docks for redfish is live shrimp under a split shot. If there is a redfish within 20 feet of that offering, then you will get a bite. Other great baits using this same set up are mud minnows and fiddler crabs. Just cast them under the dock or as close as you can get them to it.
The best lures for dock fishing are Berkely Gulp 3 inch shrimp and DOA CAL 3 inch shad. I like the white and the natural color combinations the most. Rig those up with a red 1/8 ounce jig head and bounce them slowly on the bottom. You will want to cast up current for best results.
Other lure honorable mentions are a weed less white fluke, weed less gold spoons and spinner baits with gold blades. All of those are great redfish lures for docks but I usually stick with gulps and DOA Cals.
Dock fishing for redfish usually requires you to use a heavier rod and reel combo because the redfish can get tangled in the dock pilings. You have to be able to turn them because they will inevitably head right for the dock pilings to cut you off.
I would suggest a 4000 series reel loaded with 20 lb. braided line. Couple that with a 7 to 8 ft. medium/heavy rod and you are good to go. A decent 4000 series reel will cost you around $100 to $150. A decent 7 to 8 ft. medium/heavy rod will run you from $50 to $100. You can spend less and you can spend more BUT that is the price range that I usually go for.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with top water lures.
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Winter fishing for redfish--Oyster Bars and Tidal Creeks
Oyster bars, mud flats and tidal creeks are the holy trinity of redfish catching heaven. These three environments are often comingled into the perfect place to get on some nice reds. When I see the confluence of a tidal creek with oyster bars on one side and a mud flat on the other I get very excited.
That is by far my favorite place to hunt for redfish in the Winter time. What I am looking for is a deep cut between a mud flat and an oyster bar or between two oyster bars. Those conditions act like a fish funnel bringing redfish right to me.
When the tide starts to come in the redfish are almost always the first fish to hit the skinny water around the mud flats. The mud is dark and heats up faster than anywhere else in that environment. This means that the reds can move out of the deeper pockets that they were in all night and onto those heated mud flats.
AND guess who is waiting there to catch them. That's right. It's you because you read this article.
Redfish will often push way up into the tidal creeks and rivers in the coldest months of the year. This means that you need to push way up into the tidal creeks and rivers to catch them. Sometimes you will be so far up the creeks that only the kayak and canoe fishermen can get at the reds.
Once you find them the best live bait is shrimp. Use the same shrimp with a split shot rig mentioned earlier. Just remember that these fish are cold so the bite is usually a weak one. Sometimes you won't feel a thing until you see your line swimming away.
I like to cast my shrimp up current and bounce it back to me off of the bottom. Then repeat until you are tired of catching reds. You can use this same rig and technique with a mud minnow BUT the reds have a harder time catching the mud minnows when they are cold.
That is another reason that I prefer using shrimp over all other live baits when fishing for reds. They can catch them with very little effort. They will miss a mud minnow half of the time. We don't want to tease them with a bait that they are going to have a problem getting into their mouths.
You can also cast the good ol' Gulp shrimp and the DOA CAL up current and bounce them back to you with similar results BUT nothing beats the live shrimp.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail the best baits and lures for redfish fishing. You can read that article by clicking right here.
A gold spoon and a shrimp tipped feather jig will work well for reds too. Cast them up current and bounce them back to you with the current. If the current is not too strong a spinner bait will work well too. Just cast it up current and bring it back to you just fast enough to keep those blades moving. It is the low frequency vibrations from the blades that will attract the redfish.
Once the creek heats up you can use all of your other lures and speed up your retrieves but it is best to keep it slow in the early part of the day.
Watch the video below for Winter redfish kayak fishing tips.
Winter fishing for redfish--Grass Flats
Grass flats are another great place to find redfish in the Winter. The redfish will be in some deeper channel that is adjacent to the flats until the sun has had a chance to heat them up. Dark colors absorb the sun's energy better than light colors. Grass flats are mostly dark green so they absorb heat very well.
So if you are out there early just find the deep channels or the deep rivers that are near the grass flats. That's where the reds will be until the water temperature gets warm enough for them to swim up on the grass flats to forage for food. Find those deep spots and fish with dead bait on the bottom.
Use a chunk of lady fish, mullet, blue fish or a whole pin fish. Just sink it using the sliding egg sinker rig that I talked about earlier and you are good to go.
Once the flats have had a couple of hours to heat up, then you can head to them to target some reds.
The dead bait on the bottom is still your best bet to catch a big red. Try to find one of the sandy pot holes that are in all grass flats. Put your bait right in the middle of one and wait.
Once the water gets warmed up you can switch over to a live shrimp under a popping cork. That is a great way to catch reds and trout on the grass flats.
I wrote another article on this website that covers the best tackle for catching redfish in more detail. You can read that article by clicking right here.
A Gulp shrimp under that popping cork is another great way to catch redfish if you don't have any live shrimp. That's basically all that I use when the water is freezing cold because it is the slowest lure fishing technique and retrieve that there is.
The technique goes something like this. Cast, twitch, twitch, pause, reel 10 feet very slowly, twitch, twitch, pause, reel 10 feet very slowly...…..
I like to use a 2500 series reel for grass flat fishing for reds. I will fill it with 8 lb. braided line and use a medium action 7 to 8 ft. rod. The redfish really don't have any structure to cut you off on when you are out on the grass flats so I like to lighten up my gear a little bit.
A decent 2500 rod and reel combo will run you around $150 to $200.
Watch the video below to learn the optimal water temperature for redfish.
Winter fishing for redfish--Inlets
Don't forget about the inlets and bridges near the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean in the cold months around Florida. The water from the Gulf and the Ocean are usually warmer than the water that is inland. The redfish will be around those bridges and other structures that receive warm water from those sources.
You will want to fish deep early in the day and gradually find shallower water as the sun's energy is transferred to the upper levels of the water column. Remember that dark mud and grass absorbs heat energy better than white sand bottoms do.
Dead bait works the best early. A half of a blue crab, a chunk of lady fish, mullet or blue fish works great in and around the inlets. Use the egg sinker on the line technique mentioned earlier to get you bait down to the bottom.
The best live baits for the inlet are shrimp, crabs, mullet, pin fish and any white baits that are around. Just get them to the bottom near some sort of structure for best results.
As the day heats up a deep water lure like a flair hawk jig works great those reds in the bottom of the water column. You will want to cast up current and bounce it back to you as close to the rocks, sea walls or bridge pilings as you can get without getting snagged.
You can make your jig even more appetizing to hungry redfish by putting a little piece on shrimp on the hook. This will engage the redfish's olfactory system and give you a better chance of getting a bite.
Winter fishing for redfish--Mangroves
Mangroves are another great place to find redfish in the Winter months. Mangroves usually have a muddy or sandy span of sand extending from them. This area will heat up quickly in the Winter which attracts bait fish and shrimp. This in turn attracts redfish.
The higher tides are a great time to send a dead bait up into the roots of the Red Mangrove Tree. The redfish will be rooting around the roots to find small shrimp, crabs and fish to eat. You have to get your bait right up to the roots for best results. I have found that a bait 3 feet away from the roots is usually too far away.
Redfish like the roots because there is food there and they can hide in them if a hungry shark or dolphin tries to eat them. That is why they will often hug those roots as they cruise them with the incoming and outgoing tides.
I probably sound like a broken record at this point but the best dead bait for redfish around the mangroves is shrimp, mullet chunks, lady fish chunks, a whole pin fish with its tail cut off....
If you can get away with having no weight do it that way. BUT if the current won't allow that then use as little weight as possible to keep your bait stuck on the bottom.
This is how I catch snook around the mangroves too. It's a good thing when you get to catch a big snook when you are targeting redfish. That is a win/win scenario in my book.
You are going to need a 4000 series reel filled with 20 lb. braid to get a redfish or a snook out of the mangrove roots. You will also want to have a 7 to 8 ft. medium/heavy rod. Just grab your dock fishing set up and you will be good to go.
Mangroves are a great place to use your favorite soft plastic lures rigged weed less. I like to use the 3 inch Gulp shrimp; the 3 inch DOA CAL; a Zoom fluke; and sometimes a gold spoon will do the trick. Just wait until the sun has warmed the water before trying to get a redfish to expend a bunch of energy chasing a lure around.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish with live mullet.
Winter fishing for redfish--Gear
You are definitely going to need to get yourself a decent pair of polarized sunglasses. Polarized sunglasses eliminate the glare on the surface of the water enabling you to see what's underneath. ie. a big hungry redfish waiting to get caught by you.
A high end pair will cost you $250 and a low end pair with glass lenses with cost you around $25. I have both ends of the price spectrum and the $250 pair definitely outperforms the cheaper pair. They are better built as well.
The best lens colors for dirty and murky waters are amber, rose and copper. The best lens colors for clean and clear water are blue and gray. You need these glasses but you have to decide what price range you want to get.
You will also need to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts. These shirts have built in sunscreen to help protect you from the sun's harmful rays when you are out on the water.
About the author: The author of this article insists that everyone refer to him as The Redfish Catchosaurus Rex. BUT everyone ignores him and refers to him as Mike, the co-owner of FYAO Saltwater Media Group, Inc.
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