How To Use Eagle Claw Redfish Rig

Redfish remain a perennially pop species among inshore fishermen. Whether you're targeting local hot spots or traveling to one of the more than popular destinations for redfishing, local tactics oft piece of work best when trying to take hold of redfish. We reached out to several pro anglers and asked most their favorite redfish rigs, what tactics they apply for finding fish, and other tips for catching more redfish.

From Virginia to Florida and throughout the Gulf Coast, redfish are more popular than ever. But with popularity comes increased fishing pressure and the demand for fine-tuned strategies to become war fish to bite. Bob McNally

Best Redfish Rig for Crab Baits

One of the best redfish tackle setups is the no-brainer rig. Capt. John Eggers, a veteran lease captain and tournament angler in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, is a big believer in the "no-brainer" rig — a unproblematic but ingenious pattern consisting of a ¼- to 3⁄8-ounce egg sinker tightly snugged on the shank of a 5/0 circumvolve hook (with an up-turned eye) — that practically guarantees a solid hookset when angling natural bait, without the usual snapping of the rod.

NO-BRAINER RIG: With natural baits, a 1/iv- to 3/8-ounce egg sinker tightly snugged on the shank of a v/0 circle hook ensures a solid claw-fix even with rod in a holder. Bob McNally

"I employ it when I target redfish with clients, baiting with a chunk of blue crab. It's near the surest bet for catching fish I know," Eggers states. "I tell anglers to merely put the rod in a holder and leave it alone until a fish takes the allurement and the rod bows. The circle hook sets automatically in the corner of a fish's mouth 90 percent of the time, so the rig is great for catch-and-release."

Redfish Fishing in Spartina Grass

Eggers also likes pitching soft-plastic lures rigged weedless to redfish amidst spartina grass in littoral areas. He catches some of the heaviest ones by poling his skiff through the grass, looking for fish. "I look for open areas combined with submerged grass in h2o 2 to 3 feet deep. That's where reds hold to ambush mullet and other bait," Eggers explains.

He adds that the primal is to detect such areas inside creeks and over mud flats during loftier tides; that's when the fish cruise through the grass and are commonly aggressive. A paddle tail lure resembling a finger mullet, rigged weedless on a 1⁄16- to 1⁄8-ounce weighted hook, is his weapon of choice. He simply allows it to fall slowly into the grass holes.

VERSATILE CHOICE: Soft plastics, rigged properly, permit anglers to comprehend any depth in the water cavalcade to target reds shallow or deep. Bob McNally

When Redfish Are Hard to Find

When redfish seem to vanish overnight, Eggers looks for transition areas: places where reds stage when forced off the shallows by sudden changes in water clarity, temperature, provender availability or angling pressure. "When reds transition, information technology'due south usually to a deeper surface area pretty close to where they were concluding seen. If the reds had been on a mud flat, I look for a nearby channel or drop-off, which tin be as much as twenty anxiety deep. If I institute them up a creek nigh recently, I'd bank check the deeper creek bends or the creek mouth."

Redfish stage in those deeper areas in packs or schools. Competition amid tightly packed fish is oftentimes vehement and the strikes can be ambitious, so the best way to target them is vertical jigging with soft-plastic lures, heavy spoons or live bait. "Boat position is key to communicable fish when vertical jigging," Eggers points out. "Use the trolling motor to go along artificial or natural baits vertical equally you pass over the fish'due south hangout and watch the line as your lure or bait falls."

If you don't become a taker by the time it hits bottom, gratis-spool or open the bail to go on the lure or bait in the zone longer as the boat drifts away. Eggers says you should mark the location with a float or a waypoint on your chart plotter when you take hold of a ruby-red or two from a spot considering more fish are probably holding in that precise location.

ON THE EDGE: Grass flats near clean bottom areas provide promising feeding grounds for hungry redfish. Bob McNally

Using Lures to Take hold of Redfish

Capt. Tim Cut, of St. Simons Island, Georgia, claims that soft-plastic jerkbaits are his favorite redfish lures. "I dear using the 5-inch Zoom Salty Super Fluke. Information technology's piece of cake to rig with a weedless Gamakatsu EWG (-Extra Wide Gap) worm claw, and it's mortiferous effectually grass edges, docks, oysters and snags where other lures tend to foul." In shallow water, Cut rigs the fluke weightless. In deeper water, he uses a weighted worm-style hook, or inserts a small smash or drinking glass rattle into the soft-plastic body to make information technology autumn to the lesser where redfish usually prowl.

When line-fishing the flats on windy days, Cutting rigs the fluke with a circle hook through the lure'south nose and works information technology with a walk-the-canis familiaris action. "Many times, reds hit the lure following a pause," he explains. "With a circle hook, but go along reeling to get the line tight. Never snatch the rod back like on a normal hook-fix."

PRO TIP # 1: "When Reds exit the shallows, they usually transition to a deeper area close to where they were last. If they'd recently been upwardly a creek, check any deep bends or the creek rima oris. If the reds were on a mud apartment, look for them in a nearby channel or drop-off." Capt. John Eggers Bob McNally

Redfish rely heavily on their sense of odour as opposed to their eyesight, so scented lures are ofttimes the ticket to success. Cutting is partial to liberal utilise of liquid fish attractants such as those from Bang, Gulp! and Pro-Cure. "You tin soak any soft plastics, plugs, bucktail jigs and other artificials in them. But all these liquid scents come up in a bunch of colors, flavors and consistencies, and you lot've got to try unlike brands with dissimilar lures until you find the right combination for the conditions at hand," he says.

PRO TIP # 2: "Poke holes with a wire castor or bombardment scrapper (with stiff wire beard) into the soft-plastic lures and soak them in a nothing-lock bag full of a liquid fish attractant like those past Gulp!, Blindside or Pro-Cure. Then the lures hold more than of the scent and describe more strikes." Capt. Tim Cutting Bob McNally

Crankbaits for Redfish

The Georgia pro is as well a fan of crankbaits. He says redfish, much like freshwater bass, hitting them readily, and he chooses different sizes and designs to run at various depths. "Virtually of the fourth dimension, I employ the Mann'south Babe 1-Minus in one or 2 feet of h2o. It has bang-up action and casts a country mile, perfect for working long shell bars or stone jetties. Only I've also caught many reds working 4- to vi-foot diving crankbaits over beat out bars and have -absolutely crushed them with Norman deep-diving crankbaits in water as deep as xx feet," he says.

Cutting often uses crank baits to rapidly cover lots of water and locate scattered reds, but he warns "good quality plugs with a sturdy lip are needed because they gotta bounce along — sometimes over oysters and rocks — without snagging." To help matters, he often clips off the front end-facing bespeak on each treble. In shallow grassy areas, he replaces the trebles with single i/0 Owner Mosquito hooks.

PLUGGING ALONG: Crankbaits let you to quickly cover lots of water and locate scattered reds, but be sure to utilise good quality plugs with a sturdy lip considering they gotta bounce along oysters and rocks. Ted Lund

Fishing for Redfish with Crabs

Soaking crabs on the bottom around nearshore drop-offs (6 to 20 feet) off bulwark islands, similar Dauphin Island, in the open Gulf of Mexico, is deadly for bull redfish, says Capt. Charlie Gray, an Alabama charter helm and tournament angler. He'due south picky about the size he uses for bait, and so he catches his own. "I prefer small bluish venereal 3 to 5 inches across the shell and rig them on 3/0 to seven/0 circle hooks with iii to iv anxiety of 30- to 40-pound fluorocarbon leader," he explains. "And I add a ii- to iv-ounce egg sinker above the swivel connecting the leader to the master line of 30- to 50-pound braid." Gray also crushes larger crabs to use for chum when setting upwardly near drop-offs to depict reds onto shallow sandbars where he anchors and deploys baits. Alive finger mullet, croakers and pinfish are too adept baits, but he catches fewer sharks and jacks when using crabs.

CRUSTACEAN SENSATION: Fishing whole or halved blue crabs on the bottom is another excellent method to warrant strikes from redfish, who resort profoundly to their sense of smell to fodder. John Frazier

The Dauphin Island guide also likes shallower driblet-offs where the depth drops from a couple of feet to 5 to seven feet, only he prefers to wade because the slap of the h2o on the boat often spooks fish. "It's best to wade waist-deep and bandage out to the deeper h2o off the edge," he explains. "If several anglers are wade-fishing the same drop-off, everyone should utilise a different bait or lure until one starts communicable fish." Co-ordinate to Gray, a live shrimp fished under a popping cork with a 2- to three-foot leader of fifteen-pound fluorocarbon is an excel-lent pick when wade-line-fishing those edges, and topwaters like Yo-Zuri'due south 3DB Pencil, lipped plugs similar Egret Baits' Zombie RIP Stik, and soft-plastic lures similar those by Matrix Shad are all good choices too.

PRO TIP # 3: "Wading is a great mode to fish shallow edges and drop-offs. If several anglers are fishing the same i, everyone should use a different bait or lure until one starts catching fish." Capt. Charlie Gray Bob McNally

Don't Spook Redfish Schools

Capt. Tony Bozzella, lease captain and tournament pro from Macclenny, Florida, poles or uses his electric motor to search quietly for redfish on the shallows. "I keep the dominicus at my dorsum when poling flats to sight-fish reds. It's easier to spot them and harder for them to see my gunkhole," he says. When using his trolling motor, Bozzella believes it's essential to leave it on a constant speed. He says varying speeds or, worse, turning the motor on and off spooks skinny-h2o reds.

PRO TIP # iv: "Instead of casting toward construction at a 90-caste angle, position the boat to cast parallel and up-current, and work the lure along the contours of the structure where redfish are most likely to concord." Capt. Tony Bozzella Bob McNally

When he locates a school, Bozzella creeps quietly around it, making long casts downwind to the outskirts of a school to let the fish find the bait on their own. "You take hold of more than reds from a school this way, rather than casting into the school, which rarely produces more than a fish or two," he claims.

SOFT PLASTIC: With and then many shapes, colors and sizes to cull from, soft-plastic lures are prime weapons for whatsoever successful redfish angler. Alex Suescun

Cast Fishing Lures Upcurrent

For more than natural redfish rigs and presentations, the Northeast Florida guide tries to nowadays lures to redfish with the current flow. He casts up-current and lets the tide sweep the artificial toward the fish as he retrieves it. Bozzella as well insists that, instead of casting lures toward a structure at a 90-degree angle, information technology's amend to work the lure along the contours, and then he casts parallel and upwardly-current forth grass edges, sand and oyster bars, ledges and docks, extending the time his lure spends where the fish are near likely to be holding.

A few select artificials encompass a range of redfish fishing situations. SWS Staff

Redfish Fishing Captains

The pursuit of redfish is DIY-friendly and doesn't require large or specialized boats. The following guides excel at the game in their respective regions:

Jacksonville Beach, Florida Capt. John Eggers 904-591-1611
St. Simons Isle, Georgia Capt. Tim Cutting 912-230-1814
Dauphin Island, Alabama Capt. Charlie Gray 251-379-5067
Macclenny, Florida Capt. Tony Bozzella 904-651-0182

Redfish Angling Tackle

Rods: Medium-activity spinning or baitcasting, rated for 10- to 50-pound line
Reels: Matched to rod
Line: 10- to fifty-pound braid, depending on the situation and the size of the redfish targeted
Leaders: 15- to 40-pound fluorocarbon
Lures: Zoom Salty Super Fluke or similar jerkbaits, Matrix Shad paddle tails or equivalent, Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil or similar topwaters, Isle of mann's Infant Minus-1 or similar crankbaits, Egret Zombie RIP Stik (floating or supendingh) and Norman Lures, Centre Northward and DD14
Allurement: Chunks of blue crab, alive shrimp, finger mullet, croakers and pinfish
Lure Scents: Scents and liquid fish attractants such as those past Gulp!, Bang and Pro-Cure