How To Fish Mangrove Shorelines (To Catch Redfish, Trout, & Snook)
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
Note: This very popular post was originally published on June 24, 2020. But since then, we’ve had TONS of very helpful info added to the comments, so be sure to read the comments section too. Enjoy!
Mangroves are some of the best places to catch fish.
They’ve got everything predator fish need:
- Cover to stay safe from predators
- Baitfish and crustaceans to eat
However, they can be tricky to fish if you don’t know what you’re doing.
It’s very easy to get snagged in the limbs and roots, plus some sections of the mangroves will hold more fish than others, so you could be in a dead zone and not even know it.
In this video, you’re going to learn:
- The two places within a mangrove shoreline that hold the most fish
- The best lures to use (and why lures can outfish live bait here)
- What to look for when drifting a mangrove shoreline
- And much more
If you want to get better at catching fish around mangrove shorelines, check out the video below.
P.S. Shoutout to Kieran Kidder and Capt. Peter Deeks for landing that nice trout pictured above!
How To Catch Fish In Mangroves [VIDEO]
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The 2 Best Spots In Mangroves
When fishing any body of water, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water.
And when fishing any mangrove shoreline, here are the two types of spots most likely to hold 90% of fish:
- Points
- Coves
These two changes in a mangrove shoreline are where predator fish congregate most to look for an easy meal.
You can skip cast your lure under the trees in coves or points, or cast it parallel to a point and retrieve it right in front of it.
And here’s another thing to look for when you’re drifting along a mangrove shoreline: the three b’s.
Here’s what the three b’s are:
- birds
- bait
- boils
In the video, I saw a mullet swim off of a point, and sure enough, it wasn’t too long before Joe hooked up there.
Lures vs. Live Bait (When Fishing Mangroves)
When it comes to fishing mangroves, you need to cover lots of ground.
If you’ve got a shoreline that’s several hundred yards long, you need to find where along the shoreline the fish like to hang out.
Sure, you could soak a live shrimp along a point or in a cove, but it could take several minutes to decide whether or not a spot holds fish.
On the other hand, if you drift or use a trolling motor to cover ground and make lots of casts to points and coves with artificial lures, then you can find where the fish are much quicker.
Because lures can help you quickly find feeding fish, I’ve found them to be better than live bait when fishing mangroves.
The Best Lures For Fishing Mangroves
Two of our favorite lures for fishing mangroves are paddletails and jerk shads.
Here are two reasons why:
- They catch fish
- They can be rigged weedless
These lures can be worked so that they resemble injured baitfish or fleeing shrimp, which predator fish, like snook, trout, or redfish, can’t resist.
Also, by using weighted swimbait hooks, you can bury the point in the lure and rig them weedless so that they get snagged much less frequently.
This is very important because if you have an exposed hook point, you’re going to catch a lot of trees, rocks, or oysters.
You can get our favorite paddletail, the Slam Shady, by clicking here.
You can get our favorite jerk shad, the Alabama Leprechaun, by clicking here.
Conclusion
Mangrove shorelines are some of my favorite spots to fish, but in order to be successful, you need to remember these two major things:
- Fish points and coves
- Cover lots of ground
If you do that, you’ll find fish.
Have any questions about fishing mangroves?
Have any other tips for catching fish near them?
Let us know in the comments below!
And if you know someone who likes to fish mangrove shorelines, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Thanks Luke and Joe! Fishing the mangroves has been my first experience inshore fishing in Florida. By watching this video, I can clearly see that I have been identifying the correct spots for fish, but casting at the wrong angles. Thanks for the lessons on tactics and strategy on positioning and line of cast. I will apply these techniques this week and provided feedback in a post-trip report.
Salt Strong! Thomas
What was Luke doing? Kinda looked like a one bump steady retrieve to speed the retrieve up ?
Nice vid.
Most interesting, use of tips when fishing in river.
Very cool! I’m in north Florida where the mangroves are few and far between, we have mangrove snapper but they are on reefs and pilings
What jig head are you using. I purchased some slam shades but they don’t go on the jig heads I have
The jig head I use is dependent on the depth of water that I’m targeting. Here’s a link to a lesson on how to maximize strike with Slam Shady paddletails along with links to the best jig heads and weighted hooks to use for them that I’ve found so far: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/how-to-use-rig-retrieve-slam-shady-paddletails/
Thanks for another very helpful video Luke and Joe. For a minute there I thought you had your new boat when I saw the remote around your neck but I guess that’s your father’s boat. This video really drives home for me the value of search casting covering more ground quicker. So, would you ever bring shrimp along in case your search casting found a spot full of fish? Or would you just keep using artificials?
I do not bother bringing shrimp unless the tides are really bad because I find that my results are best with lures given that using shrimp involves a lot of wasted time battling pinfish and small snapper than are too small to suck down a lure.
I would stay with the paddle tails and continue the search.
As always great video guys.
Thanks John!
Thanks for the “boat reply” Luke, Maverick is a great boat. Im still enjoying my sweatheart. A 28 year old Mako 181 FlatsMaster. It just fits my needs. You know what they say? The new and revised version – “if it aint broke… you can your time finding exactly what you want”. Thanks again for the mangrove pointers.
Yes, I agree with that quote… that’s why I’m not in a rush to change boats (I absolutely love the one I have now).
Thanks guys, always pointers I can use. Mangroves are my mainstay. Did I see a T top? Did I see a remote operated Minn Kota? Okay,cats out of the bag! Lets see the new yacht!
Good eye Randal! But those features you noticed were just due to us fishing from our dad’s 23′ Key West bay boat down in Boca Grande that day. I still have my Maverick.
Someone’s got a new boat!!
This boat is actually our dad’s. He has had it for a couple years now… here’s what I believe is the first video we filmed from it (from 2018): https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/best-lures-for-redfish/
Ooooo i see. I thought about that too. I knew you were looking for a new one but i jumped the gun!