How To Catch Bull Redfish On Artificial Lures (3 Tips)
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
No, it’s not Christmas season, it’s spawning season for bull redfish!
In late summer and fall, these monster reds school up and start feeding aggressively.
And if you know how to find them (and get them to eat) it can make for a personal best day on the water!
The easy way to catch them is with live or cut bait, but my favorite way to catch them is on artificial lures, even though it’s much harder.
I just had a trip where I caught some really nice reds on artificial and in this video, I’ll share three tips with you on how to catch them this way.
Check it out below.
How To Catch Bull Redfish On Artificial Lures [VIDEO]
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Big redfish are big for a reason — they’re smart!
Plus, they’re usually highly pressured so these two factors make it really tough to catch big reds on artificials.
However, it is possible and these three tips below will help you do it.
Tip #1: Target bull reds in late summer and fall
This is spawning time for these big fish and they school up and aggressively feed.
Of course, you can catch them on artificial lures during other times of the year, but this is definitely the best.
Tip #2: Fish during low-visibility times
To get these fish to hit an artificial lure you don’t want them to be able to clearly see you or that your lure is not the real thing, so fish when visibility is poor.
This includes:
- Dawn
- Dusk
- Overcast conditions
- Windy conditions
- Areas with dark water
Tip #3: Use a lure that will get their attention
Since you’ll usually be targeting them when they can’t see well, you’ll need a lure that will get their attention.
Paddletails work great in these scenarios because the vibration given off by the tail will attract fish to you.
You also want to use a bigger lure because these are big fish looking for a big meal, and a 3″ baitfish won’t give them as many calories as a 5″+ bait will.
On this trip, I was using the scented 5″ Z-Man PaddlerZ in the Slam Shady color rigged on a 5/0 Mustad Grip Pin hook.
Conclusion
Although these fish are tough to catch on artificials, it can be done.
Be sure to target them in late summer or early fall, fish when visibility is poor, and use a big loud lure.
You can get the lure I was using from our shop here:
Have any questions about catching bull redfish?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to catch big reds during this spawning season, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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I dont have a boat, how can I improve catching good fish from bank
Good advice!!!
Thank you for the great feedback Nick!
Tony you always do such a great job of making things clear and easy to understand thanks so much. Russ
My pleasure Russ! Thank you for the awesome feedback!
Great catching & tutorial Tony !!!
Thanks George!
Hello salt strong brother my name is Gilberto Merced and my wife and I love fishing we live in Orlando close to titusville and we would like to know if you guys know good spots for us to enjoy cashing some of those reds we don’t own a boat hope to here from you soon
Hey Gilberto,
I would highly recommend checking our our Insider Club. I provide weekly reports and tips for the area in there:
https://www.saltstrong.com/insider
How come you don’t use penn reels
Hey Caden!
Just from my own experience, many Penn reels are rather heavy and I fish artificial lures 99% of the time. Lighter reels are more ideal as they wont wear our your wrist and arm as quickly as a heavy reel. They are great for live bait and surf fishing though.
Ok, what reel should I get for lure that’s under 70dollars
great stuff…looking forward to first bull red!! ideal spots for them are where?? will they be on same flats as reds & snook?? or beaches?? will post when i land first bull red. as always thanks!!
Thank you for the great feedback Gary! Be sure to check out this post on finding bull reds:
https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tip/targeting-trophy-redfish-peter-deeks/
When a fish bites down on a hook,
and breaks the line, how long does it take
to dissolve the hook in salt water?
Hey Ron!
I’m not sure about that one because many factors can come into play – such as the salinity of the water, material hook is made of, if the hook is coated, etc.
Tony, Nice catch. Very helpful tips. Concerning Mustad Grip Pin Hooks, perhaps Salt Strong can offer your 1/4 oz. to the options since 1/8 oz is the heaviest.
Thanks Rob!
Yes we are working on that. The 5/0 1/8oz will work just as well in shallow water (4ft or less).
Wow! Well done Tony. I’ve switched over to the Mustad Grip Pin for ZMan baits. Love hearing your reel singing !!
Thanks Thom!
Yep works much batter than the twistlock as far as rigging goes.