How To Catch Redfish In Coastal Creeks (On Incoming & Outgoing Tides)
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
When you’re fishing a coastal creek… what’s the best tide to catch fish?
Many people claim the incoming tide is the best, while others are sure it’s the outgoing tide.
But here’s the truth…
Both can be great!
You just have to be in the right spot at the right time.
For instance, the best spot for an outgoing tide won’t be as productive on an incoming tide.
And the best spot for an incoming tide will probably have no water in it during an outgoing tide!
So in this video, you’re going to learn how to catch fish during both tides in coastal creeks.
You’ll learn:
- The best lures to use in coastal creeks
- How to NOT spook off fish (this is one of the most important, yet underrated skills when it comes to catching fish)
- How to find coastal creeks that hold fish on satellite maps
- And more
Check out the video below!
How To Catch Redfish In Coastal Creeks [VIDEO]
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How To Catch Redfish During An Incoming Tide
Bait essentially follows the flow of the current.
As water fills up creeks that were previously dry at low tide, bait follows the water into those areas to look for shelter.
Redfish, who are hungry and not scared to get in really shallow water, follow the bait up the creeks.
Therefore you, as the fishermen, need to follow the fish and water up the creeks, too.
Now, once you’ve found the fish, here are two tips to help you catch them.
Tip #1: Don’t run right up on the school
Stay as far back as you can while still keeping them in casting distance.
This will let you catch more because you’re less likely to spook them off.
Tip #2: Don’t cast right into the middle of the school
By casting to the right or the left of the school, you can pick them off one by one and catch a lot of fish.
How To Catch Redfish During An Outgoing Tide
During an incoming tide, the fish are traveling up the creek in search of food.
But during an outgoing tide, all of the food is getting washed out of the creeks, so redfish are waiting at the creek mouth for food to get swept by.
Position yourself at the mouth of the creek and cast your lure up current, then retrieve it down with the current to mimic a baitfish being swept out with the current.
Redfish will be looking into the current and will think your lure is an easy meal as it comes towards them.
Here are some advantages of fishing during an outgoing tide:
- You don’t need to cover as much water (you only need to fish the creek mouths)
- The fish are concentrated in the holes around creek mouths
- The fish are competitive (there’s only so much food and real estate in the creek mouths)
Best Lures To Catch Redfish In Coastal Creeks
One of my favorite lures to catch redfish in coastal creeks is a paddletail rigged on a jig head.
The jig head lets me bounce the paddletail off of the bottom where the fish are feeding, and the action of the tail attracts fish, even if the water is dark.
The jig head weight is determined by depth, so if I’m fishing shallow creeks on an incoming tide, I might use a 1/8 or 3/16 oz. jig head.
If I’m fishing deeper holes in a creek mouth on an outgoing tide, I’ll use a 1/4 oz. jig head.
You can get my favorite paddletail and jig head from our shop at the links below:
Shortcut To Catching More Fish
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Conclusion
Coastal creeks are some of the best places to catch redfish.
During an incoming tide, you can follow the reds as they follow the bait and pick them off one by one.
During an outgoing tide, you can position yourself at a creek mouth and drag your lure through the deeper holes and along the shore where reds are waiting in ambush for an easy meal.
Have any questions about fishing coastal creeks?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to catch more redfish in creeks, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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I’ve been fishing coastal creeks in NE Florida for the past 6-7 years from late December to early March as a snowbird from central Illinois. All your info is excellent and good general guidelines to follow. A couple things I’ve found is it is much more difficult to catch reds when motorized boat traffic is high (weekends), to the point I avoid it if at all possible. I assume your videos & success have been most productive when fishing remote areas void of high traffic? I fish in kayaks & canoes & just had a motor boat come from behind, overtake me and stop 30 yards from the direction I was casting. Then throw the motor in reverse to troll back towards me! This happens all too frequently on the weekends. My solution is generally to move on & go where they cannot (skinnier water). This is a big reason I fish end of outgoing tide and into incoming. Also, given we have semi-diurnal tides here I think many fish that move into the creeks either stay in the creeks for days or become resident fish hanging out in the potholes in between tides. I’ve heard many theorize the fish move back and forth to the ocean on the tides & while this may happen somewhat I think as long as the weather is somewhat stable they stay in the creeks moving in the creeks with the tides. Would you agree?
Thanks for sharing the helpful insights Gil. Yes, it seems like most fish stay relatively close to a good spot as the tide goes in and out (most don’t go all the way out to the Ocean). And yes, the high traffic periods can be tough which is why it’s a safe bet to get out on the water early before the pleasure cruisers take over the waterways on weekends.
Outstanding video! I learned more in this video than the law allows. Y’all are just simply the greatest.
So when your fishing the incoming tide and your moving with the water wouldnt that mean either;
A) your retrieval is moving against the current
B) your moving into a position then turning around an anchoring to cast back up where you were coming from?
C) Or since its so shallow the current isnt as much if a factor so it doesnt matter about retriving against a slight current?
Thanks on advance love the content, way better than binging netflix lol
So interesting
Absolutely amazing. Extremely informative. I am a South Florida native. I have owned 6 boats but never once went fishing. Born and raised in fort Lauderdale Florida and dont know a single person who likes fishing but through the boredom of the pandemic I tried fishing and hooked a fish by sure luck and that was it… I was HOOKED. Having no one to show me how to fish I was scouring the internet but luckily found salt strong. Been watching everything and learning sooooo much. This video helped me understand a lot. Great job
Yea while I’m trying not to sound like a know it all I already pretty much knew this but I still learn a lot watching your videos and this style of inshore saltwater fishing is pretty much what my area of Florida here in Jacksonville is all about we have literally hundreds of creeks like the ones you mentioned to fish and while I do agree with you that both tactics are greatly productive I have always done better for reds on an outgoing tide fishing the mouths of creeks and in the winter my favorite bait is the chasebaits flick prawn in jelly color a dead ringer for the white and pink shrimp that are prevalent in this area a great winter bait when the water is cold because I believe a shrimp is better fished slow at least for me thanks for the video and all you do😁
Thanks for the input Steven! I do like fishing at low tide a lot as well, as there’s much less water you have to cover! And I would also agree that a shrimp imitation is tough to beat in the wintertime, so I’m sure that Chasebaits shrimp gets it done for you!
Thanks for watching Steven!
Nice report and excellent illustrations!
Thanks so much Rick! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wyatt once again another great video. Thank you
No problem Tina! Thanks for watching!!
Wyatt, great tips on fishing creeks for redfish. I can’t wait to get down south again… soon!
Thanks so much for watching Tom! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hey Joe,
I received my free Slam Shady lures (way more than I expected-thanks!). Last Saturday morning we went out in the St. John’s river and found a spot where we caught several different quality (edible) fish using the dead shrimp (that was alive and well 30 minutes prior).
Since the bite was hotter than we’ve ever seen, I tried the Slam Shady. I didn’t even get a nibble with it. I rigged it just like Luke showed in his video. As I reeled it in, it looked just like it was supposed to.
When fishing for keeper fish, is it worth using plastic?
Thanks,
Ron
It’s absolutly worth using! If you don’t mind me asking, what was the depth you were fishing, what jighead did you have on it, and what retrieve did you use? It’s important to make sure that you keep your lure in the strike zone and give it some natural action for best results!
First of all Joe isn’t the one doing the video it was Wyatt and anyways it’s all what you got confidence in I am a lure fisherman who never uses bait like you who does my confidence is in my lures and can tell you if used right lures can actually outfish bait plus another benefit being you don’t have to keep lures alive like you do with bait and also your covering more water unlike bait where your primarily fishing in one location I’m always on the move like a bass angler covering water with different structure and that’s how I find the fish and by the way I’m not Wyatt just an angler who saw your question take it or leave it it works for me😁