How To Use Cut Ladyfish For Redfish, Snook, Trout, & Sharks
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
It’s cut bait time!
If you’re looking to have a relaxing day on the water and catch some big fish, it’s tough to beat fishing with cut bait.
You can just soak some smelly chunks on the bottom and hang out until you get a bite!
It’s also great for kids or beginner fishermen because it’s so easy, you don’t need any fancy lures or equipment, and you don’t need to troll around making perfect casts to points, docks, or other structure.
And best of all, it’s still really effective even when conditions are bad for fishing.
Check out the video below where I’ll walk you step by step through my recent trip cut bait fishing trip.
You’ll learn:
- Where I fished (and why I picked that spot)
- How to catch fewer catfish on cut bait
- The best way to rig cut bait for more strikes
- And much more
Enjoy!
Using Cut Ladyfish As Bait [VIDEO]
Click here to join the Insider Club
Gear used:
- Rods:
- TFO Pro 7′ 6″ Medium
- TFO Pro 7′ Medium
- Bull Bay Custom 7′ 6″ Medium-Heavy
- Reels:
- Leader:
- Mainline:
- Hook:
The day after a cold front with cloudless skies and clear water can be tricky to fish…
And when you time that with the bottom of the tide when the water is barely moving, it can be downright frustrating!
But we don’t always get perfect conditions on the days when we can fish, so I powered through to show you that even on bad days you can still catch fish and have some fun.
Here are the five steps to catch fish with cut ladyfish:
Step 1: Catch ladyfish
Ladyfish are aggressive feeders and you can catch them on many different types of lures around points with depth change.
Once you’ve found them, slow down your retrieve and do sharp, erratic twitches to get them to strike.
But finding and getting them to strike is just half the battle.
They’re masters at spitting the hook, so when you do have them on, keep the rod tip low and then sling (or net) them into the boat when you get them close.
Step 2: Find a fishy spot
When you’re looking for where to fish, wading birds and bait are great signs that there are gamefish around.
You also want to be fishing near structure.
In this case, there was a mangrove shoreline nearby and I was fishing along a dropoff.
Other types of inshore structure include docks, oyster bars, points, seagrass, seawalls, and others.
And once you’ve found your spot, be sure to approach it slowly and quietly to not spook off any fish in the area (this is one of the biggest mistakes I see anglers make).
Step 3: Prepare your bait
Here’s the big problem with using cut bait: catfish!
Catfish love cut bait and it’s just one of the hoops you’ll have to go through to enjoy this type of fishing.
However, there are a few things you can do to catch fewer catfish.
One is to use big chunks.
Two-inch chunks of ladyfish will be too big for many catfish to get in their mouths, so all they’ll be able to do is peck at it.
Another thing to do is use fresh ladyfish.
Frozen ladyfish seems to attract more catfish and fewer gamefish.
Once you’ve got your chunks, rig them up on a circle hook (I used these 5/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hooks) through the belly.
Hooking them through the belly and cutting off any pelvic fins will make them more aero and hydrodynamic, so they’ll cast farther and won’t tumble around in the water and get all tangled up.
Finally, use weights as necessary.
Since the water wasn’t that deep and there wasn’t really any current, I was able to freeline these chunks.
If you’re fishing in deeper water with strong current, check out this rig for cut bait.
Step 4: Cast out your baits
On this trip, I was near a dropoff so I tossed out three baits at three different depths.
The baits in the deeper water were getting hit, while the one in the shallow water was left alone, which helped me identify where the feeding zone was on this day.
Once your bait is in place, make sure the drag is set properly, set the rod in the rod holder, and relax!
Step 5: Catch Fish!
You’ll likely see your rod tip dance as catfish and other tiny trash fish peck at your bait, so it can be tempting to try to reel it in, but don’t do it yet.
Small fish pecking at your bait can attract bigger fish, so wait until you actually have a fish on before you start reeling.
Also, when you’re using circle hooks you don’t need to set the hook.
When the fish grabs the bait and swims away, the circle hook will stick in the corner of their mouth, so all you need to do is reel.
Conclusion
If you want to have a relaxing day on the water, but still catch fish, it’s tough to beat cut bait fishing.
Redfish, black drum, tarpon, snook, sharks, and trout will all pick up a piece of smelly cut bait on the bottom, and you don’t need any fancy lures or equipment.
Have any questions about using ladyfish for cut bait?
Let me know down in the comments.
And if you know someone who wants to get better at catching fish with cut bait, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
P.S. Want access to our best fishing spots and tips, plus discounts to our online tackle store? Click here to join us in the Insider Club!
Related articles:
Related categories:
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).
How many rods per person am I allowed to fish inshore on Florida Flats? And is it different if you are fishing nearshore outside the barrier islands?
I’m not sure if there are any laws about the amount of rods you could use. But I certainly wouldn’t want to use more than 2 or 3 because having too many lines out could turn into a huge mess if you hook something big that swims around the boat.
Question I net greenies and pins. Are cut pins as effective as ladyfish in chunking for snook and reds. Basically now I am only using the pins for offshore and chum. Otherwise, the white bait is what I use inshore along with the slam shadies.
Just easier for me to load up on Pins if I have guests aboard who lack experience but want to fish. The video you made was great learning tool for me to take care of those people. Thanks
Cut pinfish can work great for snook and redfish too. The main downside is that they are typically easier for catfish to eat and they don’t cast as far as a ladyfish chunk.
Good thought Thanks Luke
Good stuff my friend
Thanks Jack!
I liked this video. On a lazy day if fishing I would try this. Especially with new fishing people in a kayak.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Ted!
More cut bait fishing for all species
Thanks for posting the comment! I’ll be sure to do more cut bait fishing in the near future.
Hmmmm…Luke im liking this style of fishing so far…nah but its great you’re not sticking with the same o’ lure fishing style just to give a variety of options. But it’s always great to try out different ways to attack fish…you’ve guys really opened my eyes with your courses…and believe me your courses are amazing especially your casting courses. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for making time to post the nice comment Franklin!
Thanks, Luke. Great video. Maybe I missed it but what rig with the circle hook were you using? I’m really wondering if the cut bait was sitting on the bottom.
Lastly, it’s good to see even the experts sometime get tangled in their own lines! Thanks for not editing that part out!
I was simply using a circle hook without any weight. The area I was fishing had seagrass on the bottom, so that was enough to keep the bait in place.
Haha! Yes, we all get ourselves into some line tangles every once in a while, so we might as well laugh about it instead of hiding it. I’m just glad that I wasn’t hooked onto a big redfish then because it would have def broke off before I was able to untangle the lines.
Thanks for the reply, Luke.
I know you tried frozen lady fish in the video. What do you think about frozen lady fish from a bait shop? Sometimes as a weekend warrior I don’t like to mess around trying to catch bait. I want to start bringing some frozen bait in a cooler as a backup.
I have never tried frozen ladyfish from a bait shop. But I’m sure it’ll work similar to self-frozen ladyfish… it can work, but it’s not as good as fresh.
If you’d like to know how to keep frozen bait as effectively as possible, be sure to check out this video about brining fish that are to be frozen: https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tip/how-to-handle-store-cut-bait-insider/
Great subject matter. I surf fish mostly using cut bait up here on Virginia coast line. Nice to see cut bait working in Florida too :-). I was getting a phobia that artificial is all you used and I was messing up by using the wrong bait (LOL). Quick question; I noticed you didn’t use the Ladyfish head. Some Virginia surf fisherman only use the fish’s heads (Kingfish, Croakers, Spot), is there any guidance (recommendations) you have on this. I in turn, have only caught sharks and rays with the heads…all my Red Drum (Redfish) so far have been caught on the chunk bait.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment David! I have heard from many who like the head best, but I still haven’t had as much luck with it as I do the mid-chunks so that’s what I always start with and I keep the head for last.
Thanks… PS- Taking a lot of your advise and applying it to my surf fishing, I had the greatest fishing year ever. When I hit the beach, which was often, it wasn’t will I catch a Red Drum or Speckled Trout, it was what size will I catch today. Thanks for all your guidance.
How awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing the results in your surf fishing performance. Keep up the great catching.
What tide chart app do you use?
It’s called Smart Fishing Tides, and it’s by far my favorite platform for tides because it also includes the wind, radar, and maps all in 1 spot.
It’s actually a web-based platform that was designed to look/work just like an app. So you can use it on any device that can access the internet. Here’s a link: https://smartfishingtides.com/