How To Catch More REDFISH This Fall (Top 3 Tips)
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
Fall is the best time to catch lots of redfish.
They’re hungry, big, and schooled up, so if you’re looking for a new personal best day, now is the time to do it.
But the question is… how do you do it?
In this video, you’ll learn:
- The best lures and baits for fall redfish
- Where to find fall redfish
- The biggest mistake that most anglers make when it comes to catching reds this season
- And much more
I’ve used these tips to catch a ton of fall redfish (including the big one pictured above) and I know they can help you, too.
Check out the video below!
How To Catch Fall Redfish [VIDEO]
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Where To Find Fall Redfish
The first task to complete when it comes to catching fall redfish is to find them.
The biggest mistake anglers make here is that they still fish their summer spots.
Sure, there might be fish along the shorelines that were red hot just a few weeks ago, but now they likely won’t be as active or as hungry as fish in the typical fall spots.
The best types of spots to find feeding redfish in the fall are:
- Deeper edges of flats
- Points
- Creek mouth entrances (especially those with structure, like oyster bars)
Since the water is cooling down, redfish are getting slightly more lethargic and don’t want to spend as much energy as they did in the summer.
Because of this, they’ll set up in the spots above with lots of current flow and let the current bring food to them
Best Baits For Fall Redfish
Artificial Lures
Profile (size) and presentation is more important than brand or color when it comes to artificial lures.
Since baitfish are biggest in this season, fish are focused on larger baits, so use lures from 4-6″.
If the fish are finicky, use lures on the smaller size, but if they’re really aggressive, you can use larger lures.
My favorite lure for redfish right now is the 5″ Slam Shady BOMBER.
Lures with some vibration or flash do well at catching the attention of fish in deeper or darker water right now, and the BOMBER has both.
Live & Cut Bait
I prefer cut bait in the fall because fishes’ metabolism is slowing down and they’re looking for easy meals.
In the beginning of the fall live bait will work, like croakers or pinfish, but as the season goes on and the water gets cooler, I prefer fresh cut mullet or ladyfish.
And although many people like to use blue crabs, I avoid them because, although cut blue crab works well, right now there’s a lot of big baitfish around that will pick shell clean really quickly.
Cut ladyfish or mullet will last much longer.
How To Find & Approach Fall Redfish
At any given time, 90% of the fish are 10% of the water, and this is especially true of fall redfish.
Once you’ve found one hungry fish, there’s likely more, so your main goal at first is to cover ground to find them.
In addition to going to the types of spots mentioned earlier, here are my two other ways of finding fall redfish:
- Look for birds, bait, or other activity on the surface
- Have a search bait (like a 5″ paddletail) if you’re using live or cut bait so you can fan cast and cover more water
A lot of people locate schools by bumping them, or running up and down a flat to spook them.
Sure, that will help you find them, but it will decrease your odds of getting them to eat, especially if you’re using artificial lures.
As water temperatures cool down and the water clears up, fish will get more and more skittish, so approach them slowly and be quiet out there.
Conclusion
Now is the best time to go out and catch a ton of redfish, so be sure to look for birds and bait near points, creek mouths, and the edges of flats, and throw larger lures, like the Slam Shady BOMBER.
Have any questions about catching fall redfish?
Or have any other tips that I missed?
Let me know down in the comments.
And if you know someone who wants to catch more redfish this fall, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Tony,
Thanks for another very easy to understand, concise and well delivered approach to finding and catching gamefish. I fly fish for reds, snook and trout so I am always trying to apply your tips and the Salt Strong approach to fishing with a fly rod. It has taken a while but I am starting to reap the benefit of all this great information. It would be great to hear you guys provide a fly fishing perspective every so often. Even so, the most important information regardless of the fishing gear is how to find the fish. If you can’t find them, it doesn’t matter what you use to catch them.
My pleasure Bruce and thank you for the awesome feedback! The biggest key is definitely finding the fish, and then you can catch them by whatever means you prefer. Fly fishing definitely has a different approach. Casting accuracy and presentation being the biggest keys to success when you finally do get on the fish.
always great info..thanks!! i’ve done ok with the slot reds past month or so..following salt strong way! question looking for those bull reds?? haven’t seen them?? appreciate any insite..gulf harbors-ancolte key areas.
Thank you for the great feedback Gary! It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where they’ll be as they move in to certain areas at different times. Focus on the edges of the flats in 3 to 4 ft of water, deep channels around bridges and causeways, and inlets/passes this time of year.
Tony, Thank you for another interesting presentation. i always find something to try in each of your videos. in this one you alluded to water temperature and temperature changes several times. Is there a specific temperature that signals the seasonal changes or that dictates where I should be fishing?
My pleasure Jack, and thank you for the great feedback!
When water temps get into the mid to low 70’s I consider that to be “fall” water temps here in FL, but it can be different further north so it’s very relative to where you’re at. The biggest thing I consider is how quickly the water temps change. If there is a strong front that pushes through and the water temps drop 5 degrees or more over night, those fish will be in a bit of shock and will seek deeper, warmer areas. When water temps are stable for a while, the fish will be more willing to cooperate.
Thanks for the video, Tony
My pleasure Gerald!
Well they didn’t get that big by accident so there has to be a table turning action to get these oversized and upper slot limit fish. And in my humble opinion it is stealth paying attention to where everything is on the boat and keeping everything quiet because is you ring out the alarm he knows your there and high tails it out of there and when you press them they leave the county.
Your as usual points on where to find them is excellent I just see nine out of ten angler try to out run out troll out paddle the next angler instead of working as silently as possible a section of a school. If you can master stealth you certainly will have wealth in the redfish game IMHO…
I live on the east coast of Florida-near Boynton Beach. I asked this question a few weeks ago Sept 2020 but didn’t receive an answer.
Are there redfish near Boynton Beach?
Are there redfish in the wide areas of the intercoastal Waterway near the inlet or mangrove shoreline?
Hope to receive some of your thoughts.
Thank you.
Jim Bast Sr. – Owner – FireRescueBlades.com
Hey James!
For some reason we don’t find many reds south of Ft Pierce really. I’m not 100% sure as to why but they become more abundant from Vero north. If you were to find some down in that area they would most likely be cruising close to the mangrove shorelines near undeveloped areas (quiet areas)
Absolutely! I just experienced a prime example of this on a trip about a month ago. I was working the inside edge of a flat looking for a school of reds I found a week prior. Next thing I know a boat comes racing up behind me on his trolling motor and cuts me off. I cut behind him and work further into the flat and find the fish tailing. Not spooked at all. Guys on the boat see when I hook up and come racing over. The fish in the school were still circling me and the fish I was hooked up to until the boat came charging in then the rest of the school vanished. Couldn’t find them after that one fish.
Thank you Tony,
Great video, as always. Would you Not fish live bait in the fall? Up here in SC we still have a ton of 5″+ Mullet in the inlet that I fish from a small boat and I have noticed the bite on live bait has slowed down from 8f water temp drop over the last 3 weeks. Is cut bait of fresh mullet better than live bait? I am new to the low country and trying to figure out the annual cycle of Redfish and what it takes to consistently catch them to Scream my reels.
Thank you for any advise.
My pleasure John and thank you for the great feedback!
You can really use live or cut bait, but I have found that when there is an abundance of live bait around, redfish will find a piece of cut bait fairly easily because of the extra scent it puts out (blood, oil, etc.). One thing I always recommend though is to use fresh cut mullet, not the frozen stuff you find in the freezers. Water temperature will also be a factor, like you said the bite slowed down since the water cooled down. The fish will have less energy the colder the water gets so a piece of cut bait sitting on the bottom is much more appealing to a redfish than having to chase down a live bait.
Boy if the wind wasn’t so bad up here in the Big Bend area we could’ve had a great time working the creek mouths this past Sunday. Hope we can apply your tips next Sunday. Thank you!
It’s been brutal all over lately! Good luck out there!
Thanks tony
My pleasure Caden!