How To Catch Freshwater Redfish & Flounder
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Salt Strong Podcast
Redfish and flounder in 100% freshwater?
Yep.
Luke and I just got back from one of the wildest fishing trips we’ve taken in a long time, and there were moments when you genuinely had no clue what was going to eat your lure next.
A largemouth bass?
A flounder?
A big redfish?
All of them were swimming in the SAME water.
But the craziest part wasn’t just what we caught.
It was how ridiculously repeatable the pattern became once we figured out the one type of spot these fish kept stacking around.
And this wasn’t some Louisiana-only trick.
If you fish coastal rivers, marshes, creeks, or backwaters anywhere from Texas to the Carolinas, you’re going to want to see this.
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Featured Gear
- Lure: Prawn XT Jr.
- Rigging: 3/0 Hoss Weedless Football Jighead 1/4 oz
- Rod: Slam Stick Traveler
- Reel: Otis 2500 (3000 Coming Soon)
- Line: 10 lb J-braid
- Leader: Ande 30 lb mono leader
The Prawn XT Jr. was the star of the trip. Luke fished the same soft plastic for all three days and landed at least 60 fish on it, while most of the fish we caught overall came from bouncing that shrimp imitation along the bottom.
Yes, Redfish And Flounder Can Live In Freshwater
This trip was in the Venice, Louisiana area, but we weren’t fishing what most anglers would think of as traditional saltwater.
We literally dipped our fingers into the water and tasted it.
No salt.
Yet we were catching redfish, black drum, flounder, and other saltwater species right alongside freshwater species like largemouth bass and gar.
That alone made the trip pretty surreal.
But more importantly, it showed just how far certain inshore species can push into coastal freshwater systems when the habitat and food are right.
And these weren’t random fish.
We caught more redfish, drum, and especially flounder than we had on any of our previous Louisiana trips.
Luke estimated we caught at least 30 flounder during the first two days alone.
Find Creek Intersections And Fish The Bottom
This was the biggest lesson from the entire trip.
We kept targeting places where a smaller creek met another creek, river, canal, or larger body of water.
These intersections create natural funnels.
And around the mouth of those smaller creeks, there’s often a depression or drop caused by moving water.
That little depth change is PERFECT for ambush predators.
Flounder can sit right on the bottom.
Redfish and black drum can patrol the edges.
And bait gets pushed right through the strike zone.
Our approach was incredibly simple:
Fish one point of the creek mouth.
Fish the other point.
Fish through the middle.
Then work a little farther down either side.
It was rare for us to fish one of these intersections without getting at least one bite, and some held multiple redfish or flounder.
The other thing we watched for was bait and birds.
If we saw mullet working a shoreline or multiple egrets hanging around a creek mouth, that spot immediately moved up the list.
Those clues helped us find the most productive intersections much faster.
Why Bouncing A Shrimp On Bottom Crushed The Fish
Popping corks are extremely popular in Louisiana.
And they absolutely catch fish.
But for what we were targeting, getting the lure all the way to the bottom was the difference maker.
The flounder were sitting down in those depressions near the creek mouths.
Black drum often had their heads down feeding.
And many of the redfish were eating close to the bottom too.
We watched other anglers fish similar areas with popping corks, then came through afterward and caught flounder they had completely missed.
Our primary presentation was a Prawn XT Jr. on a 1/4 oz jighead, bouncing along the bottom through those deeper zones.
We also made sure we had enough weight to maintain bottom contact whenever the current picked up.
And surprisingly, the water was extremely murky, but we didn’t need crazy colors, excessive noise, or complicated presentations.
Put a natural-looking shrimp in the right zone and keep it near the bottom.
The fish handled the rest.
Final Thoughts
Freshwater redfish and flounder sound strange until you see it happen.
But the biggest takeaway from this trip wasn’t Louisiana, freshwater, or even the ridiculous number of fish we caught.
It was how transferable the pattern was.
Find a creek or drain entering a larger body of water.
Look for the points and deeper depression around that intersection.
Confirm there’s bait or bird activity nearby.
Then put your lure on the bottom and work the entire zone.
Luke uses the same basic strategy in Florida, Texas, and other marsh systems, and it worked almost immediately for us in Louisiana too.
Have you ever caught a redfish, flounder, or another saltwater species WAY farther into freshwater than you expected?
Let me know in the comments!
Freshwater Redfish & Flounder FAQs
Can redfish live in freshwater?
Yes. Redfish can move into freshwater portions of coastal rivers, creeks, and marsh systems. On this trip, we were catching redfish in water where we couldn’t taste any salt at all.
Can flounder live in freshwater?
Flounder can also move well into low-salinity and freshwater coastal systems. We caught roughly 30 flounder during the first two days of this trip while fishing freshwater creek systems.
Where should you look for redfish and flounder in coastal creeks?
Focus on creek intersections, especially where a smaller creek or drain enters a larger creek, river, or bay. These spots often have deeper depressions near the mouth that attract feeding fish.
What lure worked best?
The Prawn XT Jr. on a 3/0 Hoss Weedless Football Jighead 1/4 oz caught the vast majority of the fish. We worked it slowly along the bottom through creek mouths, points, and deeper holes.
Do you need a popping cork?
No. In fact, bouncing the lure directly along the bottom was much more productive for the flounder and bottom-feeding fish we were targeting on this trip.
Does incoming or outgoing current matter?
We caught fish during both incoming and outgoing flow. Luke’s takeaway was that being in the right creek intersection and keeping the lure near the bottom mattered more than obsessing over current direction.
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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).
Hmm I don’t quite believe that where you were at was COMPLETELY freshwater because what I have heard and experienced is while both reds, flounder, snook, and tarpon can tolerate an extremely low salinity level bodies of water even though a human sometimes can’t physically taste it its still there I know because very similar to Louisiana northeast fl has bodies of water that I have fished that I could not taste saltwater either but it was considered brackish in fact the st johns at its furthest end southward where it eventually dumps into lake George reds, flounder,have been caught although because its MOSTLY freshwater in that area those species are not caught in a consistant regular basis where as largemouth, bream and other freshwater species are in other words while you may think its total freshwater because you can’t taste the extremely acute salt content in the water its still there kinda like a dog who can detect scents that no mere human can begin to smell but its still there and while im not sure how sensitive our taste buds are im sure that they are not sensitive enough to detect very minuscule amounts of certain things but it doesn’t mean that its not there think about it just saying by the way the fishing methods they use in Louisiana are very similar to the way I fish for both reds and flounder with the exception of using popping corks but I do know they use alot of spinnerbaits there just like I do thanks for the info and all you do🤔😉👍
I also should add that the opposite is true in that largemouth bass can live in quite high concentrations of saltwater i remember an area years ago that I fished a few times when I only fished for bass and on one dock procedded to catch 2 bass and 2 reds all on a 6 inch red shad colored culprit plastic worm rigged Texas style and after that trip I asked a couple locals in that area and they were both amazed because that area was noted as being a great saltwater redfish and flounder area especially when the shrimp run through there in the fall timeframe🤔