EASIEST Way To Catch Redfish In The Winter (Best Tide, Spots, & Lures)
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Have you ever been fishing where every time you toss out your lure it’s getting hit?
Those are the best days…
And the good news for us is that many of those days can be had in the winter!
Here’s why: negative tides concentrate fish in deeper pockets, so they’re MUCH easier to find than on higher tides when they could be anywhere.
In the video, I’ll show you how to find those deep pockets and the best ways catch fish in them.
Let’s dive in!
Catching Low Tide Winter Redfish [VIDEO]
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Best Winter Redfish Spots & Conditions
If you want to have nonstop winter redfish action, the first thing you need to do is find them in the right spot at the right time.
I like windy days (10-15 mph winds) and an outgoing tide that leads to a negative tide.
Look for deep channels or pockets around creek mouths or the edge of a flat with a little bit of wind protection.
These will hold lots of fish because deeper water on a cold day means warmer water, plus there’s nowhere else for them to go if the flats are all dried up.
But here’s a warning about these types of spots: they’re typically hit or miss, so don’t just bank on one hole.
Two of the biggest mistakes I see anglers making are:
- Having just one spot picked out
- Spending too much time at a spot
Have a gameplan with four or five of these spots picked out.
Fish them for 10-15 minutes and if you don’t get any action, move on.
Usually, these holes will have 40-50 redfish in them, so if you’ve found them, you’re going to get a bite pretty quickly.
Now, the next question to ask once you’ve found them is this: what lures should you use?
Best Lures For Winter Redfish
I typically use three different lures when I’m fishing these holes for redfish:
MirrOlure Suspending Twitchbait
This lure is especially great if there are baitfish around.
Fish them slowly, letting the current bring the lure to the fish, and wait for them to strike.
The color doesn’t matter too much, but I do like the ones with some flash to them because the water is usually a little darker in these holes.
You can get the MirrOdine from our shop here.
Paddletail
If the fish are a little more active, I’ll go with a paddletail rigged on a jig head and bounce it slowly off the bottom.
These are especially great if the water is dark because the paddletail creates more vibration in the water than the MorrOlure.
I usually use a slam shady rigged on a jig head.
Shrimp Lure
If the fish don’t seem to be hitting the baitfish lures, or if I’m seeing a lot of shrimp in the water, I’ll switch to a shrimp lure.
I’ve tried (and caught fish with) a variety of different shrimp lures, including:
Conclusion
Catching redfish in deep pockets during negative winter tides is about as close as you can get to shooting fish in a barrel.
Find 4-5 deep cuts to fish, spend just 10-15 minutes at each one if you’re not getting bites, and toss a suspending twitchbait, paddletail, or shrimp lure in there.
Have any questions about catching redfish in the winter?
Let me know down in the comments.
And if you know someone who wants to catch more redfish this winter, 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!
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Wyatt, I think tomorrow afternoon is the perfect day in Wilmington to employe this strategy for winter Reds in Wilmington NC. It will be very cold, 12 mph winds but a negative tide in the PM. What do you think? I’d be going to the backside of masonboro island like in the video. Thoughts?
I would wait until the negative tide to go target those holes, am or pm, it doesn’t make too much of a difference on your average gloomy winter day.
That spot has been targeted a lot by anglers since I posted it, so I wouldn’t just bank on targeting there. Have a few different holes picked out because the fish at the hole in this video have been pressured and taken a lot recently.
I’m 71 and have fished a lot, amazing how much I’ve learned from SS !!
Thank you Harry! We’re so glad to have you in the Insider Club!!
Going to go down and start fishing the 10000 islands and will have these all in my tackle bag Thanks for all the great info
Awesome! Thanks for watching Greg!
Great video. Better plan for “yaks.” Good info on lure selection.
Thank you Lyle!
Wyatt, Great video! Like others I really like the way you present so much helpful info in a condensed format. I typically fish from my flats skiff but occasionally from my kayak.
Two questions:
Are gold spoons a good bait to use during the winter and the conditions in your video above?
Is the other video you mention for the insider club available?
Gold spoons can be effective baits, just make sure to fish them slower then you would in the warmer months!
As far as the other video, you can check it out here: DOA Shrimp vs. Vudu Shrimp: Winter Redfish Contest (Day 1)
Great video Wyatt. You do a super job of getting a lot of good info in your vids in a short amount of time.
Thank you Nick! I try my best to cut out the filler and get straight to the point. My ultimate goal is to get you catching more fish, so condensing everything into quick and concise bites is very important to me!
Wyatt, in areas like the cape lookout region that don’t have big marsh systems that drain out of one or two points, is there any way to find deeper holes faster using online maps through murky water?
Hey Stephen, up in Cape Lookout, the big flats often have canals and cuts that have been dug into them either by current or machines. Fish will drop off the flats into those cuts, and while they won’t be as concentrated as they are in the creeks, you can focus solely on hitting those cuts. I’ll be doing a spot dissection about this soon so stay tuned!
Wyatt, my main concern would be getting stuck in the mud – if getting out of the kayak and walking to the spot to fish. Is it easy to identify the hardness of the creek bottom and avoid getting stuck? I usually fish alone and getting stuck in a remote area, in the winter, seems risky. I always carry a cell phone but would hate to find myself in this predicament. How do you guard against this happening?
It’s very important you wear a tight wading boot when walking around near pluff mud. Walk slowly, and apply pressure with your toe before you actually step down onto a spot. That way, if it’s pluff, you can pull your foot out easily from the vacuum suction of the mud. If you step with your heel, your toes create resistance against the mud above them.
A HUGE tip would be to not walk close to the marsh grass at ALL. The closer you are to the grass, the more mud content there will be. Try to step on spots that look “sandy”. Walking as close to the middle of the creek/channel you’re fishing is usually the best bet.
Lastly, when you first hop out of the yak, keep it close. I’ve only found myself waist deep in mud once (Murrell’s Inlet, SC) and having the kayak by my side helped me pull myself out. Generally, the darker the mud, the more likely it is to cave in and suck down. The lighter, the better. This is a tough topic to explain but as you walk around on different bottom content, you’ll understand this explanation more.
Above all, tread lightly!
You really give a lot of info in a short time. I like that. About 10-15 minutes is the longest I will watch for and you always give a big bang especially for us yakers.
That’s the beauty of the Insider Community! I like being able to condense complex subjects into easy bites of info, so you can learn what you need to quickly, and get out on the water and catch some fish!
Great discussion
Thank you Pablo!!