TAMPA BAY REDFISH CHARTERS

Redfish are a highly sought after inshore species here in Tampa Bay. Redfish have a dark red color on their back that fades into white on their belly. They are part of the Drum family. You may hear some refer to them as Red Drum. The fish have a distinct characteristic known as the “eyespot” on the tail. While most redfish only have one of these spots many have several, some have caught them with up to 20 spots on one side which is really unique. 

The first thing I do when my clients get their fish to the boat and I get my landing net ready is ask them to guess how many spots it will have.

Redfish spawn between August and October. You will commonly hear people refer to “hunting for reds in October.”

In the fall redfish will migrate towards the ocean and you can find them in deep channels. The winter months they stay closer inshore in the backcountry, up in the rivers, canals, and coastal inlets. They stay on the move in the winter to keep their metabolism going. As the water tempatures warm you’ll find them on the grass flats, near oyster bars and man-made structure.

While a redfish will rarely pass up a live shrimp, I have great success with white bait, scaled sardines, pinfish, cut bait chunks like ladyfish, and mullet. When live bait is hard to find I use spoons, jigs, and soft plastics to get these amazing fish to eat.  When looking for schooling redfish I stalk the outside edges of the grass flats are near passes. 

I look for several indicators such as schooling mullet. Redfish chase schooling mullet. They are bottom feeders and these mullet stir up crustaceans and food sources easy for redfish to obtain. If the tide is particularly low you may even see them tailing. Redfish often reveal themselves by pushing a hump of water that mimics a boat wake. When I see this I watch the direction that the school is moving in and get ahead of the school to patiently wait for them to approach giving me the opportunity to make a long cast in the direction that they will be approaching. Redfish spook easily and casting directly into a school will only result in them disappearing.  Redfish are particularly fond of oyster bars, between the crustaceans and the bait fish that visit there is always a source of food for them. While redfish grow in length they equally grow in body weight making them one exciting fight on light tackle.