Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Get in the Grass - Catching Redfish when the grass is thick.

This week I was able to take out three different fishing buddies.  I am reminded of a particular issue when fishing reds during the late spring - grass in the water, lots of it.

So how do you handle this?  There are several approaches including fishing weedless bass baits on the top like frogs.  Here is a real simple video from youtube.

But my experience with reds and top water lures is that the hook set ration is about 3 in 10 and I just can't handle that emotionally!  If you are a thrill seeker this is for you!

My method is pretty simple.  A tiny bait - 1/8th ounce Johnson Silver Minnow worked slowly pulling it over the top of the grass and allowing it to drop into the gaps.

Working the inner edge from the bank works also.  Fish on three feet from the boat!
Also I paddle into the thickest grass and fish outward from there.  The grass tends to have "edges" on the backside of about 2-3 feet from the bank (I assume this allows for tidal shifts in the water levels).  The reds tend to cruise these inner edges to ambush bait.

Very soon the reds will be feeding like crazy as they shift from eating crabs to eating the small shrimp inside the marsh.

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