CAPTAIN GREG HILDRETH ON CATCHING SPECKLED TROUT AND REDFISH
Mud Flat Reds
Editor's Note: Captain Greg Hildreth operates the charter boat the "Minner Skinner" out of Brunswick, Georgia, where he fishes for speckled trout, redfish, flounder, tripletail, king mackerel and tarpon. Hildreth is a long-time fan of Spike-It soft-plastic lures. This week he'll tell you how he catches a number of these fish, including the tactics he uses and the places he fishes.
The redfish lives its first five years inshore where it usually stays in schools of reds that congregate in the same general area most of the time. The reds may not be in the same hole every day, but they'll be in the same general area. Since I know where these schools of fish hang out, when we have low tide in the winter months, from November through the first part of March, I target these fish. These schools of redfish will move to the mud flats because the mud flats will warm-up on sunny days quicker than the rest of the marsh.
I pole my boat like you do to fish for bonefish in south Florida, because you can't use your trolling motor, or you'll spook the fish. When I'm fishing this way, I'll cast the Spike-It Paddle-tail Grubs as well as the Boot Tail Minnows. I use the Daiichi Bleeding Bait Butt Dragger Hook with the soft-plastic Boot Tail on a Pfleuger Contender reel with 20-pound braided line and a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader about 2-feet long.
I cast past the school of redfish, work the bait fairly slow up to the school and watch the redfish take the bait. I twitch the bait so that the bait comes to the top of the water. Then I kill the bait and let it fall. The redfish will take the bait as it settles to the bottom. The fish will be from 5 inches to 2-feet deep. So I'm fishing really shallow. I can actually see the backs of the redfish up out of the water. The redfish look like submarines going through the water because they put up wakes as they move through the water. The real trick is to wait and let the fish take the bait, not strike the fish before you get a bite. One of the biggest advantages of fishing this bait is that it swims easily and quietly and won't spook the fish in the water. This reason is why I cast well past the fish before I start casting the bait to them. I don't want the splash of the bait hitting the water to spook the fish before I hit the bait.
Because the fish are in such shallow water, you not only see them take the bait, but most the time you can see them running. This is really a fun and an exciting way to fish and produces some great red fishing. I not only enjoy catching the reds, but I like to stalk them. These reds are so strong that many times I have to get on my poling platform and start chasing the redfish that my angular hookup to keep them from spooling the reels. Some of these redfish will weigh 10 to 15 pounds, so catching them is really fun.
For more information about Captain Greg Hildreth, Call (912) 261-1763 or visit his Web site www.georgiacharterfishing.com. To learn more about Spike-It's top-quality lures and fishing products, click here.
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CAPTAIN GREG HILDRETH ON CATCHING SPECKLED TROUT AND REDFISH
The redfish lives its first five years inshore where it usually stays in schools of reds that congregate in the same general area most of the time. The reds may not be in the same hole every day, but they'll be in the same general area. Since I know where these schools of fish hang out, when we have low tide in the winter months, from November through the first part of March, I target these fish. These schools of redfish will move to the mud flats because the mud flats will warm-up on sunny days quicker than the rest of the marsh.
I cast past the school of redfish, work the bait fairly slow up to the school and watch the redfish take the bait. I twitch the bait so that the bait comes to the top of the water. Then I kill the bait and let it fall. The redfish will take the bait as it settles to the bottom. The fish will be from 5 inches to 2-feet deep. So I'm fishing really shallow. I can actually see the backs of the redfish up out of the water. The redfish look like submarines going through the water because they put up wakes as they move through the water. The real trick is to wait and let the fish take the bait, not strike the fish before you get a bite. One of the biggest advantages of fishing this bait is that it swims easily and quietly and won't spook the fish in the water. This reason is why I cast well past the fish before I start casting the bait to them. I don't want the splash of the bait hitting the water to spook the fish before I hit the bait.
Because the fish are in such shallow water, you not only see them take the bait, but most the time you can see them running. This is really a fun and an exciting way to fish and produces some great red fishing. I not only enjoy catching the reds, but I like to stalk them. These reds are so strong that many times I have to get on my poling platform and start chasing the redfish that my angular hookup to keep them from spooling the reels. Some of these redfish will weigh 10 to 15 pounds, so catching them is really fun.