Go-To Lures for Catching Redfish

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If you’re like me when it comes to travelling on a fishing trip, then you like to spend the short time in the new location catching fish and not trying to figure out how to catch fish. For me, this means knowing what baits, locations, or techniques are the best for a specific species in a given region. To figure out such invaluable information, you can contact local guides ahead of time or search the internet. If your next trip involves redfish, however, then your search for the best ways to bring them to the boat begins and ends here, because today I’ve highlighted some of the most popular and effective lures for catching redfish.

Let’s jump right in and start with my favorite lure to throw for tailspots lurking in the flats, the weedless spoon. More specifically, a gold weedless spoon. I’ve had great success with Johnson’s Silver Minnow, as well as the Secret Redfish Spoon from H & H, over the years and I’ve shared stories with several other inshore anglers who have use both to pull in limits of reds in the past. When reds are tailing or foraging in shallow, weedy waters, throw a spoon and work it just beneath mid-depth.

Another sub-surface lure that works great is a spinnerbait equipped with a gold Colorado blade. Skirted jogs or plastic baits work well on this setup, I like to throw a combination of white or chartreuse skirts, or plastics in an electric chicken or chartreuse color pattern. The gold Colorado blade will add flash and vibration while you retrieve the bait through the water. Great options for this setup include Bomber’s Redfish Flasher baits and Strike King’s Redfish Magic spinnerbaits.

Rounding out my favorite redfish hard baits is the topwater hardbait. The Mirro Lure, Bomber’s Badonk-a-Donk, or Rapala’s Skitter Walk are effective around drop offs and around mangroves or the edges of grass and reeds. Stick to a slow, steady retrieve with topwater lures, as they offer a more direct, aggressive presentation and redfish are known to spook easily.

As far as soft plastic baits go, you have a few deadly items at your disposal. Plastic jerkbaits do wonders in the shallows, and will often trigger a strike as soon as they hit the water. Plastic shrimp baits, such as DOA’s shrimp or Berkley’s Gulp Alive line, are great, as well. Shrimp baits imitate one of the most common prey items for any inshore species. You can buy rigged variations, as well, which mimic a shrimp’s backward swimming motion during the retrieve. Chartreuse, electric chicken, or purple with a yellow tail are good color patterns for jerbaits and small minnows, while new penny, natural, or pearl white work well for shrimp.

Every angler has his or her own go-to lures or specific color patterns that consistently produce great results on the water. Furthermore, the aforementioned products might have zero effectiveness on any given day. As always, it’s up to the fish. However, the lures I’ve highlighted today have been popular among inshore redfish anglers for years, and with good reason. They’re reliable, effective, and, most importantly, they get the job done.