Redfish in Tampa Bay

Winter Redfish Fishing

Fishing for Redfish during the winter is fishing with jigs or shrimp. We are fishing up in the rivers during the winter for Redfish. We are using light tackle, sometimes trolling or casting along the shoreline, in fishing holes and around structure. Some of our bays hold Redfish during the winter too, but it's hard to get these fish to feed. The Redfish in the river tend to feed better in the winter.

Spring Redfish

When the spring comes around the fish that are on the flats start feeding better and we return to fishing with live bait. We Fish along the mangroves on the high tide then once the tide starts to fall we start fishing the white holes and along the grass edges where the fish are falling off the flats with the tide. To fish for Redfish during the spring a low tide is the best. This is because like I said all the fish that are on the flats are pushed off because the water gets too low so these fish get on the grass edges and look for the baits that are doing the same thing.

Summer Redfish

During the summer this is when the fishing for Redfish is at its prime. These fish during this time of year tend to school in big groups in the bays. This is when the tower in my boat helps a lot because you can ride and find these big schools of fish. Sometimes you can find very large schools, as large as 100-200 Redfish. These fish tend to be all sizes sometimes these fish will all be slot limit size and others might all be oversized. With the light tackle these fish will put up a heck of a fight. Usually we will find these schools of fish, maneuver the boat to where we can fish for them and chum. One of the most important things about fish during the summer is your bait, you have to have a lot of bait and the ability to keep it alive. This is why we use these such big live wells. You can keep 100s of baits, so that once you find the big schools of Redfish you can chum to keep the Redfish around.

Chumming for Redfish is when you take some of the same bait that you are fishing with and throw maybe 20-30 baits maybe more or less in the water in the same area that you are fishing to get the fish in a feeding frenzy. Then throwing your bait to where the fish are feeding and hold on, it’s a guaranteed hook-up when you get the fish in a frenzy.

During the Summer the out going tide is the best because like in the spring, the Redfish push off the flats in the bay and gather in the white holes and on the grass edges. There are times during the summer that if you get the tide right you can sit on the edge of the flat and wait for the fish to come to you. The Redfish usually hang around into the fall until we get some pretty good cold fronts. Then they will shut down or just get a little harder to catch.

Cast Away Charters, Inc.
Tampa Bay – Bradenton – Sarasota – Boca Grande
941-737-5985

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