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Topic: Texas Reds

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Parrothead Offline

Mullet

Group: Members
Posts: 19
Joined: Jan. 2005

Posted: Jan. 18 2005,12:19

Just thought I would show you a report on how we fish reds with the yaks and from the beach in Texas. We take baits off the beach in the kayaks. And if it is calm enough we fish for bull reds from the yak also. Scroll down a few posts and you will see what I mean.

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21697

chefmik

Marlin

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Posts: 274
Joined: Jan. 2004

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,06:02

Parrot....awesome pics and stories in Texas....The closest place for Bull Reds in Fla are located up in the Banana River/NMZ are in North Fla.
I would really love to tangle with them.
:chef:

--------------
Chef Mike

RalphL

Cuda

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Posts: 57
Joined: May 2004

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,07:18

While I agree that that the Cocoa/Titusville NMZ is among the best areas for large reds, it is not the only one. I have caught some, and seen others caught, as large, if not larger than those pictured in you post, at Sebastian Inlet (central east coast of Florida, a few miles closer to Miami/FtL than the NMZ). Its been a few years since, but I saw a red taken off of the north catwalk, at night, that had to go 50 lbs+, close to 5' long, easily the biggest red I've ever seen. The other area here that is great for reds, and a bit closer than Cocoa, is lower west coast, particularly from Marco Island south to Everglades city. I've caught several 20 lb+ fish right around the Marco Island bridge, and in one of the bays south of Marco, I had a days like no other, catching 15 lb fish until we were just so tired we had to quit. This area is much more kayak friendly than the Sebastian Inlet area, where fishing the inlet would be like fishing whitewater, the current is that strong. On the other hand, the Indian River inside of Sebastian Inlet is imminently fishable from a kayak, however, I have never had great redfish results there. Did many years of wade fishing there, catching a lot of snook, flounder and trout, but very few reds. The inlet is such a natural funnel causing most of the big fish to congregate there. I would guess that you could locate reds inside if you knew where to paddle, I just haven't had the time to explore since I got into yakfishing.

Parrothead Offline

Mullet

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Posts: 19
Joined: Jan. 2005

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,09:43

Ralph,

Gotta agree with you about Marco. Very kayak friendly area to fish. A few years back I went out with a guide in a cc boat. My ex-girlfriend and I caught 50 reds between 6-12lbs in a half day in one spot! We were anchored up on a wreck just offshore, that would easily be reached by kayak on a calm day.

We were using small live pinfish and we just hammered them. That was the first time in while I was tired the next day from pulling on fish.

critterdog Offline

Marlin

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Posts: 216
Joined: Dec. 2004

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,14:24

Brings back great thoughts of back home.I was born and raised in corpus christi and chased reds 95% of my life.Started when I was 6 tagging along with my brothers.Wading in water up to my neck.Fished the beach and hooked reds that dragged me into the water with my bros standing there telling me to hold on.I fished Big Shell for many years.Surf fishing was my favorite.Still have 3 custom rods 11ft that I have no use for here.We used to catch monster reds in the first gut running down the beach.I wish we had kayaks back then so we didn't have to swim out our bait.We caught so many sharks twenty yards from were we waded to.Black drum were also big and lots of fun.I am sure those large red would pull you around like the tarpons in so. flo.

Parrothead Offline

Mullet

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Posts: 19
Joined: Jan. 2005

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,14:52

Well then here are a few more pics.

What is really cool here is that we hook double headers OFTEN since these big reds travel in large schools!

fishunter1 Offline

Marlin

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Posts: 265
Joined: Feb. 2004

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,15:06

Any advice for beach fishing for reds (and snook) in Tampa Bay?

Parrothead Offline

Mullet

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Posts: 19
Joined: Jan. 2005

Posted: Jan. 19 2005,15:23

I don't really know Tampa Bay. Depending on the size of the reds you are catching, a few rules generally apply almost anywhere.

1. Match the hatch - reds are scent feeders in a big way. Try to match whatever it is they are chewin on. A few throws of a castnet will normally clue you in. One thing I've noticed here is that the reds will generally feed on whatever is in the surf at the time.

2. If you have a problem with big sailcats and hardheads like we do here, you may want to use big baits. For bull reds, I have found that there is not such thing as a bait that is too big. In the summer we sometimes use 12" mullet on 18/0 mustad circle hooks!

3. Reds in Texas love murky water. The browner the better! When it gets clear, you have to size down your terminal gear. For us in Texas that means dropping down from 200 or 250lb mono to 100lb flurocarbon. When we are fishing from the kayaks, I will sometimes fish with a short trace of 50lb spliced to my main line.

4. Reds will go where the bait is. I have caught reds up to 43" right in the first gut on a dead low tide. But they are there because the bait is there.

5. Learn the bait migration patterns in your area. If you get a big mullet or shrimp run, know when that is!

Here are a few more pics