Found some reds, but....

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Rollo
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Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

I'm new to the saltwater kayak fishing and visiting inlaws Here in the Sarasota area. Brought my rig and headed out early this morning for a little recon, not really expecting to catch anything. Within 5 minutes of paddling out of the canal I spotted something feeding on the first flat. Reds were finning. Had a couple of nice bites but no hook ups. I eased on out to more open water and found another school of reds in about 2' of water on an oyster flat. I did manage to pull a couple of small ones in (my first ever), a small trout and an abundance of nice strikes. All on a 3" 1/8 oz Mirrodine. I threw everything else in my box, gold and black Spook Jr., DOA shrimp, DOA shad (olive and sparkle, watermelon and red glitter, avacado and glitter, etc.) and not a single strike on those. They seem to kind of like the mirrodine but I had to fish hard to get what I got. My question is what would you suggest on which way to go to get better results? Smaller lure? Color? Style? Fishing slower seemed to have better results, but hard to tell. Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Rollo
JoeS
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by JoeS »

Rollo......You cant go wrong using a Mirrodine.....the other baits you mentioned a good as well.....Reds are a little erratic this time of year.....Best thing I could tell you is.....If you think your retrieving slow.......SLOW DOWN some more........
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Walt_Trident13
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Walt_Trident13 »

I agree with Joe. Slow retrieve. In the winter time I also use smaller lures. I have some mini mirrodines that work well. Plus 20lb fluorocarbon leader at the most.
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fishshooter99
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by fishshooter99 »

Great post and congrats on the first yak red. You'll be hooked forever.
Gary
expatriate Floridian living in the foriegn land of Georgia
Rollo
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

Thanks everyone. I went back this morning but the reds weren't stacked up like they were yesterday. I also went to a 1/16 oz 2/0 weedless swim bait hood and a 3" CAL shad. Fishes MUCH slower, but didn't help me this AM. I did manage to catch a Jack and 4 or 5 snook on a X-Rap. Hooked a monster snook just as I was getting back to the house but he was an experienced fish and spit my X-Rap right back at me when it broke water. Very bummed. I may try the mini mirrodine this weekend. Gotta give the shoulder a rest. Thanks again for the advice.

yeah, I was super excited landing my first red yesterday. And I AM hooked....
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jbdba01
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by jbdba01 »

For reds there are two simple goto lures in my tackle box. The 3" rootbeer riptide mullet/paddletail, and the Johnson Sprite Spoon.

I like the 3" paddletail as you can work it a variety of ways. Straight retrieve , jig it, and straight retrieve and pop. It will work - reds love it. I like to think of it as a "fancy" spoon.

For Red tactics read these articles - then spend some time on the water and enjoy the winters here.

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
JB
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by John »

Start later,
Slower, Smaller, steadier for lures
Lighter and longer leaders
Darker bottom, darker lures
Creeks and rivers
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Manning
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Manning »

Great report and yes you are now the one hopelessly hooked. Glad someone is finding the Reds in this weather.
Being out on the water in the kayak is the prize. Catching fish is the bonus.

Steve
Rollo
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

Wow, thanks again. JB, great articles. And makes since. Was already using a 10lb. leader on my most productive rod. Yes, water is very clear. My mistake was not letting the lure settle and working the bottom. The redfish I did catch I let the fish catch up to the lure. I have most of the lures mentioned in the articles and will try those this weekend. I'm sure the amount of sunlight has a lot to do with it as well. Being so cloudy today the redfish just weren't working like they were with sunlight yesterday. Funny thing is the snook were very active. Maybe they were just concentrated in the area I was in. Everybody gotta eat... I hope to get some better pics the remaining days I'm here and will post. Thanks again for all the responses and encouragement. You don't get that in a lot of places.
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jbdba01
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by jbdba01 »

Rollo wrote:Wow, thanks again. JB, great articles. And makes since. Was already using a 10lb. leader on my most productive rod. Yes, water is very clear. My mistake was not letting the lure settle and working the bottom. The redfish I did catch I let the fish catch up to the lure. I have most of the lures mentioned in the articles and will try those this weekend. I'm sure the amount of sunlight has a lot to do with it as well. Being so cloudy today the redfish just weren't working like they were with sunlight yesterday. Funny thing is the snook were very active. Maybe they were just concentrated in the area I was in. Everybody gotta eat... I hope to get some better pics the remaining days I'm here and will post. Thanks again for all the responses and encouragement. You don't get that in a lot of places.
On sandy bottoms don't be afraid to let a gold spoon flutter to the bottom and puff up some sand. You might even catch a flounder/[gator] trout. Almost like a jig.
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Rollo
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

I have really small gold spoons, so they are light. Can I carolina rig them to give them more wight for casting? I also saw in one of the articles you posted about putting a chartreuse jig tail on the spoon as well. May give enough weight to cast. Wish I brought my crappie rigs.
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by SPORTSFAN »

jbdba01 : Hi, we don't know each other but I wanted to say thank you for posting those four articles. I have become a little lazy and mostly hook a live shrimp under a bobber and cast to the fish. In the summer it was one cast one fish most of the time. The last few times out have only produced Catfish and just a few bites. With my son coming home from college for a few weeks we are heading to the flats in Sarasota just up from Kent Island. I intend to follow what others have written and see how it goes. Thanks again and also to the rest of the forum who share things like their favorite lures etc. Jules.
Rollo
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

Found the reds again today. Further out in the flats, just on the edge of grass (dying grass, just as jbdba01's article described). Schools of them. They really started finning when the wind started the change, just in the lull. Water got flat and the fins came to the top. They got really active then. Finally landed a slot size red. A few minutes later, the wind started blowing from the north west and they went down. I could still see them swimming around but they were not as active as they had been the few minutes prior. I did as everyone suggested, sized down and slowed down. I'm using a Renosky mirror shad and a smaller version of it, around 2". I tried the gold spoon, DOA shad, MirroDine, not interested. The Renosky mirror shad was the only thing I could get them interested in. They do seem to stalk it, nibbling at it until they decide to take a big bite. It's just hard keeping it out of the grass. Most of the time they would hit it right when it hit the water. The trout like it too, but only caught small ones. I fished hard for the one I put in the boat but was worth it. Learned a lot (again) today. 2 more days to get it dialed in....
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DaveR
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by DaveR »

We're the mullet boats out in that area? N. bay is choked with the bastards.
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krash
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by krash »

I would not change much of anything, except add a top-water to the mix.. I'd be happy with your results, go back out tomorrow and hope its just as good....
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Rollo
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Re: Found some reds, but....

Post by Rollo »

Yes, mullet boats were everywhere. A couple of guys were actually very nice and would go around me knowing I was on fish. They seemed very friendly and would even tell me if they saw reds in the area. A few sport fishers did come in right in ahead of me and cut me off looking for reds as well. I didn't see them catch anything so I didn't get too upset. My patience paid off, hanging where I was when the wind changed and the reds showed their fins.

I've been considering trying a topwater and will try that tomorrow. Early in the AM they are really on top of the oyster bars and jigs are hell trying to get through there. I did find a nice grass flat cove at high tide this AM and thought I had reds cornered in there. It was mullet and I ended up catching a nice one. Not foul hooked, but it really hit my jig. Surprised the hell out of me. And put up a really good fight. Made for a couple of nice fillets. Only spent 2 hours today but will hit it again tomorrow. Hope to catch low tide Wed. Thanks again for all the great advice. Will let y'all know what happens....

Rollo
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