anyone ever done diy for redfish?

bwcatripper

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long story boring; the year was 2011, i was back in georgia after redeploying from iraq. we were outside tybee island, maybe two miles from shore, bottom fishing with uglystiks and cheap bait casters. i landed a big ol' red drum, pushing 25 lbs. completely smoked the drag, that reel was never usable again after that. i've fished for muskies, salmon, steelhead, bass, etc etc... nothing has compared to that red. i want to do a diy road trip to fish for reds, has anyone done this? texas? lousiana? florida? anywhere?
 
Don't have a seaworthy boat but have hired a small boat to take three of us out for reds. Largest one I caught was 47" and estimated 47 pounds using measurement formula. We hooked up on two 46 inchers and my 47 at the same time. Being outside the keeper slot we just tagged and released them. Many marinas along the SE coast and gulf have boats for hire, but many good reds are caught in the sounds, bays and Intercoastal Waterway. In the fall they go outside and can be caught from shore or close in to shore. I don't profess to be an expert by any stretch, just relating what little I know. Late summer you can find them down around Destin and Navarre, FL and pretty much all the gulf coast. Maybe some of the deep South members can add some more input.
 
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tarheel,you may not be an expert, but any fish thats 45+ lbs is incredible. thanks for the advice.
 
I haven't been able to go for years now, but I have an aunt and uncle in Florida that I used to go visit for a couple weeks every year with my dad. We'd go fishing on the Gulf out of Steinhatchee and did well on reds. We always fished the bays for them. They like hanging out by grasses and rocks. A lot of times we could see the school swimming and it was just a game of trying to get the boat in the right spot without scaring them off. Once you got in them, everybody would hook up. One time dolphins helped out and chased the school right past us! With fishing in the bays like we were doing, you don't catch the giants like tarheel mentioned, but we would catch them up to about the 30" range.

We always had the best luck fishing for them on a rising tide. Watch out if you are out on a falling tide as you may get stuck out there for a while if you're not careful!

We would always go at the beginning of July for opening of scallop season....go pick up scallops and shuck them, use the guts to catch baitfish, and use the baitfish to catch the reds/trout/etc.

DSC00490.jpg
 
I used to live in Florida and we fished Steinhatchee also just like BowhunterBen explained. Unfortunately for us it took my Dad little bit to wise up to the tide situation lol ��
 
I haven't been able to go for years now, but I have an aunt and uncle in Florida that I used to go visit for a couple weeks every year with my dad. We'd go fishing on the Gulf out of Steinhatchee and did well on reds. We always fished the bays for them. They like hanging out by grasses and rocks. A lot of times we could see the school swimming and it was just a game of trying to get the boat in the right spot without scaring them off. Once you got in them, everybody would hook up. One time dolphins helped out and chased the school right past us! With fishing in the bays like we were doing, you don't catch the giants like tarheel mentioned, but we would catch them up to about the 30" range.

We always had the best luck fishing for them on a rising tide. Watch out if you are out on a falling tide as you may get stuck out there for a while if you're not careful!

We would always go at the beginning of July for opening of scallop season....go pick up scallops and shuck them, use the guts to catch baitfish, and use the baitfish to catch the reds/trout/etc.

View attachment 78813

Loving the NDSU shirt. That is all.
 
Nope but I have for Tuna. We once ran 75 miles offshore on the right day and caught a 67 inch wahoo.
 
I do quite a bit of DIY kayak fishing on the Texas coast near Port Aransas. Let me know if I can help in any way. I'm not great at it, but I have my days. 13719499_10108494395185834_8344237669502521623_o.jpg
 
Dang hatch thats a gator trout!

hard to beat a kayak trip for mixed bag, any of the gulf states are a solid choice targeting grass beds with spooks, jigs, and shrimp will get you speckled trout, drum and flounder. shrimp, crabs, and jigs near pilings around bridges will give you shots at big drum, tarpon, and sheepshead. depending on how deep the pass is you can also chance snapper and grouper here in Florida.

The Carolinas are pretty cool for the Drum run but weather can be pretty hairy.
 
Caught some down in Texas about 8 years ago. My buddies grandpa took us out on his boat he was a life long native. I remember none of the boats around us catching a single fish and we probably averaged 1 every 30-45 minutes. It was February/March.

I don’t have much value to bring, I was just along for the ride and didn’t learn much unfortunately.

But it was fun to dig up an old pic. I think this one went just over 30”

764E424F-93B1-4865-80FF-C52C9DEA58C8.jpeg
 
April and October in the Texas surf will be a reddish frenzy. Heck anytime of year can be fun but camping on a beach and fishing all night from the surf will usually yield a red or two plus some sharks!
 
I haven't personally but my father in-law goes down to texas for the winter and that's mainly what he catches. I also work with this guy who goes down to the coast every year for a week of fly fishing and I think he gets into some redfish. Looks like a lot of fun, good luck!
 
Grew up in Louisiana. All red fishing was DIY. I've caught 48" offshore as by catch while on a charter for snapper and more 30" reds than I can count on light tackle in the marsh and I'll take the latter any day. Nothing like fishing skinny water.

No boat or fishing a kayak, go to Grand Isle, LA. You can wade out to the first or second sandbar and surf fish or use a kayak. School trout in the summer. You will catch speckled trout and reds in the same place.

Have access to a boat that you are willing to run in fresh water? Big Lake (Calcasieu Lake) south of Lake Charles, LA; Shell Beach on Lake Borgne south of New Orleans; Biloxi Marsh outside Borne; Wagonwheel at mouth of Mississippi River. The catch with all but Big Lake is you need a good GPS and map or you can get hopelessly lost. You need to really watch tides as well or you can stuck in a pond. Almost did that myself once trying to get one more cast.

Pensacola Pass offers great fishing that is accessible. October is best. Bull reds, spanish mackeral, trout, blue fish, occassional king, . . .

I haven't fished Galveston but I bet it has accessible fishing. Louisiana has a limit of 5 for a 16" to 27" slot with one over 27'. This is better than most of the Gulf Coast states.
 
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You can camp on the beach at Grand Isle State Park for a nominal fee. That was nearly 100% of my saltwater fishing as a poor college student.
 
Hands down Louisiana. I would also look in to booking a trip to bowfish them. Lasportsman is on point.
 
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