A redfish feeds with its nose down, rooting crabs and shrimp out of the grass. It is not looking up, and it is not chasing. Almost everything about catching them comes down to getting a bait on the bottom, close, without spooking a fish that is often in a foot of water.
How to catch redfish on D.O.A. lures
Tailing fish on the flat
When a redfish tips down to root in the grass, its tail comes out of the water and you have a target. Lead the fish — cast three to four feet past and beyond it, then bring the bait into its field of view rather than dropping it on its head. The 2" Soft Shell Crab was built for this: 1/4 oz, natural sink rate, and the exact profile the fish is already hunting for. Let it settle and give it one small twitch.
Working grass and potholes
Over broken bottom, cover water until you find them. The Bait Buster Shallow Runner at 5/8 oz rides with its single hook upright and comes through grass that would foul a treble. In slightly deeper water and along drop-offs, the Deep Runner gets down and stays in the zone. The Swimmin' Mullet is a straight cast-and-crank option when reds are chasing finger mullet in the fall.
Bait to add to the box
Three baits outside this collection belong in any redfish box: the 3" Shrimp, still the most reliable artificial shrimp made and deadly worked slowly along a shoreline; the C.A.L. 3" Shad Tail on a light short shank jig head, hopped along the bottom; and the C.A.L. Curl Tail, which keeps thumping at a retrieve slow enough for a fish that will not chase.
Color
Redfish country is often tannic or off-color. Gold Glitter, Copper Crush and Rootbeer/Gold Glitter give off the flash that works in stained water. Over clean white sand and clear water, drop to Near Clear or Pearl. When the water is genuinely dirty — after wind or a heavy rain — Chartreuse and Electric Chicken get seen when nothing else does.
Getting close
In skinny water the fish hear you before they see you. Pole or wade, keep the sun and wind at your back where you can, and make the longest cast you can still control. A lure landing softly matters more than which lure it is.
