Often, new anglers casting to wintering schools of reds in shallow water will disturb the fish on the first cast by throwing heavily rigs into the middle of the school. Even though redfish are relaxed in shallow places away from dolphin, they will not fare well when a boat comes barreling in and heavy lures start splashing all over the place. A soft presentation is needed, and anglers need to prepare their gear so that they can cast light lures a very long way. It is a lot like targeting bonefish in a foot or two of super-clear water.
Capt. Rob Beglin of Inshore Xtreme Charters uses light tackle to get his light lures to the fish.
“I typically don’t like to get any closer than 25 to 30 yards from a school. We don’t want the fish to feel our presence,” said Beglin. “I dropped my line diameters to 10-pound braid with a 20-pound shock leader to promote longer casting distances.”
The advent of abrasion-resistant braided line has enabled anglers to use a much-smaller line diameter, which is critical for throwing light lures. To further leverage his casts, Beglin uses 7- to 7 ½-foot rods to allow him to cast more than 30 yards.
Beglin believes streamlined lures in more aerodynamic shapes can be cast a few feet longer, so he shies away from lures with appendages.
“Berkley now makes several different Gulp! shrimp, including the mantis shrimp, ghost shrimp, and even the larger 4-inch version of the original Gulp! shrimp. But the original 3-inch version is best for launching long distances to schooling fish,” said Beglin, who rigs a Gulp! shrimp backwards for even more casting distance.
“I hook the meatier part of the Gulp! shrimp in the lead, and it makes a tremendous difference. I will gain 30 feet on a cast when I rig it that way,” he said.
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