Winter redfish gather in huge schools
As kids head back to school this month after Christmas break, redfish all along the Carolina coastlines do the same.
These fish pack tightly together in huge groups, doing their best to conserve heat and to stay safe from porpoises.
And for anglers willing to brave the cold, it’s pretty easy to locate these big schools. That’s half the battle of catching them, but the other half – actually catching them – isn’t always quite so simple.
“Fishing for redfish this month is a lot like hunting deer,” said Capt. Charlie Beadon of Hilton Head Fishing Adventures ( 843-592-0897). “The fish are trying to stay hidden and you’re trying to do the same. It’s hard for the fish because the water is so clear. And it’s hard for the angler because he’s got nowhere to hide.”
That clear water, which Beadon said is common this time of year, is one key to locating these schools.
“You also want to have a good pair of polarized shades and keep the sun at your back. This helps you see in the water, where what looks like one gigantic mass of darkness creeping through the shallow water will reveal itself as a school of redfish that can number in the hundreds,” he said.
Make long casts
Beadon finds many of these schools in the Broad River in South Carolina’s lowcountry. But this same scene plays out up the coast all the way to the the NC/Virginia border and beyond.
In Charleston, Capt. Addison Rupert finds these schools in smaller creeks with docks. The redfish travel between the docks, which provide safety and ambush points, and smaller drains of water which empty into the main waterway and push baitfish to them.
Like Beadon, Rupert (843-557-3476) said it’s best to stay far enough away from the schools that you have to put some effort into reaching them with a cast.
“When the water is crystal clear, and it often is this time of year, the fish can see us. And they are wary of us. Even if they don’t scatter, they’ll still shut down and stop biting if they feel pressured,” he said.
Farther north, between Mount Pleasant and Georgetown, Capt. Stephen Flook of Unashamed Adventures experiences the same thing, and catches most of his redfish on Z-Man soft plastics threaded onto Ralph Phillips jigheads.
“This time of year, the water clears up nicely and it’s easy to spot the schools in the ICW. And at high tide, the schools will flood into the smaller creeks,” said Flook (864-430-8830).
But, he agrees with Beadon and Rupert that the clear water also makes it easy to spook those fish.
Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Charters (843-361-7445) sees the same thing in the Myrtle Beach area in January, and said the bite really picks up when the water is moving.
“The bite is typically best on a moving tide, and it usually doesn’t matter if it’s the incoming or outgoing. It’s much slower at slack tide,” he said.
In Kelly’s locale, known as the Grand Strand, winter redfish head for the deep holes in creeks at low tide, then in the vicinity of dock pilings as the tide gets high.
Up in Wilmington, NC, Capt. Jot Owens said January can be hit or miss for redfish. But he said one thing’s for certain, some days this month are stellar fishing days.
In this area, Owens (910-233-4139) mainly finds winter redfish in smaller creeks and deeper channels. He catches them on incoming and outgoing tides, but has his best luck in areas with as little current as he can find.
“You’ll find most of the reds around here up estuary creeks or in deep channels. If oyster rocks and dark bottoms are nearby, that’s a bonus. Around here in winter, redfish that are inshore prefer to stay out of current,” said Owens.
Go artificial
While some of these captains will use cut bait or shrimp at times, they agree that winter is mostly an artificial lure game. Most baitfish and shrimp have moved offshore for the winter, so redfish look at live baits with even more suspicion than normal.
For Owens, Gulp lures are his go-to winter redfish lures.
“Gulp lures have a lot of scent, and redfish find a lot of their food by scent. And these lures also have good action, so you’re appealing to two different senses when using these lures,” he said.
He prefers more natural colors this month, opting for sugar spice/glow or molting colors.
“I really like the 3-inch Gulp shrimp, and the 5-inch Gulp jerk shad are also great in winter,” he said.
He pairs these lures with 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jigheads.
Beadon also prefers Gulp soft plastics on jigheads this time of year.
Most of these anglers also agree that fluorocarbon leaders are essential. Fluorocarbon is a material that looks more like clear water than anything else on earth, other than clear water itself. So leaders made of this material stay hidden from fish’s eyes better than any other line.
Beadon, however, prefers leaders made of monofilament.
“My main line is braid, but I use leaders of mono because mono can take a beating from the oysters much better than braided line. And I like mono better than fluorocarbon leaders in this situation because when fluoro gets nicked, it refracts light far more than mono. So you lose those stealthy properties when fishing around lots of oysters,” he said.
Approaching schools
When it comes to casting to schooling redfish, the consensus is to stay quiet, stay a good distance away, and cast to the leading fish in the school.
“If you cast into the middle of a school, that school will break up and scatter. And the fish will go on high alert. It’s best to get beside a school with your trolling motor or push pole, work your way to the front of that school at a distance of a long cast, then make your cast in front of the lead fish,” Beadon said.
Then it’s just a matter of getting bit.
“Let that lure sit until it’s in sight of the fish, then slowly work it back. One of those lead fish will usually pick it up. If not, reel in and try again,” he said.
When this tactic is simply not working throuhgout the course of a day, Beadon will try something else that he’s not a big fan of, but it often works when nothing else will.
“Still, don’t cast into the middle of a school. But cast to the outside edge of a school, halfway back, a quarter of the way back, etc. You don’t want to drop it onto a fish’s back. Just let it fall on the outside edge of the school. Sometimes, one of those fish on the edge will leave the school to pick it up,” he said.
This situation sometimes breaks that school up, but many times the other fish stay in formation. And when you do break up a school, it’s not the end of the world.
“If a school you’re working does break up, it’s usually best to find another school, and this time of year it’s not that hard to do. Or you can simply fish those smaller sections of schools. They’ll be considerably more wary, but it’s better than going home. And, if you give them some time, a busted up school will work itself back into formation. Then, the pursuit is on again,” he said.
Winter surf fishing for redfish
Catching redfish in winter isn’t just for inshore anglers. Capt. Noah Lynk of Noah’s Ark Charters does it in the surf along the southern Outer Banks. Lynk said it’s an experience like no other.
Leaving out of Cape Pointe Marina on Harkers Island. Lynk steers his boat to the barrier islands, parks his boat, then wades in the surf, casting Clarkspoons, Halco topwater plugs and soft plastics into the roughest parts of the surf.
“The shoals stretch for miles into the ocean here, and that creates a lot of rough water. The redfish like to get in that rough water and along the edges where the rough water meets slack water,” said Lynk (252-342-6911).
He admits this type of fishing is a little more extreme than most anglers do in January.
“You’ve got to get out into the surf a ltitle in order to reach these fish. So you’re going to get splashed some. You might even take a wave over the head. It’s cold and wet. But we’re catching fish. And this is what it’s all about to me. This is an experience unlike any other,” he said.
Lynk does cut down on the wet factor considerably by wearing High-N-Dry waders coupled with the High-N-Dry wading coat.
“The wading coat is a game changer. It helps keep water out of your waders and that makes a huge difference. We’ll spend a full day out here wading, and the more you can keep dry, the more enjoyable the day is,” he said.
Lynk uses fairly light tackle out here, with 3000-series spinning reels and medium Star Rods.
“We’re casting into the roughest parts of the crashing surf. And doing it with fairly light tackle, you really feel the fight of these fish. It’s a lot more fun than just horsing them in with heavy tackle,” he said.
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