I love fishing for Bull redfish. Once a year I go to the Holy Land for Redfish….Venice, Louisiana!!! This place is amazing. A lot of the locals love to catch the slot size redfish. But for our group we target the Bulls (over 27 inches).
If you are fishing in Venice, Louisiana you would want to target the mouths of the passes during the summer. So jetties and beaches will work just fine. Do not be afraid to use your electronics and look for the fish before you make a cast. We will idle a long the beaches in about 10 foot of water and look for them on side scan. When we find a group of them we will turn off the big motor and ease are way up to them using the trolling motor. Other popular places are single pipe rigs in 30 foot of water. You will catch a mix of jacks, cobia, and bull reds at these rigs though.
POP POP PAUSE
So as you can see in the youtube video I have linked up to this blog there are a couple different ways you can rig up. I like to have at least two poles rigged up with two totally different baits. Obviously I am ALWAYS going to have a Poppin cork on. I recently have discovered what I believe to be the best popping cork on the market. It is called a Blabber mouth Blabber Mouth Popping Cork – The Fish Grip
This thing casts great and the sound that it makes cannot be beaten. I love that it is made from plastic as it is much more durable than the Styrofoam type. I like to pair that with a 30lb Fluorocarbon leader and a 1/2 oz jig head. I explain more about the jig heads in this short 5 minute video embedded down below. Give it a view so you can see what I am talking about. After that I like to pair it with some type of shrimp or baitfish immitation. I love love love this color Gulp!® Shrimp | Berkley®
You also cannot go wrong with new Penny with a chartreuse tail. I truly feel like that yellow tail makes a big difference.
FISHING ON THE BOTTOM
Sometimes to mix it up I like to take the jig head and put on the above mentioned Gulg shrimp and fish the bottom. Just like bass fishing a Texas rigged worm. I will do a hop hop pause or a drag drag pause. Wait for the bite and set the hook. With the big bulls I like to tie my braid to a swivel and the Fluorocarbon to the otherwise and tie a good strong Fluorocarbon knot. Have no fear I explain it very well in this video Secret Knot that won’t break.
Swim Something
Alright so my favorite way to catch some of these 30lb. plus fish is to swim something a long fast and get absolutely hammered. SOOOOoooo not to beat a dead horse I go in depth and show you exactly what I use in the video. One of my favorites is a rattle trap. Something gold seems to work best. I modify the split rings and the hooks so they last against these big beast’s. DO NOT skip that step or you will get your heart broken. I also like to throw a cobia jig with a long tail on it. Something very vibrant like pink, orange, or chartreuse attached. Offshore Angler Swirl Tail Grubs | Bass Pro Shops
Just cast and reel it in as fast as you can. It is an epic bite.
I hope this helps you guys catch some of these massive fish that roam around. Also remember that these bull reds usually are filled with worms and the meat is not as good. It is usually better just to let them go. If you are going to harvest for eating purposes get some of the smaller ones and blacken them and have a great dinner. I hope this helps you guys. Check out the video and enjoy some of the pictures. If you haven’t subscribed to my Youtube channel Please do.
Thanks in advance.
Tight Lines
HOB
