Corpusfishing.com

[Fishnut]

Ok I have seen and heard rumblings of the redfish run for a while now. From what I can read is that it is the movement of the redfish for spawning purposes between the bay and the gulf. What I dont know is what to do about it. I cant find anywhere that has a good description of how to target these fish. I searched here on the forum and found some things but all were ambigous on the big picture of the run.
I was hoping that you guys could clear the fog for me and others who are new to this wonderful saltly world.

Thanks for always taking the time to answer my rookie questions,
Blake
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[GoinCoastal]

here what I know from my experience.....

The larger bay reds migrate to the gulf to spawn. The larger ones will stay in the gulf and not come back. They school up prior to this migration and feed aggressively for several days prior to leaving. It happens this time of year.

They are hard to miss when they get in this mode. I am talking about huge schools of big reds!!! Have you ever heard the phrases "Strawberry Patch" or "Bronze Tide". Well that is exactly what it looks like. The water will be copper-rosy colored!!! They get in close on top of each other and the school may be 100 yds long and 50 yds wide. It is an incredible site to see.

Now how do you target them???? Outside of aerial recon, I have no idea how to target these schools. I have only been on one of them in 38 years of fishing. It was unforgetable tho. That happened in early October in South Bay at SPI.

[Jay Gardner AKA snookered]

Jetties have historically been a great place to intercept redfish during the migration, as they use them as both a staging and breeding area.......finger mullet is a choice bait.....

the thing is, and it happens every year, is that people target the large redfish, and poaching occurs (more than legal numbers, oversized reds without a tag, trips back to the truck, etc)......these fish literally have just a few yards to go and they will make a million more during the spawn.....you think I"m kidding, go witness it yourself when you hear the "run" is on.....

so, practice you conservation ethic and just take your one oversize, don't forget to tag it, or better yet, just release those big girls for the spawn.....those big ones don't taste quite as good as the smaller ones, IMHO.....

sorry, I digress.......besides the jetties, flats and calm areas next to
passes, "bottlenecks" in the bays/laguna, and cut-through channels typically hold staging redfish too......some of my favorite redfish action is coming up here soon, which is on the north end of PINS in the first gut.....

and since you're down there in kingsville, the land cut/nine mile hole is also a staging area.......

[surfdragon]

What i know with the first cool fronts that pass and with the previuos years
taken as guid lines the week after labor day weekend or later the red fish
follow the migration of finger mullet out the bays to the gulf which then stick around in the surf till it gets to cold and head out to deeper waters.
Now where to catch them will be the outlits from the bays to the gulf,Which
some are port aranses jetties, packery jetties, and port mansfied jetties,Target any wheres along the ways to those jetties and once the finger mullet are running on the surf you can fish the surf too. baits used can be ussualy any type of bait because there running in groups and will eat up any thing in there way,I prefer finger mullet which will be in abunduce by that time.Use a 30 or 40 lb mono shock leader for best results from having your line cut off. thats basic info that will help you catch red fish . Hope it will help you some.
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[Lost Cajun]

September through early December is a great time for redfish just about anywhere in and around the bays.

The redfish "run" is different and really is a very difficult thing to time if you don't live close to the coast. It usually happens during the first bitter cold, cold front of the Fall season. I always watch the cold fronts in October for that first really nasty one that I think will make it all the way down to the coast. If I can get off work and if I guess the right front it is worth the trip. I get it right about once every five years.

I've seen days at piers on the Port A ship channel where no one would catch a thing for hours, then all of a sudden every rod on the pier had a redfish on. You talk about a mess when you've got an angler every five feet.

Its best to go heavy on tackle. Larger rods and reels will help you control your fish and keep it out of others lines. My experience has been that most of the fish you catch are in the slot or just over. Mullet is usually the best redfish bait anytime, but if you truly are there during the migration, it does not matter. They eat everything in the water.

Good luck and I hope I'm there too!

[Fishnut]

Thanks guys that was fast I dont think I could keep a breeder fish right before spawn. Always had the white bass run in our local lake but it was never that dramatic. I hope I can get to see it while im down here.

Thanks for the knowledge,

Blake
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[Howie]

I understand the big reds have worms most of the time? And they are just not worth keeping becaues, not much flavor in the meat. Catch and release seems to make the most sense too me. In fact in the north west, steelhead are great to catch but the small mountain trout are the best to take home. I think Alaskan halibut are the same way!
Cheers!
Howard

[mastergunner]

My research and experience on fishing the jetties or the channels coming from the surf into the bays is that on the incoming tide the reds move into the channels to spawn as the incoming tide carries the eggs into the bays. Those who have set on jetties or piers in the ship channel for hours with no bites and then all of a sudden everyone is catching reds probably meant the tide turned and was coming in. Am I right or wrong, don't know but a biologists for UT wrote about this.
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[outtabeer]

In mid sept I go to the port a south jetty. About half way out on the jetty on the channel side freeline large piggy perch. We usually do pretty well on bulls 38-42".

[surfdragon]

MOST OF THE REDS ABOUT 90 PERCENT WERE IN THE SLOT RANGE LAST YEAR, MOST WERE ABOUT 27 INCHES.DIDNT EVEN MESS WITH THE OVER SIZE STILL KEPT MY TAG FROM LAST YEAR.LAST YEAR WAS EVEN BETTER WITH THE PACKERY CHANNEL BEING BUILT. THE CHANNEL WAS A PLUS FOR OUR BAY SYSTEM,WAY TO GO WHO FINNALLY MADE IT POSSIBLE.
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[Lost Cajun]

[juanpescado]

[Howie]