Gulf Coast Redfish Gathering
Prespawn Aggregations Offer Great Opportunity

Photo by David A. Brown

By CAPT. BILL MILLER
Redfish are one of the most popular inshore species throughout Florida's Gulf Coast. Powerful, abundant and eager to eat a variety of baits, this species keeps shallow water anglers busy during the year.

Inhabiting coastal waters across the calendar, redfish like hanging around docks, oyster bars and rocky structures. But starting in late summer, anglers will notice the redfish starting to gather up in big schools on the flats.

These aggregations appear to be part of the annual redfish spawn, which starts in August and runs through mid-November along the Gulf coast. Although the fish gather on the flats and around nearshore structures, the actual spawning occurs in deep offshore waters.

The spawning redfish schools usually comprise giant masses of big reds up to 40 pounds or more. Some anglers and scientists believe that the smaller redfish will leave the flats and meet up with the big females to participate in the spawning ritual and then return to the shallow water.

Fishing the schools of pre-spawn redfish on the flats takes requires considerable stealth. Today's fish are educated due to the amount of boat traffic and anglers fishing for them. Years ago, you could ride over the flats and look for the big schools to “hump up” and push a wake as they moved away from the noise. Once you spotted the wake, you could run up in front of them to an intercept point and catch all you could handle.

If you try that today, the redfish will be off the flat and long gone before you even slow down. Not only that, you'll quickly earn the disdain of any nearby anglers, who will loudly voice their resentment.

The proper way to approach a redfish flat is to slowly motor to within about 1/4 mile and then use your electric motor on low speed to close the distance. Chasing a redfish school with your electric motor used to work, but not anymore. The fish will run right off the flat if they hear a high sped electric motor approach. For optimal stealth, approach on a wind drift, or silently push pole.

Considering how spooky redfish can be, the widely accepted method these days is to find a spot on the flat where reds have been seen and let them come to you. Another outdated tactic – chumming heavily with live whitebait to rally the reds up into a feeding frenzy – has also run its course. The reds have gotten trained to that routine and it doesn’t work nearly as well as it used to.

Freshly cut dead bait has replaced slinging handfuls of livies. Tossing out pieces of threadfins, pinfish or ladyfish for chum puts a scent trail in the water and that appeals to the sensitive noses of hungry redfish. When the reds come to investigate the smell, they'll find your hooked baits.

Popular fall redfish areas include Long Bar and Stephens Point in Sarasota Bay, The Bulkhead running along the Manatee County shoreline, the south shore of Tampa Bay from Cockroach Bay to Joe's Island, Tarpon Key, Pinellas Point, Weedon Island, Big Island (sometimes called 4th Street), and Coopers Point in upper Tampa Bay.

The red drum management story is one of great success. In 1989, a slot limit of 18-27 inches, a bag limit of one redfish per person and a closed season from March to May was implemented. The redfish stock flourished to the point that the closed season was eliminated. Most recently, the daily bag limit became two per person in the Northeast and Northwest regions of our state. Tampa Bay is in the Central region and the bag limit here remains one per person. The good thing about fall fishing is that you'll have the opportunity to tangle with as many redfish as you can handle.

For weekly fishing reports, hot tips, catch photos and lots of angling resources, visit www.billmiller.com. For fishing charters in the Tampa Bay area, call (813) 363-9927.