As evidenced by the numerous tournament circuits staged from the gulf coast up and around the south-Atlantic seaboard, redfish have become one of the most popular inter-coastal game fish to chase over the last 20 years. Their popularity stems from the fact that they inhabit inland coastal waters easily accessible by foot, small boat or even the adventurous kayak or tube fisherman. And, not only are they readily available, they'll eat nearly anything that crosses their nose.

But, as with freshwater bass fishing, there are those who take the sport of tracking and catching redfish to an entirely different level. The anglers that study the fish's eating habits, how they relate to tides and set up on structure. These are the anglers we watch every weekend on television hoisting the biggest slot-size reds onto the scales and summarily walking away with a handsome paycheck.

So, what do these anglers have that the rest of us weekend warriors lack? To answer that question we interviewed two of the most prolific redfish anglers on tour who also happen to be members of Team Lucky Craft, Bryan and Greg Watts. In this installment of the Lucky Craft Journal, they discuss their methods of finding new waters, fishing for reds no one sees and what tackle they use to get the job done.

We're sure their knowledge and tactics will increase your success on the water.

The Waters

"Most of the waters we concentrate on for redfish are the back-bays and estuaries," Greg said. "In fact, we're in those areas about 80 percent of the time because they offer the water depth we're searching for - that 4-foot or shallower range.

Bottom composition also plays a major role in their search for reds.

"The first thing we look for on a piece of water we're unfamiliar with is a crusty bottom," Bryan said. "The crust can be rock, oysters, clams or barnacles.

"The other places we search out are potholes in the middle of vast grass flats and creek mouths," he said. "The potholes don't have to be much more than a foot or two deeper than the surrounding area. The holes should be clear of vegetation with a clean sand bottom.

"As for the creek mouths, they provide faster water movement," Bryan said. "These are all places where reds congregate. Essentially we're picking apart the water like a freshwater bass fishermen does - looking for cover, structure and current breaks."

Tidal Affects

As the Watts brothers talked about in their Inshore Tarpon article in May, tides play an important role in their success.

"We don't have the option to fish the optimum tide in a tournament," Greg said. "Because of that, we've had to learn how to fish each aspect of the tide and that has taught us a lot about how fish relate to its various stages.

"For example, on a high tide we'll follow the fish into the shallower water that hasn't been flooded since last high tide," Greg noted. "Then when the tide starts going back out, we'll back off onto an oyster bar or other form of bottom structure and fish them as they come back out. It's all about learning the movement of the fish in the area."

"One of the main objectives, though, is to get familiar with what structure the fish use during this tidal migration and where and how they position themselves," Bryan added. "Not all spots on an oyster bar or other form of structure will hold fish - you have to find the key spots."

Look For Activity

"As important as bottom composition is, activity is also just as important," Bryan said. "We're looking for baitfish activity - how many mullet are in the area, are there crabs floating around or shrimp jumping? If we don't see this activity, we'll leave the area.

"Black mullet are a key indicator that reds will be nearby," he added. "The reds don't always eat the mullet but they follow them because they turn up crabs and other forage that the reds feed on."

"The crabs, on the other hand, flow in and out with the tide attached to vegetation," Greg said. "If we see them, that's another sure sign there are reds nearby. In fact, I believe a red will swim two miles to eat a crab."

"If we see any of these we know we're in the right area. If we see them all, we know we've hit a home run."

Unseen Reds

"Just like in bass fishing, most anglers like to see what they're casting at," Bryan said. "This creates a lot of pressure to the visible cover and one reason we, in the past few years, have searched for structure that isn't visible.

"If the other anglers can't see the fish or the cover, they're less apt to fish the area and we'll have it all to ourselves. In fact, this is how we spend most of our time practicing for tournaments."

"These areas can hold a number of big, un-touched fish," Greg added. "But, just like the shallower visible fish, they are affected by the tide. They'll only eat on certain parts of the tide and you have to figure that out."

Tackle and Tactics

"Reds are an opportunistic feeder," Greg said. "They'll eat anything that goes past their face. Because of that, we're really not trying to imitate anything but more so, draw a reaction strike."

"This is where Lucky Craft really shines for us as they make baits that allow us to fish from the surface down to the bottom - no matter where the fish are we have a bait that we can get to them."

"Crankbaits have become a staple in our arsenal over the last couple years," Bryan said. "They are the key bait we use when we're looking for those deeper unseen areas in the 4- to 6-foot range. It's all done by trial and error - using the crank to tell you what the bottom composition is or if there's an underwater obstruction. It's a search bait.

"We'll also use it at the mouths of creeks where water is flowing into or out of an area," he said. "The main thing when fishing it, though, is no matter what type of cover you're around, the crankbait has to hit something - just like freshwater bass fishing."

Specific cranks they throw range from the Flat CB MR and DR for deeper locals to the BDS 2 for sight fishing.

"The deeper bars and creeks are perfect for the Flat CB MR and DR," Greg said. "Plus the baits are the perfect size for a redfish's mouth.

"The only change we make to the bait is to add 4/0-extra strong hooks to the baits. This is because a redfish has an extremely strong jaw that can bend or break a standard hook. Lucky Craft is now changing the stock hooks to these.

"Another great crank we use when sight fishing is the BDS 2," he added. "This bait runs shallow and will invoke a shallow fish to strike."

Their main tackle for their cranking is a Lucky Craft Watts Brothers Cranking Rod with 30-pound Stren Superbraid or Spiderwire. To the braid they add a 3- to 4-foot leader of 30- to 40-pound Stren fluorocarbon. Their preferred colors are Aurora Gold, Peacock and Aurora Green Perch.

"For our topwater fishing we use a Sammy 100," Bryan said. "We rig it on our Lucky Craft Watts Brothers Sammy rod again with 30- to 40-pound braid and the 30-pound fluorocarbon leader. But because the fluorocarbon line has a tendency to sink, you have to work the bait with the rod high." Again they put four extra strong Gamakatsu hooks on the bait.

"For fishing around rocks and docks we have found it's hard to beat a Pointer 100 in black and gold or Ghost Minnow (for clearer water). We work the bait down quickly with a few hard jerks, let it pause and then work back to the boat with a good cadence. That's when they tend to inhale the bait - the strikes are so hard you wouldn't believe it. In Florida, this has become one of our best baits."

Extras

> "We throw a lot of cranks and Pointers at docks," Greg said. "The docks produce a lot of reaction strikes for us and the fish just crush the bait. Cast towards the bank and work it to the end of the dock. If

you don't get bit, stop the bait at the end of the dock and wait - the bite will be bone crushing."

> "The big key to the crankbaits is no one is throwing them," Bryan said. "The fish aren't conditioned to them yet and they eat them well."

> "Most anglers believe that reds are smell-related fish," Greg said. "But the more we fish we are becoming more and more convinced that they are also sight feeders."

> "Where you have redfish you shouldn't have to hit six spots that are 20-miles apart," Bryan said. "They are school fish so if you learn your area thoroughly at every tide, you can catch fish without moving great distances."

								Team Lucky Craft Videos
		ESPN Redfishing - CB 200		Bryan Watts - Saltwater ISG Rods		Greg Watts - Saltwater ISG Rods		Playlist
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