Redfish (Red Drum)

The people’s champion of inshore fishing — tailing in inches of water, crushing topwaters, and pulling like a truck from CA transplants’ dreams to the Chesapeake.

Sciaenops ocellatus · Also known as: Reds, puppy drum (slot), bull reds (oversize). Ideal water temp 62–78°F.

Habitat & structure

Marsh edges, oyster reefs, flooded spartina grass on big high tides, sand flats, surf troughs and pier pilings. Slot fish live shallow year-round; bull reds stage at passes and inlets in fall to spawn.

Where they’re biting

Apalachicola Bay — East Bay marsh drains on falling tide; oyster bar points.
Port St. Joe & Cape San Blas — Sight-fishing pods over light sand inside the cape.
Panama City & St. Andrew Bay — Grand Lagoon flats and jetty rocks at the pass.
Galveston Bay — Marsh lakes and bayous; bull red run at the jetties in October.
Pamlico Sound & Outer Banks — World-class old drum (40 lb+) around the sound in late summer.
Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis & Lower Bay) — Bull reds over lower-bay shoals May–June and again in fall.

Season by season

Season	Best bait	Best lures	Notes
Spring	Live shrimp or mud minnows under a cork; fresh cut mullet	Gold weedless spoons over grass, 3.5" paddle tails, spinnerbaits in stained water	Fish push shallow with warming water. Watch for wakes and nervous bait on protected shorelines.
Summer	Live finger mullet, cracked blue crab for bigger fish	Topwater at dawn along marsh edges, weedless soft plastics in flooded grass	Flood-tide tailing season in spartina marshes — hunt fins, cast past the fish, drag into view.
Fall	Cut mullet or menhaden on fish-finder rigs at passes and jetties	Big paddle tails and bucktails for bulls; spoons and corks for slot fish	The bull red spawning run is the event of the year at Gulf passes and mid-Atlantic shoals.
Winter	Fresh dead shrimp fished slow on clean bottom	Scented soft plastics hopped slowly; small gold spoons on sunny afternoons	Clear water and big schools on shallow dark-bottom flats that warm in the sun. Long casts, light line.

Preferred water temperature

Active from 52°F to 88°F — sweet spot 62–78°F. Watch the live water temp on our location pages.

Weather, light & cloud cover

Far less light-shy than trout. Sunny, calm days are an advantage for sight-fishing tailers and cruisers. In wind-churned muddy water, switch to vibration and scent (gold spoons, cut bait) — they feed by smell and feel as much as sight.

Proven for redfish (red drum)

3" Curl-Tail Grub on 1/4 oz Jighead — Soft plastic · spring / summer / fall / winter. The universal inshore search bait. Swim it steady over grass; hop it along bottom for flounder and bay bass.
3.5" Paddle Tail Swimbait — Soft plastic · spring / summer / fall. Match jighead to depth: 1/8 oz over flats, 3/8 oz on channel edges. Slow and steady beats fancy.
Soft Shrimp Imitation (DOA-style) — Soft plastic · spring / summer / fall / winter. Do almost nothing — drift it with the current like a real shrimp. Deadly under lights at night.
5" Jerk Shad (Fluke-style), Weedless — Soft plastic · spring / summer / fall. Twitch-twitch-pause over potholes. Rigged weedless it skips under mangroves and docks.
Scented Swimming Mullet 4" (Gulp-style) — Soft plastic · spring / summer / fall. Drag it slow across sand next to structure. When a flounder thumps, count to three before sweeping.
Weedless Paddle Tail on Swimbait Hook — Soft plastic · summer / fall. The flooded-grass redfish tool — crawls through spartina without fouling. Cast past tailers, drag into the zone.

What should you throw today?

Get a live lure pick from the smart lure tool, browse the full lure & bait database, or go back to all species guides.