# Big Reds



## keperry1182 (Oct 6, 2010)

Fishing out at FT Mcree this weekend using the white ghost crabs that were on the beach, the reds seem to LOVE those things. We caught two just like this one and saw a bunch of flounder layin up around the jetties.


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## thecalmbeforethestorm (Nov 6, 2010)

thats a beast of red nice fish


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## LRDD (May 23, 2011)

Damnit man, that a nice redfish. Bet he was a fun one to haul in.


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## Ringo Redux (Jul 7, 2010)

Hell of a red, man. Nicely done! Just curious - what was your tackle for a beast that size?


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## keperry1182 (Oct 6, 2010)

I was shark fishing so i had pretty heafty gear, no luck catchin shark bait so we picked up the crabs rigged them on a carolina rig and boom they hit em hard all night. Penn 6/0 with a penn slammer rod. He was still tough to land I had about 300 yards of line out.


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## Domtasc (Sep 18, 2009)

Great fish. I'm yet to catch a bull red.


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## keperry1182 (Oct 6, 2010)

We catch um all the time all ya need is paitients, gonna need a new fishin buddy soon if ya wanna meet up sometime


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## 20Inches (Oct 27, 2008)

I caught a red about that size saturday night in big lagoon but i caught him by accident but didnt mind it much. What size and type hook did you use? I was orginaly shark fishing using half cut lady fish with a number 6 circle hook. But it seems to me when i landed my fish the hook was way to small and I barely had him hooked. Any suggestions? And how do you hook the crabs with it killing them quick?


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## keperry1182 (Oct 6, 2010)

Man, i'm not sure that night, but as a rule i use between 8/0 and 10/0 hooks when i shark fish, which is what i was doin. I run those off a snap swivel attached to 60lb coated wire leader attached to 80lb mono which i am about to change out for braid with a floro topshot, i did that for my king rig (not that i've landed a king on it) but i really like how it performs so far. As far as the crabs go, i don't know that it doesn't kill um quickly, maybe it does, but it works for me. I try other baits but nothing ever seems to top cut mullet or crabs. Good luck out there and if you ever wanna get together and try out some shark fishing or maybe go after those big reds lemme know. I kayak fish alot and use it to run baits out when i shark fish. I'm no expert but i do know a thing or two and i've never met a fisherman i didn't learn something from so i'm always interested in improving my fishing game.


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## 20Inches (Oct 27, 2008)

Well I do alot of inshore fishing but after catching that big red, im getting hooked on big game fish. Im looking into buying a couple 4/0 or 6/0 reels this week and using atleast 50lb test. I believe my problem was my hook size was way to small, but I will take care of that as well. I was using 40lb test with a 60lb mono leter. What ounze weight were you using to stay on the bottom out there? Anyhow maybe we can hook up and share some info and target some fish. I have a aluminum boat with 15 horse I use to run baits out that might come in handy as well.


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## redfish0102 (May 25, 2011)

stud fish


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## keperry1182 (Oct 6, 2010)

Depends on what i need, i usually use 6-8 ozs. And yeah just let me know when ya wanna try it. I usually fish at mcree at night, just take a tent and camp out there.


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## tat (Oct 8, 2007)

One comment - don't be too quick to go to a bigger hook. I've caught dozens of bulls at Dixie Bar (mouth of Mobile bay) & I always use a 3/0 circle. Only problem I've ever had was a few lower quality hooks straightened - once I went to better hooks I never had a problem. And we landed a few decent sized sharks (100# class) on the same rigs.

Smaller hooks penetrate better (in general) are easier to set


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## BChaff (Mar 17, 2009)

I agree about the smaller hooks, if i were targeting redfish, i wouldn't use a larger hook, though i would probably still go with at least a 4/0, just cause it makes me feel better i have no doubts it could be done consistantly with a smaller hook.


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## photofishin (Jun 26, 2009)

These are a LOT of fun. We catch them off of Boliver Peninsula in Texas regularly. We fish for them the same way we do for sharks. I make my own leaders using 100lb coated steel leader material. (Photo attached) We typically either kayak a cut mullet out or wade to the 2nd sand bar and cast as far as we can. We then set the pole in a 3 inch PVC pipe we've driven into the sand as a rod holder and sit back and wait for the fun to happen!


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## Ruger7mmmag (Jun 3, 2011)

Never seen a rig like that. Pretty cool stuff.

We routinely catch big reds, but we target them by DI bridge and have caught some absolute monsters. We catch them while targeting flounder actually so our set up is pretty simple. Light tackle, but use the 8lb diameter spider wire which is a 50lb test I think on the reel. Then slide on an egg sinker that is barely big enough to slowly drift with the tide tied to a barrel swivel. Then we go with a 30lb mono leader to a size 2 Kahle hook. We NEVER lose one on this set up and it's light enough you can easily target about anything with it. Plus it's easy if you want to change things up as it's one knot only to change a weight, hook etc. 

Bigger the hook, the more opportunity there is for them to see it. I've even had my kids hook up monsters using even smaller Kahle hooks. As long as they are sharp, then it's up to the leader/line combo you're using as I've yet to have one break a hook and we've caught them well over 30" along with huge black drum as well. It also worked for the small bull shark we caught a few weekends ago along with flounder. So very versatile. 

Weight wise in Mobile, we tend to vary between 1oz-3oz MAX. Though 90% of the time we're using 1-1.5 oz weights.


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## photofishin (Jun 26, 2009)

Ruger7mmmag said:


> Never seen a rig like that. Pretty cool stuff.


Thanks. They sell redfish rigs like that at Academy in Texas too. I just like the Owner brand circle hooks better because they nearly always slide to the corner of the mouth. The spider weight digs into the sand allowing us to hold bottom even when there's a rough surf and lots of current.


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