Each year, when the cold, wind, and rain hit the northern areas, we try with every opportunity afforded to venture south to the coastal areas to fish the bayous and brackish areas of the Texas and Louisiana coasts. We traverse to these areas in search of monster Redfish and any other manner of significant back-pressure we can find, but the Reds are the target. The rules are simple; Redfish are ferocious predators among the murky waters, so our job as anglers is to have the correct bait and tackle setup to allow us to land these big fish when they hit.

As for bait, we share experiences here at Chumbobber, and in our experience, Redfish love crab and shrimp. You can have success with other baits, such as squid; however, shrimp and crab are consistent top performers to help us reach our limit quickly. We are always proponents of live shrimp if possible; however, we’ve caught thousands of Reds over the years on nice medium-sized fresh shrimp. We want to stress the freshness of the shrimp matters. Although Redfish seem to eat anything, your chances of drawing in a “not so hungry” Redfish and having them eat junk, i.e., old shrimp or crab, will probably leave you short of the limit most days. If we are lucky enough to procure some crab, we typically use some nice-sized whole crab pieces for hook bait as well. If we start with a quality bait, then we will increase our chances, and here at Chumbobber, we are all about increasing the chances of catching big fish.

And now that we know what bait we are using, it comes down to the correct tackle and approach. We are all too familiar with redfish aggression and how quickly they can take and/or break the line, so make sure to have an adequate rod and reel and please use an appropriate type of line for Redfish, as a crappie pole with 6lb test just won’t work. We tend to use 14-20lb test line with a 20lb leader that is usually about 24 inches long and is attached with a swivel. At the end, we almost always use a circle hook that is relatively the same size as the shrimp we are using.

It is at this point where our pursuit of back-pressure is at a critical juncture, as we need the final weapon in the Redfish catching arsenal, the Rattlebobber! Redfish are drawn to sound and disruption in the water, as they think it’s dead or dying prey, an easy meal. Placing a Rattlebobber about 3 inches above the swivel gives us a phenomenal rattle with minimal effort, as using popping corks always came with problems. Such as casting into location only to have the bobber move out of position when we “popped” it. Also, the stem and foam sleeve of the cork bobber would wear out easily, causing us to have to replace too many of these over the years. The Rattlebobber attaches easily, like a traditional stick bobber, and is made of durable ABS plastic, whereas it is designed to take abuse! The Rattlebobber gives us the sound fish love while also allowing the coolest benefit of all, placing chum directly over the hook!

Redfish live and hunt in very poor visibility, and therefore they utilize smell as much as any fish species while hunting. The Rattlebobber’s patent-pending chum well delivers the chum directly over the hook and should be loaded with shrimp heads, squid, crushed crab, or a sponge soaked with any manner of fish-attracting scent to attract these Redfish. Spot fishing with a Rattlebobber in brackish water for Redfish is simple, and you’ll wonder why it hasn’t been done like this before?

To provide some context on where to use the above gear, our Redfish hotspots are typically oyster beds and around patches of reeds and off of most points, where the current is moving the baitfish, we find Redfish lurking.

We hope you join us on a journey to Redfish Back-pressure as the winter approaches!