Danlug, when I first started fishing for reds I got a DNR publication on reds and read it front to back. Inshore reds spend 90% of their lives in less than 3’ of water. Cruse (slow) shorelines on a still day and watch for the wakes (pushes). Its likely reds this time of year. Reds rarely move more than a half mile during their inshore life. John Archenbault at DNR has records of tagged fish for years, they tag em and we catch em in the same area. Catch em once at a spot and then figure out their pattern…they’ll be back. Youll end up with a bunch of drops for high or low or inbetween tides.
But your absolute best bet to learn quick is hire a guide once and ask lots of questions.
Good answer to danluninbill’s original question on high tide redfishing on the INSHORE DISCUSSION section: HIGH TIDE REDFISH thread.
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker
Seems like they have similar problems and similar solutions on that forum as we were discussing.
Fished the 26/27th. Caught plenty of fish (20+) on the 26th at mid to low outgoing before we ran out of light. 27th was TOUGH. Saw fish, but they all had lockjaw. We caught 3 on what I think were pure reaction strikes as they hit the second the Gulp hit the water.
We scouted some deep holes and marked what looked to be fish on the downslope of the tide direction, always between 12-18 feet. Tried everything I could think of but not a single strike. May not have been fish, but it sure looked like it on the sonar.
All things being equal, I would rather be on the water.
Danluginbill, I have noticed that, among the 1,000 factors that affect fish behavior, there does seem to be a connection between fishing success and the solunar tables. I have the Fishing Times app on my phone.
The 26th was an “average day” with a Solunar Major period from 3:48 to 5:48pm. Mid-outgoing in the Broad was about 3:20pm and low was about 6:30pm. So you caught your 20+ fish during the Solunar Major period.
The 27th was a “fair day”, not average, not good, not excellent. The Solunar Major periods were approx 4-6am & 4:40 to 6:40pm.
I don’t know, but maybe this was one factor that contributed to the poor bite on the 27th.
spec
1980 Skandia 21 w/ '93 JohnRude 150 gas drinker