A few weeks ago, we were catching red drum from our kayaks on half ounce gold Johnson Silver Minnows right along sparse grass. We got nothing along the thick sod.

For blues, I use gotcha plugs or Spanish Candy out front.

For sheepshead, red drum, and black drum, try fiddler crabs on a bottom sweeper jig near pilings.

Maybe change hook size to something smaller, I normally fish a 1/0 hook with finger mullet 3-4” range and do good. Try switching up hook location as well. I went out a couple weeks ago and was lip hooking my mullet and nothing, switched up hook to anal fin and money! Also try throwing around and near structure. Might get caught up a couple times trying to figure out how close you can get to the structure, but it’s worth it when you cast your bait in the perfect spot. I typically jetty fish and that works for me I’d assume fishing the inter coastal would be the same just with different structure types. Good luck!

Short answer wacth countless hours of YouTube and try shit. Long answer it depends on where ur fishing man read the fisherman’s post to give ya a better idea of what fish are doing in ur area look on google maps for oyster bars and flats with deeper creeks leading to em change spots every 20 minutes o so if u don’t get a bite. Plenty of YouTube videos telling u how to use mapping services to find inshore spots. Also try and match ur weight to the current if u want reds, trout etc. I would say try a cork rig either popping cork or slip float rig to. Also keep ur leader around 20lbs and make sure it fluorocarbon not mono and keep at least 16 inches of leader between ur weight and hook.

I fish panhandle and catch endless reds.

Easiest two ways by far are -> dropping live white/scaled bait to the bottom of deep bridge and pass channels (herring/sardines/mehaden). They will sometimes turn down pins mullet croakers but never the more fragile baitfish. Those fish die at a higher rate when the pods wash through the structure at stronger currents, they wait below and eat the weakened stragglers, effectively automatic. I catch 20+ fish in a single morning of fishing regularly in the fall doing so. Bigger live shrimp also a very good option but you’ll deal with thieves a lot, need to bring a lot with you.

And yak fishing live shrimp on docklights. There are guided yak trips that aren’t that expensive around here that you should look into if you’re really wanting Reds action and don’t have a boat nor want to pay for a real charter. Won’t say it’s super exciting as 95% of the fish you will catch will be foot long specks and rat reds, but it’s effectively automatic and you’ll catch a ton of them. I’d definitely try it once if you’ve not done it, it’s casual light tackle fun if you can deal with the heat and peddling.

Also if you’re an early bird you can walk the beach and see them cruising deeper portions of the cut past the beach’s first wave break first couple hours of light in the warm months. A DOA shrimp or 5 inch soft plastic bumped in front of them can work, I typically just toss live bait in front of their face from a boat though with the trolling motor moving me along parallel to the beach.

Also reds love blue crabs. I usually cut the legs off and cut the crab in half. Put on a Carolina rig with a circle hook through the knuckle of the crab legs.

Gotta go in the creeks man. Hit that brackish water and hour either way of the tide change. They come in and grub down on the bait getting pushed.

15-20# braid to cajun thunder to floro leader. Circle hook and cut bait, live minnows if you can cast net. Live shrimp if you hot em.

That is a mak jack

Yo dude, my channel is in my profile I show a lot of redfish tactics there. As u/dirtyrounder said, you gotta get in brackish water primarily. You can catch bulls in the surf, but redfish that are slot size really love to be in the marsh. They generally cruise the banks looking for crabs, shrimp, minnows, whatever they can.

Be comfortable in shallow water, throw at the banks and points, that's pretty much it.

Are you using a cork?

Live shrimp and a popping cork.

Never fails

Live fiddler crabs and/or gold spoons.

Live mullet

I fish for reds with artificials primarily, a light colored 3” - 5” Diezel Minnow on a 1/8 - 1/4oz jig head is what I use 80% of the time. My favorite is a Slam Shady color, 3” Diezel Minnow on a 3/16oz Texas Eye jig head. It can mimic a baitfish or a shrimp effectively depending on your retrieve. When I find them tailing I like a ZMan EZ Shrimpz on a 2/0 belly weighted EWG. If you can paint a mustache on them they’ll eat it. When I fish live bait it’s with shrimp or whatever baitfish I catch in a cast net, usually on a Carolina rig, or free lined.

Get a nice rod with a good backbone and fast tip. Line can be whatever, I have had success with braid in shells/rocks and it does give a little more feel. If you want to get fancy run a flouro leader but that's up to you.

Lures: 2 real tried and true options (excluding fly fishing). A popping cork with a leader, weight, circle hook. You can use live bait or Gulp! Shrimp/Crabs work just as well (and won't get stolen as quick). Use Procure in any saltwater scent.

Jig head and soft plastic. You can buy 2 or 3 diff sized jig heads, mainly 1/4, 1/2 Oz tho. Colors are plain metal, white, black, green or yellow. Hands down the best soft plastic I have ever used in salt are Down South Lures. Go for whatever color tickles your fancy, but white (with colored tail), black, chartreuse should always be in the stable. Pick up some Chicken on a Chain and maybe some natural colors too. Also the Gulp shrimp do the job. You can throw topwaters in low light situations as well. Heddon Spook/Spook Jr in Bone does best (looks like mullet) Finding fish: Reds are mean and hungry. They will chase bait up onto the shore. Find skinny water and along weeds/reeds/mangroves where they can push fish/shrimp up. Also find pinch points where water (and bait) gets funneled and fish that. Potholes in grass flats are big winners too.

Presentation. Short pops and jerks will make either the popping cork or jig head have a natural appearance. If you can't sight fish then feel for the bottom and keep it somewhat down low.

They aren't hard fish to catch, once you get skilled in finding them and get the color dialed in for that day/time it should be pitch and catch. They are the best fight, I moved and now I have to swap them out for smallmouth but I do miss that drag scream from a nice slot.

I learned to use a cast net last summer and now can get all the live bait I want. Check it out https://youtu.be/eTSG6xz4YMQ

Shrimp, paddletails, cut bait, shrimp artificials.

If you have mobility chuck some cut bait up under mangroves on a high, incoming or slack tide.

I have a lot of down time at work and have turned to YouTube for entertainment. There are many educational saltwater YouTubers out there. I like the ones that focus on education. All are Texas based but techniques are the same wherever you are

Capt Caleb TV. He's a fishing guide out of matagorda that also fishes the championship redfish tournaments. Does a lot of teaching. Focuses a lot on redfish. Most of his shows are shot in his garage/office, but does have some on the water content. Probably my favorite show

Texas fishing force. General teaching. Tries to cover different techniques for different species. Fishes out of a boat, kayak and wades

KWigglers fishing. Focuses more on fishing than teaching. Most episodes feature a different guide that talks technique. More into speckled trout than redfish but you'll learn something.

Trout support. Focuses more on trout but also throws some reddish fun in there. Doesn't have a lot of content online, but is very knowledgeable. On his website he sells educational videos. I have them all. You want to understand feeding patterns, how to fish tides, fish habits, etc, then get his videos. One of the best purchases I've made. He also developed the trout support lure, which is a great soft plastic

See you out there. He's a former fishing guide from Florida, now in Galveston. He provides teaching but it's a little YouTube silly at times. It's a fun watch

Artificial shrimp bait and popping cork. The Gulp tails work for some added flavor

I was fishing the james for catfish and caught my first red on shrimp, when in doubt shrimp it up although that leads to everything in the ocean biting.

In my experience crab and shrimp are good bait. Also like throwing a spoon. Look for underwater structure where bait fish might be moving through. Good luck

Bro I commented on your other post, I’m catching puppy’s over here where the Elizabeth river and dismal swamp meet in Chesapeake, Carolina rig with shrimp

I've always caught them around points on inlets and small islands on a rising tide. I did get a big one around a bridge piling during a slack tide, so both?

Cut mullet on a circle hook is our go-to method. Throw it near the shoreline and leave it. Wait for the fish to set the hook.

Go to a spot they are at.

Live pins or finger mullet, really isn’t anywhere close to a “better” option, if they are eating they will eat those before anything else. Live line crabs along the jetties and passes are also up there but less effective on these grass flats imo. Don’t listen to anyone saying artificials, yes they can work and I use them regularly but if you are struggling to catch fish, the answer is always live bait.

Top water. Try a heddon super spook. Take the middle hook out.

Cut mullet on the edge of a oyster bar

Lol, seriously? I’m out there in my boat at least twice a week, have caught a handful of 30+ inch reds on arts this summer and love doing so. Jumped more monster tarpon than I can count this past July using 8 inch NLBN PT’s. My best advice for people that aren’t catching fish is still always going to be to forego lures and use live bait. During obvious feeding periods, artificials are going to produce slightly less than live bait but still succeed (obviously as they exist). But it is a true night and day when you’re contending with the off switch, live bait will produce ten times over when fish are spread out and not actively foraging. Casual anglers are not typically going to use solunar charts and tide/wind factors to locate predator fish in volume by traveling to where bait pods are being pushed. It is not nonsense at all, it’s literally just giving less experienced fisherman the best (very often by far) chance at success. I’m mostly out there to catch, not cast brother.

There's a chance that, given the character of the coastline (rockier, more irregular) or your personality (soaking bait can be boring) you may want to try actively casting out jigs or lures and hunting fish. I've caught plenty of small red drum that way.

For the most basic casting rig, just buy some 1/4 to 1/2 oz saltwater jigs and a pack or two of berkely gulp alive swimming mullets -- basically, stinky plastic curlytail grubs that retail $6 for a dozen. Pitch 'em into fishy spots near cover, let 'em drop, and jig 'em in. Vary the speed until you find what works.

The easiest way to get bit is to use a "hi/low rig." Use the smallest amount of weight you can get away with without letting your bait move. Put either squid, shrimp, or blood worms on the two hooks. Generally I use 1-3oz in the surf and size 8 hooks (make sure your bait matches the hook and isn't too big or too small). For the bays and backwaters I will use 3/8oz to 1oz and the same size hooks. This will catch things like croaker, spot, whiting, pinfish, baby seabass, and possibly some bigger fish as well.

​

There are hundreds of techniques and I use a bunch of them but if my only goal is to get bit as much as possible this is your best bet. Get the pre-made rigs at a tackle shop by the beach. Use the ones that are totally monofilament (no wire needed for these fish). If the water is dingy, get the ones with small red or green floats by the hooks. If the water is clear, stick to no floats. Round sinkers for bays and backwaters, pyramid sinkers for the surf.

Squid is the easiest bait to use. Cut it into small triangles and run it over the hook twice so the point of the triangle is still dangling out a bit. Squid is also the "vanilla of the sea" so everything will bite it. Shrimp is stinkier, and more enticing to some fish but also falls off much easier, especially in the surf. Blood worms are great for pier fishing but don't let them bite you and they are messy so bring a rag.

Also try fishbites on your hi lo rig its a whiting killer!

u/TheForrestWanderer basically said it all. I was just gonna say use smaller hooks than you would think and everything bites shrimp

Here are some links to some saltwater fishing channels

https://youtube.com/c/AnglerUpTv Gulf coast fishing

https://youtube.com/c/BamaBeachBumFishing Gulf coast fishing

https://youtube.com/c/FishermansLife West coast fishing

https://youtube.com/c/HeySkipper East coast fishing

There are many tried and true Redfish patterns, some are much more productive than others, why don’t you stick with tying those?

Vudu shrimp tipped with a piece of dead shrimp in the hook and bop around on the bottom or under a 4horseman tackle popping cork. I’ve caught hundreds this way

3in-5in paddletails, Vudu shrimp, Buggs fishing jigs, live shrimp.

I use lures 90% of the time, and of that I use ZMan plastics probably 75% of the time. Diezel Minnowz, EZ Shrimpz, Paddlerz, and Streakz are my most used.

https://preview.redd.it/2ziljt406l3f1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56e3027839cd341bf6546e13a6df0bd596672ff4

4” zman diezel minnow✌️

I've caught a lot of Redfish on dead shrimp.