Big Redfish on the Other side of the Bridge

I called up Sean Hagen of Shamrock Fishing Charters to see how things had been on the water the past week or so. I figured he would be tarpon fishing the bridge; it turns out he was fishing for redfish, as the winds kept him and his clients out of the open bay.

Basically, redfish is what his clients got, and big ones at that. Sean has been fishing both sides of the bay, but stated the big bruiser redfish have been on the St. Pete side.

He has his clients using fifteen pound test braid for the big boys, with twenty to thirty pound fluorocarbon leader, on eight foot Eupro Diamond rods and light tackle 2500 series reels. The eight foot rods give the extra long casts, even with the fifteen pound braid. Hey, whatever works right?

These fish have been way out of the slot, so if you’re looking for tournament fish or dinner, you’re out of luck.

These bigger fish are being caught on typical grass flats with normal potholes and oyster bed structure, in the two to three foot range, usually on incoming tides. The bait of choice; cut threadfin herring. Sean tells me once the pinfish start pecking at the bait, the redfish come along to see what’s going on and then the fun begins.

The south shore is reported to be still holding decent numbers of smaller, mid to upper slot redfish, east of Joe’s Island, but the monsters you see in these pictures are straight from Pinellas County.

Last but not least, Sean tells me the tarpon and kingfish are starting to heat up in the normal haunts-our bridges and channels. I too will soon be getting in on that action! These fish only come around at certain times of the year, so get at it while you can!