So why do the speckled trout and redfish gather below the lights? Sometimes when you get tired of fishing at night, just ease up as close to a lighted dock as possible and watch the patch of lighted water. It will be full of small minnows, swimming crabs, and especially shrimp. These small-fry come to the lights because their food—tiny little plankton and other water creatures—are attracted to the lights. Speckled trout and redfish come to the lights because their food minnows, crabs, and shrimp come to lights.
A friend and veteran Alabama Gulf Coast angler, Robert Dobson of Foley, gives us some good night fishing tips for when we want to get in a little after-dark fishing. My favorite is a three-inch GULP in natural color.
Dobson continues. You can use top-waters at night in the dock lights, but I find that jigs work better. In fact, I have caught more nighttime fish on live shrimp and bull minnows than any other way. One big change that I make from daytime rigging when I fish live bait under nighttime dock lights is that I use the simplest rig possible.
As the live shrimp or bull minnow is swept closer to the lighted water, it will almost always start to get very nervous. When the shadow which is a big speck or red rises up on the live bait from below, very often the alarmed bait will jump and make every effort to escape. Finally, the deal is sealed when the shrimp or minnow disappears in a swirl and violent strike from the big fish. A split-shot is usually enough. Many times, the reds will be feeding in the deeper water below the light and below the top-feeding speckled trout.
Redfish will make daily migrations during the warmer months into the shallows to feed. When the air is cool in the early morning, redfish will head into the shallows to feed on shrimp, crabs, and juvenile baitfish. This occurs from dawn until mid-morning when the tide is cooperating on most days. As the air temperature skyrockets by midday, redfish will back off the shallows and into deeper, cooler water. Not only is this water more comfortable to redfish but that is where the best food sources will be.
The tide does play a big role in the daily movements of redfish, especially those in shallower water. We will cover the tides in great detail in the section but just know that high tides pushed redfish into the shallows and low tide pulls them out of the shallows. For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish Port Aransas , please check out this helpful article I wrote.
The changing tides play a big role in where redfish are and what times of day they are most active hunting. At high tide, redfish will flood into the shallows to hunt. These areas were dried out just hours before and any crab or mollusk that remained was buried deep underground.
Once the tide returned, these creatures all emerged from the sand and are moving about. Furthermore, small fish will flood into these shallow areas. Redfish go in to gorge on the abundance of food items. While the tide is high, redfish can freely feed in the shallows. The ebbing tide though will pull redfish back into selected deeper water. Redfish often funnel into the channel s where water drawing out of the shallows will move through.
They will remain here trying to feed until the fading water eventually forces them into deeper water. Pay close attention to the tide and tidal schedule for the day. When redfish push into the channels as water draws out of the shallows, that is a great place to catch redfish that are very predictably bunched up. If you want to learn what are the best fighting fish to catch to include saltwater and freshwater, please check out this helpful article I wrote.
For a complete breakdown of the best times to fish in South Padre Island , please check out this complete guide I wrote. You can catch redfish all day and into the night. Board index Kayakfishing Forums Saltwater. Redfish at Night? I have a couple of questions. I have always been partial to Reds more than any other fish out there. Both because of the fight and the eating part. I notice that most of the time when people go night fishing, the do well on Specks.
My question is, does anyone ever catch Reds at night? And if so, what do they like to feed on at night? Arti's preferably. Thanks guys. With a few kicks of the pedals, I am back in the zone and making casts. The frantic cannonball splashes are coming faster. The VHF crackles. Filmmaker Cheryl Little is on a sleigh ride at the far end of the bridge.
Chennaux floats by, coaching Polly Dean. The fishing writer has a monster at color. Mindful of his warning that these big reds have raspy throats, I hand over my Boga grip. Laughing, she lands it. Jerry McBride gets one too—it was probably his first cast—and jokingly complains that it is too big. Chennaux tells me to tie on a LiveTarget Mullet wakebait.
I take station just downstream of the bridge. Once again, thunder from the skies shakes the world. I feel the jet roar in my chest.
And then, BAM! It bulldozes upstream, unstoppable, straight for a bridge piling. Then an ominous scraping on my braided line. Desperation time. I follow the line from one piling to another, then tighten up. Tail beats. Hope springs anew.
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