South Georgia Fall Redfishing

[Chris Woodward]

When I start to see yellow butterflies flying among the trees in my driveway, I know the bull redfish must be in the surf. I don't really believe that the butterflies and redfish practice a mutual ritual. But their appearance together signals fall in south Georgia, where I live, whether the daytime temperatures reflect that or not.
We fish the bulls from a boat or from the surf, but either way, we must take a boat to reach some of our uninhabited barrier islands. The usual routine involves using 15- to 20-pound test outfits, fishfinder rigs with 2- to 3-ounces of weight and 12-inch leaders tied to circle hooks. We generally bait up with live finger mullet or chunks of dead mullet.
The fish range in size from about 20 to 40 pounds. I'll attach a photo of one I caught just a few weeks ago. All these fish are over the legal size limit, so we treat them with care, releasing them in the water, if at all possible.
My husband works for the state fisheries agency, though, so often we tag the fish before release.
I'd love to hear from some of you who are catching bull reds in other regions.
Chris
http://www2.worldpub.net/images/SF/2-10chris_red.jpg

[Capt Rick]

I catch my share of the giants Red Drum here in Charleston Chris.
I also use half a blue crab, cut blue fish, croaker, menhaden and mullet on a 10/0 (Eagle Claw L2004ELF) This is a non-offset circle hook. This hook has a large barb, so if you have trouble removing it from the jaw,,just cut the line and pull it through backwards.

Please dont take this the wrong way,,,But If it were me,,,I would use no less than 30lb line for these fish.
The faster you can get them in, and back in the water,,,the better.

[Chris Woodward]

Thanks for the post, Capt. Rick. I hope you've been able to get out on the beaches what with all the tropical weather we've had.
Re the tackle size: I probably should have said we most often use 20-pound. We carry a lighter rod (my reference to 15) when we think we may have a shot at legal-size reds and trout and also whiting to use as bait.
My husband, who is a marine biologist specializing in redfish research, recommends using at least 20-pound for bull reds in Georgia. I'll ask him to chime in with his reasoning for that, if he'd care to.
Tight lines.