Inshore, bays and inlets

Redfish (red drum)

Sciaenops ocellatus

Copper backs and black tail spots over knee-deep grass. The everyman's flats fish.

What they like

  • 0.3–1.5 musual depth (they tolerate 0.15–6 m)
  • 18–29 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear or coloured waterwater clarity
  • shallow flats, the shoreline, sloping edgesbottom they hunt, in order
  • the top of the tidetide
  • daylightlight

Tailing over grass and oyster flats on the top of the tide; schooling on open flats in autumn; deeper holes in winter cold snaps.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Georgia to the Chesapeake
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: spinning / casting, fly, bait.

Bait and lures: Cut mullet, live shrimp, crabs; gold spoons, weedless soft plastics, crab and shrimp flies.

Technique: Pole or wade the flooded grass, look for backs and tails, cast a spoon ahead of the school.

Rules

Florida: Florida: slot 18-27 in, one or two per day by zone, no harvest in some regions (Indian River Lagoon and Tampa Bay have special rules). Verify with FWC.

Texas: Texas: 20-28 in slot, 3 per day, one oversized tag per year.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where redfish live

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.