Redfish for the first time

[nickw234]

I really want to try to fish for redfish in the Mosquito lagoon but I've tried it I need some tips for artificial lures and time of day like early bite or later in the day?

Thanks, Nick

[bigtimfish]

Here on the upper Tx coast we catch reds on spooks, gold spoons,jigheads with minnow bodies(hogies,h&h,cocaho minnow),jigheads with shrimp bodies(gulp,powerbait,riptide) and flukes. Or any other fluke type bait(TTF,Big Bite Baits) They make a ton of fluke type baits for saltwater. I only have ever needed 2 colors of any type of plastics for saltwater. Glow and Shad (silver / black back).

[SirSnookalot]

I've fished there before, the above post covers it well.  Bucktail jigs work good too and spinnner baits, they make them for redfish.  Any freshwater fluke like a bass assasin or zoom will work equally as well.  DOA baits are real big in Florida.

[mrlitetackle]

ahhh...

i make trips out there quite frequently myself.  i usually wade fish the lagoon and enter from the space coast national park.  My top producer thus far has been the mirr-o-lure "mirr-o-dine"... the XL size.  all the colors that i have seem to be equal in ability, but the red and white always does a little better.

my advice, stay away from the soft plastics in that area...... although they do work excellent, you'll need a few bags of them BC of all the d**n puffer fish taking chunks out of them.  It got to be too much of a hassle for me, thats why i stick with the hard baits now.

[nickw234]

Ya ill give it a try do you know if there is any ramps around there.

[mrlitetackle]

ya there definetly are.

though i dont have a boat so im not usually looking for them.

if im not mistaken though, there is one near the national park i was speaking of (cape canaveral national seashore).

right at the entrance of the park there is a cross road (the main fenced entrance, not the admission window area).... if you make a left there, there are access points to the lagoon on the right hand side of the road..... maybe 5 min from the park entrance on that road there is a boat launch area for the lagoon.

good luck man...

and dont make the mistake that i did before,

call the park service to see if the park is open before making the drive.  they shut it down for all sorts of reasons with launches and other nasa stuff.  but its not just the park, they close down that whole area nearest to it, including the boat ramp area that i was just speaking of.  its a major pain in the @zz to make the drive for no reason!!!

[LCpointerKILLA]

yeah me and my uncle used to launch out of that ramp in the north end of canaveral seashore. Its still a good cruise south till you get to the open lagoon, and even longer to any good spots.

Best lure early in the morning, if you can cast well, doa cal 4 inch jerkbait weightless in either chartreuse or white. Skitter it slow right on the top water and make it move good. Nothing rejects it.

[Skinnyh2ofishin]

I fish from a kayak, so I don't need a normal boat ramp, but as was already said there are lots of ramps in the canveral national seashore area.  But with the shuttle launch being postponed over and over again you may want to wait till they finally get that thing off the ground so it'll be open.  Even if you get out there and it's closed though, there are plenty of ramps along the Indian and Banana River that will put you in productive water.  The lures have been covered so I won't add anything.

One VERY important thing though is if you're going to take your boat out there, get some maps of the area and learn them.  There are tons of guys out there tearing up the flats because they don't bother learning where they're boat will float, or they drift up onto a flat that's too shallow to get on plane from and they crank up and dig up the bottom anyway until they get up.  

Just another small warning, if you haven't caught redfish before be prepared to be a little disappointed the next time you catch a bass after your first good red!  

Good luck!