Newbie Question, open water in the bays?

**duckboy007** · #1 07-02-2012, 01:15 PM

Howdy, everybody! I'm totally fresh to the salt, after growing up in the bottomlands of Arkansas chasing largemouths all over the south. I moved to houston last month, and I'm ready to make the switch.

I'be been to the brazoria NWR area twice, and fished the causeway by 45 with my buddy yesterday.

My biggest question has to do with finding areas to fish. When I look at an aerial of a bay (like drum bay) or some of the lakes like salt lake, etc., all i see is flat open nothing. I've had some success in moving water near some of the marshy areas, but id like to know what yall look for when you're choosing an area to fish in the larger areas. It all looks the same to me!

I'd like to Target redfish more than trout, and I've got an aluminum boat with a 25 and trolling motor. My buddy has a 19 foot nitro center console that ill be using some too.

Any tips?

**troutklr** · #2 07-02-2012, 01:40 PM

I look for bait fish on the move...and birds, can't go wrong fishing under the birds. I'm still learning this game as well, but you should get some good information from here.

**TXXpress** · #3 07-02-2012, 02:14 PM

This is a great site to read. Check out the posts and articles by the local guides also. Academy Sports has some books written by local authors for redfish, trout and flounder. If you don't want to buy the books, check them out from a local library. They are chock full of good information. Welcome to Texas and 2Cool.

**ClearLakeClayt** · #4 07-02-2012, 02:15 PM

Reefs are often a good strategy. Get a good chart for your areas:

http://www.hooknline.com/

**HydraSports** · #5 07-02-2012, 02:27 PM

Reefs, drains and bottom contour are three of the easiest "features" to look for and to fish. Tides, wind and water condition play almost as much a part in "catching" as the where part, almost. The tide needs to be moving, the winds light and the water.....well....something more clear than chocolate milk. Some or all of these go together, an example would be "fish a drain out of a back lake on a outgoing tide".

**Timemachine** · #6 07-02-2012, 02:29 PM

Trout Support DVD....Soon to be released Redfish DVD!!!

**duckboy007** · #7 07-03-2012, 12:59 PM

Good stuff, guys. Couple mote follow up questions.

Everyone says to follow the bait, how easy is it to see bait? What am I looking for?

What is the average depth of water I want to be fishing in?

Should I be casting near "stuff" like current seams, drop off, grass, or are the fish just cruising everywhere?

Does pounding the bank like bass fishing ever pay off

Do yall cover a lot of water, or anchor up on a good looking cut and wait em out?

**McDaniel8402** · #8 07-03-2012, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckboy007

Good stuff, guys. Couple mote follow up questions.

Everyone says to follow the bait, how easy is it to see bait? What am I looking for?

What is the average depth of water I want to be fishing in?

Should I be casting near "stuff" like current seams, drop off, grass, or are the fish just cruising everywhere?

Does pounding the bank like bass fishing ever pay off

Do yall cover a lot of water, or anchor up on a good looking cut and wait em out?

Working a shoreline can be pretty fruitful. Anytime you find a marsh drain, there will be all sorts of "food" draining out from the marsh, and fish will hang out, looking for a meal. Redfish tend to hang out where there is some form of structure. Oysters, rock piles, etc. Reds eat a lot of small crabs, shrimps, and various other crustaceans that make their home in structure. Trout, well, sand/grass in the summer, and mud bottom in the winter. Other folks on here target these fish a lot more than i do.

**CaptDocHoliday** · #9 07-03-2012, 01:11 PM

I troll up and down mud/shell banks throwing SW assassins usually (with some tops, spinner baits, and gulp mixed in). Sometimes you will find pods of reds working the banks, making their way up and down eating everything in sight. Other times they lay down in the mud and just hang out. Usually when they do this you are just gonna have to blind cast as you work a stretch. A good start would be some 1/8th oz jig heads, and some Chicken on a Chain & Morning Glory SaltWater assassins.

I find more reds over mud than grass personally, but I know others who feel the opposite. Come late summer they will be in the backs of every slough and back lake. I've found reds miles off the ICW before back in some very shallow, stagnant marsh.

**troutsupport** · #10 07-04-2012, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timemachine

Trout Support DVD....Soon to be released Redfish DVD!!!

Thanks Time Machine... and of all the days FedEx Ships me the Redfish DVD's the evening before the 4th of July.

There are a lot of similarities in fishing for bass and fishing for any saltwater species... especially trout and reds.

Structure... well, structure bass fishing was was a 10' drop off into a creek bed or an old road / bridge, or the wooded flat next to the drop off, or a log laydown. All these structures are both staging / travel keys and ambush points for predators. In salt water it's just more subtle. Structure in saltwater can be the 6" rise of an oyster clump or colony in the middle of the secondary bay, or the 6" drop into that little micro channel that drains the flat on super low tide...when that tide comes back in, redfish will follow that drain into that flat (as Steve Soule puts it... that's an ambush and travel corridor). Current is super important with redfish as well, and like Doc said, finding the mud is super important for redfish as well. Put all that together with finding the seasonal bait movements and you'll catch some redfish! All that and how to find it and more is in the Redfish DVD.

It's my promise to anyone that the troutsupport.com dvd's will be worth at least several years of experience on the water or their money back 110%... if you think about it... that's a lot of time and money savings.

http://www/troutsupport.com