(Help) How To: Bull Red

[sfef84]

My buddy and I have had 4 outings to varies rock jetties along the seawall and the spot at the end of Seawall Blvd (didnt take the dirt road). Did some research online and all the info is as follows: Fish for em in late Sept through Nov along the beach or Jetties with live/fresh dead mullet, shad, shrimp; They are not finicky eaters etc etc.

I need some specifics:

Best to fish for em on falling/rising high/low tide?

Would you go to the end of Seawall Blvd and fish along the GSC jetties (not taking the ferry across) or stick with the beach rock piers?

What kind of weather? My buddy's friend said they caught a bunch of bull reds when the seas were pretty rough... Does it matter?

Thanks all.

[patwilson]

Bull reds are fairly easy to catch. The best bait IMO is Spanish sardines because of the oil content. Just about any condition is good on the dates mentioned. Just look for a bit of working bait (i.e. jumping mullet) and set up shop. Have some patience, they will come!

[Milkjug]

Not the most difficult fish to target. Go and soak mullet on the bottom. You will get them soon enough.

Late Sept.-Nov. is good, but they are there year-round. I caught a few fishing for drum in April a while ago when I was still pretty into that. They also show up with the shark catch in mid-summer BTB.

Tidewise, I would want a moving tide. Incoming would probably be a bit better in the channels, and outgoing for beachfront near jetties, but I doubt it makes too much of a difference. If you are fishing rock groins (pretty shallow already), I would try for a high tide.

S. Jetty is tough walking access. The surf in the pocket there (that would be the gulf side) is really shallow, and there is a washover keeping you from going out that far.

Yak access is fine on calm days, and this would be a good spot.

I'm not sure where the dirt road is at the E. end of Seawall. The rocks to the N. of the dead-end is a good bank fishing spot. I see those shorebirds poach plenty of bulls there.

Your rock groins are good too.

Rough surf is fine. Just have enough lead on your spider weights to hold the bait down.

[Robalo]

I fish for em from a boat and go along jetties throwing into rocks, keying on splashoevrs. I use live shrimp and/or piggies for em with 1/4 oz weights, bouncing along rocks. Lotta folks use long rods at surf with cut mullet and sit and wait. Reds are smell-oriented, so clarity is not an issue-some folks prefer rough conditions. Moving water is needed, so either is best, but I find an incoming tide to be best.

Never have bank fished for them.

[Milkjug]

The best bait IMO is Spanish sardines

Everything like to eat these, but they are a bit soft, and would probably give you trouble falling off during the cast, and definentely would get stripped by trash fish pretty quickly.

A good hunk of mullet a bit smaller than a baseball is a nice durable bait. Only the trophy slimers will be able to swallow that one

[sfef84]

Thanks for the encouragement!

We set up shop 4 times... each at 3-4 hours. Been using fresh dead mullet and shad. The most frustrating thing has been loosing bait without any hits. We went through 2 pounds of shad, 2 pounds of mullet and live shrimp yesterday. I know... thats why Its called fishing. The biggest PITA has been keeping bait on the hooks while casting.

7/0 circle hooks right?
How do you protect your main line from being destroyed by the spider weights?
Whats the strongest part to hook dead shad/mullet? The shad are so friggin soft that the hook rips right out during a cast. The strongest area to hook the mullet is from eye socket to eye socket... is this OK

Sorry for all the ?s but questions are all that come to my mind as im standing on the rocks with my arms crossed looking over my rods like a shepherd to his sheep for 3 hours at a time!!

[Milkjug]

Shrimp and shad will get stripped pretty quick.

I like a big circle hook, 14/0 or 16/0, preferring the 16er.

IMO, a mistake a lot of folks make is filling the gap of a hook with bait. You need an open gap and an exposed point for the best hook-ups.

I will hook a mullet head through one eye, and bring the point down through the middle of the bottom area .

The body sections get hooked through a place on the top edge, through both sides of the skin (I like to put it through the area with the fin for extra support).

In both cases, it will look like the bait is barely held on, but it seems to work for me.

I also chop off the tail fin on the back piece of bait, right where before where it starts. This reduces some drag, and gives another area for scent to come out.

[aqua pimp]

Cracked Crab or quatered works really well also.

AQUA PIMP

[sfef84]

16/0?? like the one in the pic? Thats a big ars hook.

[Milkjug]

16/0... Cause they don't make a 17/0.... Kidding.

That does look kind of big, unless that is a small hand. The 16/0 I use are mustad hooks. Academy's biggest circle is a 14/0.

[kray59]

bull reds

i personally have caught more big reds on live bait . croakers and mullet .i like to trim the tail fin so the bait is swimming eraticly .good luck and let us know what works best for you.

[sfef84]

HA! Touché Milkjug... Touché

[RSN]

go to the end of the north jetties, get set up near that weather tower deal. use a decent sized circle hook with a shad/mullet cut in half. we fish ours in free spool with the clicker on, let him run for about 4-5 seconds then flip your drag and get em. the size of weight will depend on how bad that current is ripping. try to fish while the tide is moving, if the tide is dead then you may have some troubles. just like Robalo said, the incoming tide will probably be your best bet



if you don't have access to a boat, san luis pass would be a good option, we have had the most success fishing SLP/jettie entrance. Those fish come from offshore, so they have to run through the pass/jetties

[patwilson]

My goodness that is a big hook. That is way over kill! PM me your info and I will give you my number...We can talk.

16/0?? like the one in the pic? Thats a big ars hook.

[aqua pimp]

Thats the kind of hook you use for a jet ski!!!!!!!!

AQUA PIMP