What Lure For Redfish
Tie on a paddle-tail swimbait on a jighead and fish it jighead and soft plastic style. That is the first choice for redfish on this site: 1/4-3/4 oz on jighead hooks. It is weak in heavy vegetation, where the exposed jighead point collects grass on nearly every cast.
Tackle for redfish is a decision made repeatedly, not once. So it is organized by method: the way you are fishing decides the bait long before brand or color does. Each group below carries the rod requirement that method implies. A bait the rod in your hand cannot cast is not an option, however well it suits the fish.
Jighead and Soft Plastic
A jighead keeps the bait on the bottom where a redfish is already looking, and it stays fishable in the current that moves them.
A fast tip reads the faint knock of a bite through slack line, and the exposed single hook needs a quick, short set and not a long sweep.
Paddle-tail swimbait on a jighead
- Weight
- 1/4-3/4 oz
- Size
- 3-5"
- Hook
- jighead
- Water
- clear and stained
- Depth
- 1-15 ft
Paddle-tail swimbait on a jighead is a 1/4-3/4 oz lure fished on jighead hooks (a hook with its weight molded on at the eye), which suits redfish in clear and stained water. It works between 1 and 15 feet. Reliable when fish are feeding on baitfish along a defined edge, and the head weight can be set to hold the bait at their depth. Cast past the target, let it sink to the depth you want, then wind slowly and steadily, adding an occasional pause to let it drop back down.
Weak in heavy vegetation, where the exposed jighead point collects grass on nearly every cast.
Shrimp-imitation soft plastic
- Weight
- 1/8-1/2 oz
- Size
- 3-4"
- Hook
- jighead
- Water
- clear and stained
- Depth
- 1-8 ft
Shrimp-imitation soft plastic is a 1/8-1/2 oz lure fished on jighead hooks, which suits redfish in clear and stained water. It works between 1 and 8 feet. Strongest over grass flats and along marsh drains on a moving tide, when shrimp are being pushed out of cover. Hop it once or twice off the bottom and then leave it still, or suspend it under a cork and let the cork do the moving for you.
Less convincing in heavy current on a hard bottom, where a heavier jighead and a baitfish profile hold position better.
Popping Cork
The cork holds a bait at a fixed depth over grass and the pop imitates a feeding fish, which pulls reds in from outside casting range.
Extra length gives the sweep needed to pop a cork from a distance, and the added power casts a heavy rig without the cork folding the tip.
Live shrimp
- Weight
- 1/4-5/8 oz
- Size
- 2-4"
- Hook
- single
- Water
- clear, stained and muddy
- Depth
- 1-6 ft
Live shrimp is a 1/4-5/8 oz natural bait fished on single hooks (one hook point on one shaft), which suits redfish in any water clarity. It works between 1 and 6 feet. Hard to beat on a moving tide over grass, and it is the most forgiving option for someone still learning to read inshore water. Set the leader so the shrimp hangs just above the grass. Cast, pop the cork once, then leave it alone for several seconds before popping again.
Impractical on a long day or a long run, since keeping shrimp alive is a chore and small fish strip them constantly.
Shrimp-imitation soft plastic
- Weight
- 1/8-1/2 oz
- Size
- 3-4"
- Hook
- jighead
- Water
- clear and stained
- Depth
- 1-8 ft
Shrimp-imitation soft plastic is a 1/8-1/2 oz lure fished on jighead hooks, which suits redfish in clear and stained water. It works between 1 and 8 feet. Strongest over grass flats and along marsh drains on a moving tide, when shrimp are being pushed out of cover. Hop it once or twice off the bottom and then leave it still, or suspend it under a cork and let the cork do the moving for you.
Less convincing in heavy current on a hard bottom, where a heavier jighead and a baitfish profile hold position better.
Walking a Topwater Plug
Reds will come up over shallow grass at first light, though a downward-facing mouth means missed strikes are normal and not a mistake.
Enough tip speed to work the bait in rhythm, but not so stiff that a treble tears free when a fish rolls on the plug instead of eating it cleanly.
Popper
- Weight
- 1/4-5/8 oz
- Size
- 2.5-4"
- Hook
- treble
- Water
- clear and stained
- Depth
- 0-1 ft
Popper is a 1/4-5/8 oz lure fished on treble hooks (three hook points sharing one shaft), which suits redfish in clear and stained water. It works between 0 and 1 feet. Good over an isolated target such as a dock, a stump or a single oyster clump, where holding the bait in one place matters more than covering water. Cast past the target, let the rings settle, then pull sharply once and wait — most strikes come during the pause, not the pop.
Inefficient for searching a large flat, where a walking bait moves more water per cast and covers ground faster.
Walking topwater plug
- Weight
- 1/2-7/8 oz
- Size
- 4-5.5"
- Hook
- treble
- Water
- clear and stained
- Depth
- 0-1 ft
Walking topwater plug is a 1/2-7/8 oz lure fished on treble hooks, which suits redfish in clear and stained water. It works between 0 and 1 feet. Best in low light over shallow water with fish feeding up, and it stays useful all day when there is enough surface chop to hide the boat. Point the rod tip down and give short downward taps in a steady rhythm, taking up slack between taps so the plug swings instead of pulling straight.
Not worth tying on in heavy wind or a strong current, where the plug cannot hold a rhythm and fish cannot track it.
Where This Decision Goes Next
Redfish
Everything else about gear for redfish, in overview.
What rod for redfish
The rod answer for redfish in full, ranked, with the reason for each.
Narrow these redfish baits to your water
Five questions, four of them skippable. Name the water and the rod you own, and this list shortens to the baits that rod can actually cast — which is a shorter list than the one above, and the one worth packing.