# Red Drum Parade



## redeye33 (Jun 3, 2021)

So I went to catch crab at low tide at some long docks on the sound side of south Top Sail. As I walked up from the street, I noticed 2 big Reds sitting under the docks. I threw a paddle tail and they raced to it , put there nose on it and swam away. Tried a Berkley shrimp, same result. Spoon scared them, bucktail..no interest. For an hour I watched 27 Redfish and 1 Sheephead swim by me along with school after school of minnows. Most were 4-5 lbs, some smaller ones too. Would not eat anything I threw at them. Decide to get some live bait, netted some minnows, put them on a carolina rig and swept the pillars, tried fresh shrimp, caught some Lizardfish and tried them in chunks, just small junk fish. Started w/20lb flor leader and went down to 14lb, nothing. Can't figure out why they raced to the plastics but rejected them immediately? Any ideas? Is that typical? This was my first attempt at redfish so am seeking help at understanding.


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## poppop1 (Feb 16, 2004)

Maybe they are full of all that bait you were seeing, hard to say for sure, at least you got to see all that and you know they are there. I'd say continue everything you are doing, maybe try some scent on your plastic, have one rod with live bait and throw your plastics, if we all knew for sure what makes a fish bite 100% of the time it would not be as much fun, or would it??, good luck,...pop.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Live Shrimp free lined with 10 pound fluorocarbon leader. Light wire hook. Hook the shrimp just behind the Horn so he can kick better,

May take some effort to cast net shrimp and keep them alive, Shrimp and Mullet together in a live well do not mix well, the Shrimp kill the Mullet.

Dawn is best. Then Dusk, but if I could pick one hour a day in the Summer for fishing it would be Dawn every time.


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## slosh (Jul 1, 2017)

I've caught/ seen caught overslot drum on a dock behind Topsail. Was around this time of year. Between 9PM and 11PM, they hit live fleas and cut pinfish. Several caught in that time frame, then they stopped cold.


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## Von (Apr 26, 2021)

Getting rejected by the fish can be hard to take! I prescribe 6 Coors Lights and 10 shots of your favorite bourbon whiskey. Sleep it off and it will be better tomorrow!

It sounds like they just were not feeding. Possible spawning activity? I have no idea when reds spawn but I’ve watched a bunch of largemouth bass blow a plastic worm or lizard out of a depression they were spawning in. They just will not eat when getting it on is a possibility.

I read up on reds and they’re not spawning so who knows? 

Von


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## redeye33 (Jun 3, 2021)

poppop1 said:


> Maybe they are full of all that bait you were seeing, hard to say for sure, at least you got to see all that and you know they are there. I'd say continue everything you are doing, maybe try some scent on your plastic, have one rod with live bait and throw your plastics, if we all knew for sure what makes a fish bite 100% of the time it would not be as much fun, or would it??, good luck,...pop.


Yep poppop, thats what makes it fun, by the way, I did try some pro-cure redfish attractant but they still rejected it.? It was a great experience to witness for the first time.


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## redeye33 (Jun 3, 2021)

Garboman said:


> Live Shrimp free lined with 10 pound fluorocarbon leader. Light wire hook. Hook the shrimp just behind the Horn so he can kick better,
> 
> May take some effort to cast net shrimp and keep them alive, Shrimp and Mullet together in a live well do not mix well, the Shrimp kill the Mullet.
> 
> Dawn is best. Then Dusk, but if I could pick one hour a day in the Summer for fishing it would be Dawn every time.


Thanks for the tip Garboman! I will have to learn how to catch live shrimp first because I can never find them on the island. Just a rook w/ the cast net but learning. I was fishing midday in the 88 degree heat going with the incoming tide but I am learning that the Tides are not the golden rule and lowlight rules.? Gonna come back down in the fall to try again.


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## redeye33 (Jun 3, 2021)

slosh said:


> I've caught/ seen caught overslot drum on a dock behind Topsail. Was around this time of year. Between 9PM and 11PM, they hit live fleas and cut pinfish. Several caught in that time frame, then they stopped cold.


Hey Slosh, how were you fishing them? Bottom rig, float, freeline, jig? Thanks


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## slosh (Jul 1, 2017)

redeye33 said:


> Hey Slosh, how were you fishing them? Bottom rig, float, freeline, jig? Thanks


Bottom rig (carolina rig) was working that day.


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## dboyd (Apr 2, 2011)

I think Garbo man has it nailed but if you can't get live shrimp I would try any other kind of bait you can find alive it's just harder for them to reject the real thing


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## pcbtightlines (Aug 9, 2020)

Like the song says “Ain’t nothing like the real thing baby”


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Might not apply here and Garbo probably has the best bet, but if you were stopping your lures in front of them you really lose out on a lot of reaction strikes. A lot of people will do this when you can see the fish but it's almost always best to keep it moving like you don't know they're there.


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## slosh (Jul 1, 2017)

SmoothLures said:


> Might not apply here and Garbo probably has the best bet, but if you were stopping your lures in front of them you really lose out on a lot of reaction strikes. A lot of people will do this when you can see the fish but it's almost always best to keep it moving like you don't know they're there.


With largemouth (and I'd imagine this would carry over to drum to at least some extent), if they are tight lipped and in plain sight, I've had success with the following:
1) Work something fast, like a Rat-L-Trap or even a fluke fished obnoxiously, and just like you said, smoke it past them quickly
2) Something very tiny dangled right in their face (float 'n fly). 

I prefer to use 1), but it's a trip when the float 'n fly is working really well.


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## jahtez (Aug 29, 2021)

I agree. Sometimes forcing fish to make a quick decision might get a strike when a slower retrieve and letting them think about it doesn't.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Yep. A lot of the time when they're not interested but you can get a reaction strike they'll grab it for just a second then spit it but that's all you need.


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## don brinson (Apr 8, 2011)

I have seen trout do the same thing in the surf. Cast and cast and nothing. Then the tide changes and they really turn on.
Look at the day and time and see what the tide was. If you were there at the turn it make have been different.


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## redeye33 (Jun 3, 2021)

Thank you everybody for your help! All great info.. Now hopefully gas prices don't kill my trip.


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