Plastic crawfish and tube lures rigged weeless can be fished over mud and oyster bottom.
Though a float and shrimp is a deadly creek fish-finder, I prefer artificials, both under floats and fished alone. A standard grubtail jig or a plastic shrimp under a float is the ticket to finding reds in unfamiliar creeks, especially during winter when water is cold and fish prefer a slow, precise presentation, and a little sound to get them interested. But most of the time, casting jigs, spoons and plugs is the way to go, in order to cover maximum water. Jigs tipped with shrimp or mud minnows are killers, and shiny spinnerbaits and gold, flashy spoons are next best. When I throw spinnerbaits, I prefer a 1⁄4-ounce grubtail jig with an H&H Cajun Spin ahead of it. This lure is inexpensive, casts well, is weedless, and you’ll miss few strikes. This Cajun spinnerbait wire arm is beefy, and because it’s not rigidly attached to a jighead (like most bass style spinnerbaits), redfish are not likely to destroy the lure during a fight.
Any weedless spoon will take creek reds, but recently I’ve had great success using rattling spoons, of which there are more brands on the market as of late. I must mention the Norton Brass Rattler, a light plastic spoon with a semi-rigid weedguard. This one rides high in the water, so is ideal for shallow creeks with “snaggy” bottom.
If you are sight casting for spooky reds in shallow, tight creeks, a small soft-plastic jerkbait is the ticket, and of course, fly fishers can get the job done well, so long as confines do not make overhead casting impossible. Then again, reds have been taken with short roll casts, so let your ability be your guide. Flies imitating shrimp and crabs are the ticket, and weedguards are advisable. Guides out of South Carolina and Georgia fly fish tight creeks extensively, and to say the least it’s a unique form of sight casting that has to be tried once.
Most creeks have dark water and the fish are not line shy. However, creek waters can clear up in winter and the same can be said for tidal creeks where spartina grass filters most sediment. Clear-water creek reds can be a bit skittish, and at times conventional anglers will find that 20-pound fluorocarbon leaders 6 or 8 feet long can be of help, especially if you use bright-colored braided line.
Whether you prefer to sight-fish or blind-fish, from a canoe, flats boat or bay boat, there are countless miles of redfish-jammed creeks from North Florida through the Carolinas to sample. And when the wind comes up this fall, and it will, creek reds might just save your day.
