Tips For Catching Winter Reds In Rivers

The majority of my winter coastal fishing during the last five years has been in the Sabine River.

And it was not always by choice.

Brutal winds combined with an equally brutal schedule have forced me to fish when I can no matter the conditions, so the Sabine River is my backup plan. But that’s not a bad thing.

This time of year I have found if I can find mullet, I can find redfish and usually big ones.

Here are the patterns I discovered and notes I have taken.

#As noted earlier the reds are around the mullet. The area near the Interstate 10 bridge on the saltwater line produced big reds but only when the big numbers of mullet were there. There are many small shad in the system but that is not what the reds are on. They feed heavily on mullet so be mindful of that when scouting out areas.

#The bayous along the river north of bay systems some big reds but most of the fish seem to be in the mouths of the bayous where they meet the river or near-drop offs in the main river channel. If you do not find mullet on the surface, look with your electronics below because that could be what the reds are holding on. A steep drop-off with big mullet concentrations is the perfect scenario.

#The reds in deeper water (or on the edges of the deep) prefer either crankbaits with deep sounding rattles or none at all. I have caught them on the Super Pogy from Bomber Saltwater Grade which has a couple of big ball bearings that give a deep-resonating sound and on a Rick Clunn R2 Squarebill from Luck E. Strike that has no rattles. Both of these have produced for me recently but crankbaits with small rattles did not.

I have always been far more confident in heavier rattles with reds and although they will hit virtually anything at times I think the louder rattles were great in deep water.

On days when the winds are blowing and the lake and jetties are inaccessible, give these rivers a shot. You might just find some really big redfish.

Chester Moore