# What's your Redfish/Trout setup...



## alphachief (Mar 13, 2009)

What's your rod/reel/line setup and your go to lures?


I'm going to do a bunch of flats fishing this year and I'm bored of throwing copper penny gulp shrimp under a popping cork.  Don't get me wrong, that will sure catch em, but I'm looking to broaden my flats fishing horizons.


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## bross07 (Mar 13, 2009)

I like top water plugs, suspending lures, cordell redfins, live pinfish under a popping cork, cut bait (finger mullet) , there are endless possibilities! I/m headed down to Keaton Beach tomorrow to get on em! I am going to get me a new Carrot Stix rod today, they feel awesome!


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## 20ReevesCC (Mar 15, 2009)

my favorite setup for the flats is a 6'6" G-Loomis GL2 with the off-shore angler low profile ocean master bait casting reel and either a gulp shrimp in a lead head with no popping cork or a light green mirrolure top water plug.


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## Dustin Pate (Mar 15, 2009)

I catch plenty of trout on a zoom fluke fished weightless. You can catch reds doing that also or put it on a jig head and bounce it around for more reds. I also like Saltwater Assassin Sea Shad fished on a jig head.


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## kingfish (Mar 15, 2009)

Top water in close for reds and trout early a.m.  Usually a Mirrolure Top Dog, She Dog or Zara Spook.  Skitterwalk and Dorky Mullet as the tide comes to full and first hour of outgoing.  As the tide moves out, anchor in 3-6 feet of water that includes grass and fish a couple rods with pinfish and cork combo and a couple rods with cut chunks of mullet, ladyfish, pinfish etc, with no weight, just a hook, leader and a 5/0 circle hook.  Cast them as far away from the boat as you can.  Chumming only enhances your chances.  If your boat is big enough and the seas are calm, run due west, start in about 10-12 feet and pull a stretch 20 in black and white (covers the deep column) and a skirt and ballyhoo/cigar minnow, spanish sardine, etc for grouper and kingfish that will be showing up close in any day now.


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## Lakeb (Mar 15, 2009)

I have always used a spinning reel.  I'm looking at getting a new set up though...maybe a carrot stix with a Diawa Pro baitcaster.  I just use my bass set up with heavier line for both trout and reds.  

I need something with a good braking system...baitcasters and bird nests still get me from time to time.  I like the gulps, mirrolures, and slash baits.  We will be around St. Joes in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully we will have some good luck.

I am going to take my flyrod with me this time.  Figured I would try and see what I can do on the flats.


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## grim (Mar 16, 2009)

I usually carry a 4000 sized spinning rig with a popping cork, a 2500 spinning rig with a jighead, a high capacity casting reel with a top water and a casting rig with a gold spoon or a spinnerbait.  Throw the topwater early or at anything breaking the surface, the spoon on points and structure, the jighead on the grassflats.  Soft jerkbaits with a weighted or unweighted hook work well too.

Starting this time of year is great time to drag a live pinfish behind the boat while drifting under a popping cork.  We have picked up cobia and tarpon (never landed a tarpon, but have had hook ups).  We have also picked up blues, spanish, trout and of course sharks on the pinfish.  We use a circle hook and loosen the drag way up, put the rod in a rod holder and forget about it until we hear the drag going.  10 minutes catching pinfish is time well spent.


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## alphachief (Mar 16, 2009)

grim said:


> I usually carry a 4000 sized spinning rig with a popping cork, a 2500 spinning rig with a jighead, a high capacity casting reel with a top water and a casting rig with a gold spoon or a spinnerbait.  Throw the topwater early or at anything breaking the surface, the spoon on points and structure, the jighead on the grassflats.  Soft jerkbaits with a weighted or unweighted hook work well too.
> 
> Starting this time of year is great time to drag a live pinfish behind the boat while drifting under a popping cork.  We have picked up cobia and tarpon (never landed a tarpon, but have had hook ups).  We have also picked up blues, spanish, trout and of course sharks on the pinfish.  We use a circle hook and loosen the drag way up, put the rod in a rod holder and forget about it until we hear the drag going.  10 minutes catching pinfish is time well spent.




Sounds like very solid advise.  I'll rig up a few rods and give it a try.


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## celticfisherman (Mar 17, 2009)

I go with St. Croix tidemaster 7' med fast spinning rods, shimano 2500 stradic reels, power pro 20lb test (6lb or 8lb diameter line), flouro leaders, small sampro swivels (the fly fishing ones) and on my baitcasters I use 7'6" st. croix tidemaster rods and either pflueger president or shimano citica reels same line.

My go to baits are:

DOA Shrimp (glo is my fav)
Zoom flukes
DOA Terroreyez
Gulp shrimp or Slurp or whatever Bassassin is calling them now
1/4 oz and 1/2 oz white, pink, and black bucktails
Yo-Zuri poppers

Those are my favorites. I do use a bayshore big popper occasionally but not often.


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## PaulD (Mar 17, 2009)

(2) Diawa Sol 2500 on a 7' 8-17 GL2 ( jig and popping cork rods)
Diawa Sol 2000 on 7' Falcon TI (light plug rod)
Penn 955 on a Chaos 7.5' 10-20 (big plug rod)
Calcutta 400 (to big) on a 8' St.croix (slip cork rod for those rare occasions.)

I've caught snook, tarpon (small), reds, trout, tripletail, flounder, cobia, bonefish, pompano, kings and spanish on a 2500 spinning reel. They are light and easy to toss all day. No reason to go any bigger unless your targeting big tarpon of the beach up here or big snook down south.

Topwater early in the A.M. Jigs when the sun comes up.


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## goindeep (Mar 17, 2009)

any of the 2500 series reels on a 7.5-8ft spinning setup will work great...topwaters and redfins are all i throw and i catch as many as anyone you know(hahahahaha maybe also cause i get to fish 50 days a summer)


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## celticfisherman (Mar 18, 2009)

PaulD said:


> I've caught snook, tarpon (small), reds, trout, tripletail, flounder, cobia, bonefish, pompano, kings and spanish on a 2500 spinning reel. They are light and easy to toss all day. No reason to go any bigger unless your targeting big tarpon of the beach up here or big snook down south.



Yep. The weight difference between a 2500 and 4000 over the course of a day is HUGE!


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## grim (Mar 18, 2009)

I use a 6000 for live bait and you will still be cranking up the boat to keep from getting spooled on a flats tarpon.


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## PaulD (Mar 18, 2009)

Yeah, honestly if I get into a area that we are catching mostly trout and reds under 21" I will go down to a 1000 Quatam Catlyst on a 6-12# rod. It's not just the weight of the rod on the handle that tires you out. It's actually mostly the torque on your wrist created by the weight of the tip. You can balance it out by weighting down the butt of your rod. They make several easy ways to do it and you can even buy a simple system that screws into the rod butt and allows you to add and take away weight by removing small weighted washers that thread onto the butt cap. I recommened it to anyone that fishes long days repeatedly.

Grim, that's the same thing we do. I never anchor the boat when Tarpon fishing anyway. Tarpon= Cabo 60 on a 7 or 7.5' 15-30# rod.


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## How2fish (Mar 18, 2009)

For wade fishing I use a 6'6ft med spinning rod with a Shimano Sahara 4000 with 10lb test..a barrel swivel and 2.5 ft 20lb floracarbon..and number 1 or 2 circle hook and a live shrimp..love that outfit..from a boat I use a lot of the outfits already mentioned...and try the live pin fish dragged behind the boat...I actually do that in fresh water but use a big shiner ..good luck.


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## Georgia Slab Masters (Mar 18, 2009)

grim said:


> Starting this time of year is great time to drag a live pinfish behind the boat while drifting under a popping cork.  We have picked up cobia and tarpon (never landed a tarpon, but have had hook ups).  We have also picked up blues, spanish, trout and of course sharks on the pinfish.  We use a circle hook and loosen the drag way up, put the rod in a rod holder and forget about it until we hear the drag going.  10 minutes catching pinfish is time well spent.




++ 2

many a cobia and gator trout have been caught this way....have even had cobia hide under the boat and grab a pinfish that was hanging off the side of the boat too keep it alive until I was ready to cast!!  Heard good reports from the Keaton area from this weekend....the bite should stay on fire for a while and the spanish will show up soon....

as for equipment....most large spinning outfits are able to handle the trout and reds....just depends on what $$ you want to spend...I use a large Abu series with the clicker for the pinfish rig


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