UTERRedfish are in Florida all year. Winter is for sight fishing schools in clear, shallow creeks and canals, spring and summer are for tailing fish on the flats at low tide, and September and October bring big schools on the flats and bull reds spawning at the passes. Fall is the best season overall. FWC's research puts the bull red spawn from late August through mid-November, peaking in September and October.
Redfish (red drum) live in the estuary for their first few years: the marsh, grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves. At about four years old they join the big offshore schools of breeders and come back to the passes and surf each fall to spawn. That life cycle explains everything below. Slot fish are an inshore, year-round fish. Bull reds are a fall fish.
Redfish by season
| Season | What the fish do | How to fish it |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | School tight in creeks, bayous, canals and deep holes; clear, cold water | Sight-cast on sunny afternoons; slow soft plastics, shrimp, cut bait on the bottom |
| Spring (Mar–May) | Spread onto the flats; tail on oyster bars and grass at low water | Pole or wade the first of the incoming; gold spoons, weedless plastics |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | Early and late on the flats, midday under the mangroves and docks | Dawn topwater; cut pinfish or mullet under the mangroves on the high tide |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | Big schools on the flats and bars; bulls spawn at the passes, inlets and nearshore | Find the school and lead it; heavy tackle and cut bait for bulls at the passes |
Tailing redfish on the flats
A redfish tail breaking the surface is one of the best sights in Florida fishing. Reds tail when they're nosed down in shallow water rooting for crabs and shrimp, usually on the low, rising tide over oyster bars, grass and mud. The best places to find them:
- The Big Bend: tailing on the oyster bars at low water in spring, from Cedar Key to Homosassa.
- Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River: tailing fish in the shallows from March, in some of the clearest water in the state.
- Northeast Florida: on the biggest high tides, reds push up into the flooded spartina grass and tail in inches of water. It's a fly-rod fishery from St. Augustine to Fernandina.
- Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay: on the bars and mangrove edges as the tide comes back in.
Approach slowly from downwind, with the sun behind you. Lead the fish by a few feet and let the bait or fly settle where it's heading. A cast that lands on its head will spook it.
Fall: schools of a hundred and bull reds
Schooling slot fish
From late August, slot-size reds gather in big schools on the flats and bars. September is redfish month on the Nature Coast, with schools of a hundred on the outside bars and creek mouths. Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor schools push across the flats as copper-colored wakes on calm mornings. Watch the wake, get ahead of it, and throw to the front edge.
The bull red spawn
Breeder reds, the big fish well over the slot, gather to spawn at dusk and through the night near the passes and inlets and just off the beach. FWC's aerial surveys from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor found spawning aggregations in nearshore Gulf water from late August to mid-November. Many tagged fish returned to the same Tampa Bay site the next year. An older Florida Marine Research Institute study of Tampa Bay and the Mosquito Lagoon area found spawning from August to November, peaking in September.
- The Panhandle: bulls stack in Pensacola Pass and off the beaches on the fall bait run. October is the best month.
- Tampa Bay: spawners at the passes and nearshore in September and October, while slot fish work the mangroves.
- Charlotte Harbor: spawners out at the passes in October.
- Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River: the lagoon has its own spawn, with big breeder schools from August into October. Lagoon reds have been catch-and-release, so check MyFWC.
- The St. Johns and the Mayport jetties: bulls stack at the river mouth and the jetties from August. September is the best bull red fishing of the year in northeast Florida.
Bull reds are old breeders, and in practice they're a catch-and-release fish. Use circle hooks and heavy enough tackle to land them quickly, keep them horizontal and in the water, and revive them before you let go.
Winter sight fishing
Cold, clear water and low winter tides concentrate redfish into tight schools in the creeks, bayous and canals. On a sunny afternoon after a front, you can see every fish. The First Coast creeks at low tide and the Mosquito Lagoon flats are some of the best winter sight fishing in Florida. In the Everglades the dry season drains the flats and puts fish in the creek bends. In the Panhandle they school in the deep bayous and the Intracoastal. Downsize, slow down, and cast well ahead of the fish.
Redfish by region
- Panhandle: winter bayou schools, October bulls at the passes.
- Big Bend: oyster-bar tailers in spring, huge schools on the outside bars in September and October.
- Tampa Bay & Sarasota: canals in winter, flats schools in late summer, spawners at the passes in fall.
- Charlotte Harbor: creeks in winter, schools on the harbor bars and sound flats in September.
- Everglades: dry-season flats and creek bends, Florida Bay schools.
- Treasure Coast: southern Indian River Lagoon schools and fall spawners at the inlets.
- Space Coast: Mosquito Lagoon's sight fishing all year and its own breeder schools.
- First Coast: tailers in the spartina grass, winter creek schools, bulls at Mayport.
Reading a redfish flat
Redfish give themselves away in shallow water. On a calm morning, look for:
- Tails and backs breaking the surface over grass and oyster.
- Push wakes, a V of water moving against the wind, from a single fish or a school.
- Mud puffs where a fish has rooted the bottom.
- Nervous bait spraying from a mangrove edge.
Wind and sun decide what you can see. A light breeze and high sun are best for sight fishing. On gray or windy days, blind-cast a spoon along mangrove edges and oyster bars on the moving tide instead.
Baits and lures
- Live and cut bait: live shrimp, pinfish (live or cut), cut mullet, and blue crab halves, which also catch black drum.
- Gold spoons: the classic flats lure, since it casts far, comes through grass and flashes.
- Soft plastics: a paddle-tail or shrimp imitation on a weedless hook for the flats, or on a jig head for holes and docks.
- Topwater: walk-the-dog plugs at dawn in summer and fall.
- Flies: crab and shrimp patterns, spoon flies, and small baitfish patterns for tailers.
Rules change, so check them
Florida manages redfish by region. Limits, slots and catch-and-release zones have changed in recent years, so read the current rule for your water on FWC's red drum page before you keep a fish.
Find the reds this week
The redfish page has the whole calendar. We think Fish Scouter is the best way to know what's biting, because it does what a printed calendar can't: it combines this season calendar with the live water temperature from the nearest reporting sensor, the NOAA tide and the wind, ranks every species for the water you're on each hour, and explains each ranking in plain words. It also shows when the next low, rising tide falls, which is the window tailing reds need. Try it free.