Redfish fishing in The Everglades

In The Everglades, redfish peak August–May and are around year-round, spawning in September–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. January: Dry season: fish on the drained flats and in the creek bends.

1. JanuaryPeakDry season: fish on the drained flats and in the creek bends.
2. FebruaryPeakSchools on the Florida Bay flats.
3. MarchPeakSnook opens; snook and tarpon move toward the outside. Snook leave the backcountry for the outside points and passes as the water warms. The first tarpon show at the river mouths and along the outside beaches.
4. AprilPeakTarpon on the outside; snook stage on the beaches and passes. Tarpon along the outside beaches and in the big bays; snook staging at the passes for the spawn (harvest closes the 30th). Permit on the outside wrecks.
5. MayPeakPeak tarpon and beach snook. Tarpon everywhere on the outside; snook on the beaches at dawn; big trout on the Florida Bay banks before the heat.
6. JuneAroundTarpon and snook outside; the wet season begins. Fish early — the afternoon storms build by noon. Tarpon on the beaches and at the river mouths on the outgoing; snook in the surf.
7. JulyAroundWet season: dawn on the outside, snapper in the creeks. Beach snook and late tarpon at first light; mangrove snapper thick in the creek mouths; the backcountry is bugs and heat after ten.
8. AugustPeakHot, wet, buggy — and the reds start to school. Reds gather on the outside bars and Florida Bay flats; snook under the mangrove shade on the strong tide; fish the outgoing at dawn.
9. SeptemberSpawningSchools on the outside bars with the mullet.
10. OctoberSpawningSnook reopens; reds, snook and tarpon on the fall bait. Snook harvest reopens the 1st. The outside beaches and passes are alive with mullet; reds schooled on the bars; trout back on the flats.
11. NovemberPeakThe first fronts drain the backcountry — sight fishing begins. The dry-season pattern starts: low water, clear water, fish on the open flats and in the creek bends. Snook closes the 30th.
12. DecemberPeakDry season proper: clear water, low tides, fish in the open. Sight-fish the outside flats and the creek mouths on calm days; deep creek bends after each front.

Mangrove islands, tidal creeks, oyster bars and the outside beaches from Marco south to Cape Sable, then Florida Bay's shallow basins and banks. Almost none of it developed. The most tide-driven water in the state.

Fish Scouter charts 2,179 grass flat, 1,165 mangrove shoreline, 42 dock / pilings, 40 pass / inlet, 5 channel edge spots in the The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades map area — the kinds redfish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades, the whole year