January 29, 2018

Check These Places To Catch Redfish When The Water Gets High

Catching redfish gets tough when water levels soar, but these locations are where I catch limits anyways.

Redfish Location in High Water

We all know the tide doesn’t go up and down in a regular pattern, it is drastically affected by the wind.

east wind and louisiana tide

Drastic changes in water level results in a drastic change in redfish location.

Remember the marsh is like a set of stairs: as water levels go up, fish also go up, when they go down, they also go down.

When the water is low, fish become concentrated,  and easily caught like what we see in the Redfish Jubilee.

Redfish location low water

But when the water is high, more shoreline becomes available to the redfish, scattering them as they look for forage.

Redfish location high water

Even if they remain schooled up, that school of redfish can be anywhere.

But there is one place you can almost always count on them being.

That’s grass mats.

And when water gets high there is enough space to float your boat and retrieve a lure above that grass mat.

Hungry redfish will take advantage of this, too.

After all, they are still going as shallow as they can in 2-3 feet of water, just now in 5-6ft with 3ft of grass cutting that depth in half.

Why fish these grass mats?

Because it’s a place you can concentrate your efforts without the aggravation of covering water.

Following redfish to the furthest shoreline is a pain in the ass.

Redfish location

More Water = More Fish

I have learned the most productive water for catching redfish are not tiny, shallow ponds, but larger, deeper bays.

Chris Kennedy, redfish tournament champion, agrees with me in Episode 64 of Inshore Interviews.

Conclusion

We know the marsh is a set of stairs redfish go up and down with the water, but just because the water gets high doesn’t mean we have to cover more shoreline.

Instead, we can stay right where redfish spend their time feeding and resting, big grass mats!

High water is an opportunity to fish those grass mats in ways we couldn’t before.

Tight lines, y’all!

Want to learn more?

The secrets of finding and catching redfish, in the most fun way possible, is what I reveal inside Sight Fishing Mastery School.

Captain Devin

About the Author

Devin is a former fishing guide and lifelong inshore angler. He founded Louisiana Fishing Blog in 2012 to share his ideas as a charter captain and still writes in it today. Since then he's created a fishing university — LAFB Elite — where he teaches inshore anglers how to safely navigate Louisiana's coast and catch more fish.


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