their energy to chase after those
particular baitfish. They may just
want a small bait such as a Matrix
Shad; and on some days, a crawfish as well. Usually, a natural presence such as a Shad-style bait or
crawfish-style bait is what will get a
reaction out of those fish. Even on
days when you have figured out
the right bait, some redfish may
come ten yards to eat it, and some
may want it ten inches off their
noses. No matter how critically you
analyze each and every aspect of a
redfish, it is still hard to perfectly
figure out each fish. By studying
multiple fish in an area, whether
they are actively eating your baits
or not, will cause you to think more
like the fish in that area, and then
you may find them acting the exact
same way in a totally different area.
Receiving that train of thought will
cause you to succeed more and
more with each and every trip.
Even those fish sitting at the point
of being caught on popping corks
have a reason they are there and
not somewhere else. Let's take
popping a cork for redfish for an
example. It's not so simple as
pulling up to a point and making
some noise to catch the fish. You
may fish hundreds of different
points until you find what they
want to hold to. Usually a point
with a good flow around it with
bait in the near area can be a surefire way to find loads of redfish.
Now thinking about why a redfish
likes one point over another in the
same area is where that catchy lit-
tle phrase comes in handy yet
again. Think like that fish you just
caught. Was he just passing by on
that point? Was he there all day?
Was it a whole school sitting on
that one point? There is probably a
reason for it all. These fish can be
extremely smart at times, but still
only have a brain a fraction of the
size of yours. In this situation, trial
and error come greatly into play.
Find out just how many you catch
on certain points. Go find some
others like it or complete opposites even, and start to narrow
down your options on why those
fish are there. It may sound kind of
technical, but just think about how
much time you spend at the sporting goods store trying to pick out
which Matrix Shad color you want
to buy, and then this theory
might not sound so crazy. It
may not be as much of what
color that day as much as it will
be thinking about what that fish
is doing that very given day.
Take into effect the moon,
tides, light, and weather, and
your "think like a redfish"
phrase might not seem so foolish as you tell your friends
about all those redfish you
caught that day.
Some days are a breeze and it
seems like you can do no
wrong out there; but sometimes you just have to remember, they didn't get to be that
size by eating something that
hit them in the back three feet
off the bow of a boat. Sometimes you just have to give it
everything you've got, break it
down to the basics, and just
think like a redfish.