How to catch bull reds on the beaches (surf fishing)

[AceArcher]

Well written MG. First off thank you for sharing your techniques for catching them at the jetties and now on the beach. Thanks to you i have several GREAT trips going after these very fun brutes.

I would like to say that i do disagree with you in regards to the circle hooks.

Due to me chasing the Large Blue cats on the Potomac & James rivers up north. I had a good supply of Large Gamakatsu octopus circle hooks in both 8/0 and 9/0 sizes.

I had great confidence in these hooks for the large (50+ lb fish) and was sure that i could put them to good use on the reds. In addition i knew that fish hooked in the corner of the mouth and then released would far much better than one's hooked more deeply with a J style hook.

Some key factors when using any circle hook are;

1) for both strength & to ensure that the hook has a straight "pull" on it, snell the hook to your line. I have had good success with the "common" snell as shown in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukzfzws2jYY

2) When baiting the hook make sure that you leave the hook point and a good portion of the hook itself exposed, cracked crab worked perfectly because you could run the hook in one of the leg joints and back out of another leaving hook almost completely exposed. (when fishing for the large cats up north, we would often use 1+ pound chunks of shad so the baits were large... but the hook would just be through the backbone at the top or corner of the bait)

3) DONT SET THE HOOK! the easiest way to do this when fishing either the jetties or from the beach is to leave your rod in your rod holder... when the rod is bent in half and the redfish is headed for old mexico... then you can pick it up and begin your fight.

4) Don't use to small of a hook, for those bull red's nothing smaller than 6/0 should be on the end of your line... with 8/0 being probably the most appropriate.

If however you want to hold the rod.. thats fine... once your sure that the fish has swallowed the bait.. simply start reeling... and keep reeling in a smooth fairly brisk fashion... BUT DONT "SET" the hook by jerking the rod etc. Then enjoy the next 15 minutes of line blistering runs

I have went after the bull's at the jetties now 3 times using the techniques you outlined before.. every time i have used Circle hooks, I have not lost a single fish. In those 3 trips i would guess that we caught well over 25 fish total. I strongly encourage you to Give them circle hooks another chance. They will hook the reds in the corner of the mouth every time.