If you wish to master the redfish, it’s high time you become an expert on high tides.

If you wish to master the redfish, it’s high time you become an expert on high tides. On the Gulf of Mexico, along Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas shores, predictable diurnal tides occur, resulting in one high and one low tide daily. Most fluctuations on the Gulf sides are about 2 feet. Full moon and new moon bring the highest and lowest tides of the month, and they may be amplified by consistent heavy winds. High tides bring the water inshore and flood marsh areas and flats. This concentrates the redfish, which follow the tide inshore to chase and corral baitfish in the flooded areas. Targeting and capturing redfish in the flooded areas is the next step. "Search baits"–– baits that constantly move through the water and replicate baitfish––are the key to covering water and eliminating dead water (unproductive areas you’ve already fished). Popular baits are spoons, topwaters, spinnerbaits, and the Shimano Waxwing. Implementing search baits is the key to finding active schools of redfish.