Also known as Red Drum, Channel Bass, Spot-Tail Bass, Bull Red (large). Bait, technique, tide windows, and where the bite is on right now.
Redfish — Gulf Coast and SE inshore staple — copper-bodied flats ambusher. Also called Red Drum, Channel Bass, Spot-Tail Bass, Bull Red (large).
Red drum (redfish) have a single black spot at the base of the tail that mimics an eye — and field studies confirm strikes from predators (sharks, large jacks) target the spot, not the head. Many adult fish carry two or three spots from healed predation attempts. The species can live 60 years and reaches maturity at four; the bulls 75 cm+ are spawning-class breeders.
Redfish is also known as: Red Drum, Channel Bass, Spot-Tail Bass, Bull Red (large). Gulf Coast and SE inshore staple — copper-bodied flats ambusher.
Regional names can confuse anglers and cause misidentification. The table of common names below covers the most-used alternatives across Australia, New Zealand and the US:
Key to correct identification: check the regulations-authority species sheet for your state or territory before keeping any fish — minimum legal sizes, bag limits and identification guides are published by each fisheries department and are the authoritative source.
Hero spots in our coverage where Redfish is in season for June. Click through for the live forecast.
Flats: pole the boat onto shallow grass flats in 1–3 ft of water and sight-fish tailing reds (where they're feeding head-down with their tails above water — visible from 50 m away in calm conditions). Cast a weedless soft plastic or gold spoon 3 ft ahead of the fish, slow retrieve. Inshore docks / oyster bars: cast popping cork rigs along the structure on a moving tide. Bull reds in the surf (Outer Banks fall run): cast cut bait into surf gutters at night.
Redfish tail and feed actively on the run-up tide as it covers flats with new water and brings in shrimp / crabs. The first two hours of a strong incoming tide on a shallow grass flat is prime. They also feed on the run-out as bait gets funnelled out of marsh creeks.
Spring tides push redfish much further into marshes and onto previously-inaccessible flats — the few days around the full and new moons are when "marsh flooding" creates spectacular tailing opportunities in Louisiana and the Carolinas. Outside spring tides, redfish are weakly moon-driven; light and tide matter more.
Highly variable by state. Florida: 18–27" slot, 1 fish per person; Texas: 20–28" slot, 3 per day; Louisiana: 16–27" slot, 5 per day; North Carolina: 18–27" slot, 1 per day. Always verify at the relevant state wildlife agency. Big "bull reds" (28"+) are breeders — handle and release them carefully even where regulations allow take.
From our training corpus of ~1.1M angler-logged catches across 14 regions. Last refreshed 2026-05-18.
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