The presence of storms in the western Gulf of Mexico is never a welcomed thing but for anglers who love to catch bull redfish, the Gulf storm clouds do

have a silver lining: the bull redfish run.

    For anglers without boats or those who want to connect with deep sea-style fishing without making the gas-guzzling trip offshore, the surf at McFaddin Beach, High Island and Bolivar is the place to be right about now.

    Bull redfish start invading the surf in the late summer/early fall period and over the last week there have been some reports of fish up to 45 inches caught by local anglers.

    "It's getting that time of year and the surf is starting to hold some huge bull reds," said Marcus Heflin of Christian Surf Fishing Adventures.

    Long surf rods baited with cut mullet or crab are the most popular means of catching bull reds on the Texas coast. Squid is sometimes used, as is jumbo shrimp, but my favorite is live croaker. In my experience, a live croaker of 8 to 12 inches is the very best bull redfish bait, particularly when the surf is muddy. The croaking sound gives reds an audible target, and a large live bait keeps away most gafftops and hardheads.

    If you have never used circle hooks, I recommend placing the rod in a holder and allowing the fish to hook itself. Do not try to set the hook as you would with a regular J-style hook. After the rod starts bending over, give it a slight tug and start reeling. I have caught several 40-pound class reds, many sharks, and a few blue catfish of the same size without setting the hook at all.

    If you have a boat, the best spot to target bull reds is at the Sabine, Cameron or north Galveston jetties. The boating cuts are popular spots but prefer to look for large structure that breaks up the flow of water.

    When looking at these jetty systems, it is obvious there is a lot of structure around the top, but there is usually much more structure around the base. The rocks typically extend out three times farther at the bottom of a jetty. That means if the jetties are 10 feet wide at the top they are 30 feet wide at the bottom. Many times, the reds will hover around one large piece of rock. 

    Bass anglers often talk about fishing the “secondary points” of a reservoir. They are talking about fishing the point that is not visible to the naked eye, but are obvious underwater. I think of the small pieces of structure (rocks) on a jetty as “secondary points” and look for them first. If there are not reds there, then I can always back off and fish the “main point,” which would be the visible and obvious part of the system.

    Most anglers target the big bulls with boat rods and live or cut mullet. Crab is also very effective although once again croaker although hard to get is by far the best.

    I suggest fishing for the big reds with heavy line and stout rods simply because the quicker you bring them in, the better chance you have of releasing them alive. By law you can only retain one over-sized red (greater than 28 inches) at a time and you have to tag it, so catch-and-release is part of the game. A long fight puts lots of stress on on these fish

    For anglers wishing to catch reds for the frying pan, there have been a good number of slot-sized reds along the Texas rocks recently which do not require many special tackle needs. I prefer to use a medium-heavy popping rod, like my 7-1/2-foot Shakespeare Ugly Stik, and one of my All-Star popping rods. Any good casting reel will get the job done. I use the same rig for trout.

    The most important tackle considerations are the proper lures and baits. I like fishing with 1/2-ounce gold spoons and 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Traps or Fat Free Shads, the latter a crankbait originally designed for freshwater bass.

    With the spoon, the best method is simply to throw it over the hidden structure and let it flutter down slowly. Reds will usually take it on the fall, but sometimes follow it up to the boat before striking. With the Rat-L-Trap, try slow rolling it. In the summer, we have a tendency to fish very fast, but when oxygen levels in the near-shore Gulf of Mexico start to plummet, so do fish metabolisms. I believe understanding and targeting a fish’s oxygen needs is the most misunderstood aspect of the sport. You can greatly increase your catches for reds and other species by fishing slower in the summer. I start by fishing the lure at a snail pace and then crank it up to about half of what I would consider a fast retrieve.