James likes to fish all the way down with a Rat-L-Trap, letting it hit the bottom and slowly raising and dropping his rod tip. "It's totally against the way you would typically think of fishing with a Rat-L-Trap, but it works great," he said. "I start off by bouncing it sort of real slowly and then will slow roll it over the shell."

Anglers preferring natural baits can use small chunks of mullet or cracked blue crab. "These reds for some reason like to hit smaller baits this time of year," James said. "I think it's because most of what they are preying on is smaller, so they naturally hit it more aggressively than large baits.

"The east side of Louisiana gets a lot of attention for its redfish and deservedly so, but I think ours fight a bit harder and are bigger on average. So I would say the west coast gets the advantage -- that is, if catching a big fish is on your agenda."

Moving toward Lake Calcasieu, look for some of the deeper oyster reefs to provide some of the best fishing for reds. Oyster reefs are loaded with sand eels, a key component of the redfish diet at this time of year. The general practice while fishing reefs is to make long drifts with the current. A good tip is to use a windsock or driftsock to slow boat movement. A slower drift will make for fewer hangups and better bite detection. Keep in mind that not all oyster reefs are created equal, and that not all parts of an oyster reef are the same. It's important to look for the structure within structure.

An oyster reef is a structure all by itself, but structure lies atop that structure. A big clump of oysters rising up on a slight ridge on a reef with an average depth of 10 feet is structure on structure; a sunken boat on a reef is structure on structure.

Drifting the reefs with soft plastics like the Slimy Slug or Hackberry Hustler is a surefire way to catch reds, according to Capt. Buddy Oakes with the Hackberry Rod and Gun Club. "Drifting is very effective," Oakes said, "because you can cover a lot of ground. The reefs on the south end of Big Lake are very effective in spring and early summer."

An indispensable tool for targeting deep reef reds: a marker buoy. You can purchase these at a tackle store, or simply make your own with 2-liter soft-drink bottles. When coming across a hotspot, throw out the buoys so that you can return there. There might be 100 fish bunched up in a 20-yard spot, and that may be where they stay all day. It's important to be able to stay within the bite window to be successful.