During this period, these male reds feed voraciously, giving anglers an excellent shot at catching them. I prefer to fish for them with heavy tackle in the 30- to 50-pound class. Baitwise, I use blue crabs if croakers aren't available. Broken in half and hooked through the carapace, the stuff has a long hook life and is irresistible to reds. Large shrimp also rank as high on the list of bull red bait; it's best fresh and, preferably, peeled.

The advantage of using shrimp is that they're readily available, whereas croakers or crabs can be tough to come by. Shrimp have one serious drawback: Everything in the ocean eats it, so often the reds don't get a chance.

I generally put out several lines with a slip egg weight and swivel finished off with a wide-gapped hook to target guts and troughs in the surf.

Another area to consider for top redfish action is the Intracoastal Canal, southeast of New Orleans.

Most often, the ideal setup is a big flat and a piece of shoreline or island nearby. Start fishing the secondary point of the island or the one submerged, as this is a classic staging area for fish to travel to and from the deep to shallows. Consider targeting these redfish is by trolling medium-running crankbaits like the Fat Free Shad through these zones. While giving seminars along the coast I've talked about using crankbaits for numerous applications, and always get bizarre looks from a few attendees. Then, when I mention that hundreds of thousands of coastal anglers use lipless crankbaits like the Rat-L-Trap and Spot, attitudes change.

The beauty of trolling is that it's easy, and covers a lot of water. You simply rig your crankbaits in rod holders, let the line out so that you can reach the desired depth, and move your boat slowly. The hardest part will be learning the correct trolling speed. Start as slow as you can go, and then gradually increase speed. Breakaway rigs, also effective for trolling, allow you to use live bait.

This requires using two rod-and-reel outfits: one to fish with and the other to get your bait down to the depth at which you fish. You can use this for trolling lures as well, but it's pretty much the easiest way for live bait.

Hook live bait like a finger mullet through the lips on a small circle hook rigged on braided line; then, take a rod rigged with a 1-ounce weight attached to a good swivel and attach it to your line with a thin rubber band tied to the swivel and to the braid.