Here, you could make do in both scenarios with a quarter-ounce gold Johnson Sprite or a spinnerbait dressed with a 2 1/2-inch soft-plastic grub in lieu of a skirt. I prefer the spinnerbait for this double-trouble opportunity, since I can buzz it around the edges of the mats of submerged grass, as well as work it a bit deeper along the rim of the canes.

There is, however, a marked exception to that pattern, and that is finely illustrated by my fly-fishing efforts that, after the water has cleared with the falling tide, almost always involve poppers. Spincasters can easily substitute a junior-sized "Dog" for that spoon or spinnerbait and have almost as much fun in this setting as I do with fly-rod poppers!

Stands of roseau found along the edges of bays require fairly precise casting, since they're frequently in water too shallow to gain flipping distance. In this case, the casts should be made to points where the lure can be drawn parallel and close to the edge of a point or pocket on the rim of the canes. Tossing the lure to the back of a pocket or the tip of a point is seldom productive.

Stands of canes found in this setting are greatly enhanced by the mouth of a coulee within them. While the apparent target zone may be right at the spot where the coulee opens up into the adjacent water, coastal erosion may have again created a major factor for determining what is indeed the best target area.

That is because of the wave-induced subsidence of the stand of canes, which over time tends to leave a rather broad and shallow flat outside of the mouth of the coulee. On the low end of the falling tide, these areas may be too shallow for reds. And yes, water actually can become too shallow for redfish, especially when it's over a hard bottom.

Here -- again, on the falling tide -- prey may be carried through the coulee and out its mouth with the current, but the reds may be feeding some distance from that point. If you are not aware of that, it's easy to idle your boat right through a gang of them as you try to approach what seems to be "the right spot" for prospecting the area.

If there is any indication that the water outside the coulee is shallow -- like an abrupt change in its hue -- then stop a long cast from it and prospect the area between it and your boat. Be quiet about it; the fish may be right in front of you.

You may have been able to determine that from a distance by obvious feeding activity, and that's what you should hope for. On the falling tide, always work the water away from the mouth of a cut through a stand of roseau on the edge of a bay first -- whether you have seen signs of fish there or not!

Don't hesitate to prospect the water on the side of the cut where the current may be passing, even to a point some 50 to 60 feet away from it. While the flow at that point may no longer be able to transport the prey species, some may have become disoriented and, therefore, vulnerable to attack.