Q: What specific fly pattern do you recommend for redfish?
Logan Smith
Charleston, South Carolina
A: There is no one pattern for redfish, but luckily there are a few that do well almost anywhere you find reds in the shallows. Clouser minnows with a mono or plastic-coated braided-wire weed guard are effective. I would dress them on a No. 4 hook for reds to about 8 pounds. For larger fish I recommend a No. 2 or 1/0 hook.
A Clouser with a predominantly black wing and often with a little subdued flash and a pair of grizzly hackle tips has fooled many reds. The chartreuse-and-white Clouser minnow with a sprinkling of pearl flash also works well, as do Seaducers in orange and red or yellow and grizzly combinations. The latter are particularly effective when fishing very shallow water where the fly needs to land quietly and be retrieved slowly near the surface. I always carry a few bend-back patterns, which can be fished without snagging in turtle grass or over oyster bars.
