guys, please weigh in on the best bait for big reds in the surf. ive had the best luck on cut shad followed by mullet. people say small crabs work well too but never had any luck with them.

Mullet or cut Whiting are great for bull reds.

Cheers,

tp

I don't fish the surf much anymore but I can remember doing better on the bulls if there were pogies (shad) around that I could cast net. I used them cut in chunks. I remember one night on the banks of Pass Cavallo when a school of bull reds ran pogies completely out of the water, up onto the shoreline. The sand was littered with flopping pogies. We caught bull reds till we didn't want to catch anymore. Dammm, I need to do that again!

Crab is the best bait for reds in Fall/Winter..

Otherwise cut bait is 2nd.

golden croaker...cut off its head at the front of the dorsal fin.

Honestly, this time of year, I don't think it makes that big a difference. However, I'll defer to some of you that specialize in surf fishing for reds. All I know is the reds are going to be staging in the surf and near the passes soon. I remember one night in late August or early September anchoring in the North channel heading out of San Luis Pass - casting to the shallow bar...we caut 39 reds in 1.5 hours on cut mullet. Magical experience. I don't think it would have made a difference if we were throwing mullet/pogies/croaker or shoe leather. If it was in front of their face, they ate it.

Good luck to all!!

I usually have no trouble at all in catching my limit of reds on live mullet. Carolina rigged with a circle hook and 1 oz. egg sinker about 3 ft above the hook. Hook the mullet through the tail.

How good is the fishing off the seawall in Galveston for bull reds..or just reds and specs in general...ill be down there in 2 weekends to do the family moody gardens thing and want to hit the surf up in the early morning and late evenings and into the night...

big mullet head, its like candy for reds.

candy for reds, or small sharks

I caught a 4 foot bull shark last Friday off the beach at Terramar.

We will be back down the end of August and would love to snag a few reds.

Rodney

Live Mullet I agree

Cut crab or bull mullet with the tail cut off.

i think small whiting cut in half at a angle so the guts hang out hook them through the nose cast them and hold on for the fight.

head of small skipjack seems to work pretty well for me