what kind of tips would yall give me on redfish with artificial lures, also tips on how to catch the tilapia. im going monday and would just like some pointers

Crankbaits are excellent in the springtime. Cover a lot of water.

Stop by walmart and buy a 25$ cast net for the talapia, hot water cove. You can't not get a bunch.

yeah i've never had trouble catching bait out there... won't say it can't happen but bait has been easy to find... anything you'd throw for stripes/hybrids/big sandies seems to work well... you can set a drift like you would running live bait for striper... put it on bottom like Catfishing or even troll for them.. i've only been down there 3 times total but it fells very normal fishing for them nothing really differnt about it except a good hard fight you'll know the moment you hook into one they don't fight like anything else i've caught for thier size...

Last winter when the water was up you could catch big ones (20+) on one ounce rattle traps...they would kill a bluegill too big to eat and just kinda play with it on the surface creating a bunch of big splashes...it was cool...think the fish kill and the low water wiped a bunch of those big fish out... not to say that there is not still many big fish in there.

Are the talapia better fished live or as cut bait?

I fish them as live bait

WTH i was reading this thread like it was recent lol..the posts before today date back to march of 2009

i do a lot of redfishing in south louisiana. rule for us has always been to use live cochahoe minnows in the winter. it seems they will eat whatever is around. shrimp in the summer, minnows in the winter. cut mullet and cracked crabs for bull reds (over 27 inches). however these fish don't see the normal saltwater prey. i am looking forward to trying fairfield soon.

holy thread revival batman.

U know it TNF i was looking to get back down there and pick up a few reds and was hoping for a report... instead i get our reports from almost a year ago.... wonder how its been down there..

Sorry guys. I'm the one who brought this old thread back up. I was doing a google search on Fairfield and came across a link to this thread and was reading it and came up with a question and here we are.
I'm supposed to head out to Fairfield Wednesday, will be fishing from a canoe and the bank. The plan is to net some tilapia and maybe shad and then go after some reds and whatever else will hit. I'm also bringing an ultralite rig to go after some big bluegill.
Hey TNF, I saw a youtube video posted by a xLeezardx that showed a guy bringing in a 23" red at Fairfield. Was that you?

yes that was me.

Got back from Fairfield last night. Caught a bunch of Tilapia with my cast net Friday and Saturday. Didn't really fish for reds, spent too much time on the Tilapia. I did learn the lake some and next trip I'll devote more time to the reds. Thanks for all the advice.

well thats cool did you fish at all or see anyone