Specialty spinnerbait has been the downfall of many marsh redfish
Fred King knows what he will tie on and have locked in his hand a majority of the time when he’s targeting redfish in the marsh around Delacroix, La.
The 51-year-old Prairieville angler, who co-owns Delta Lures, LLC, smacks the redfish on a Delta Lures Redfish Spinnerbait. That spinnerbait has been the downfall of beaucoup redfish, as many anglers have proven since King and Roy LaBorde of Independence introduced it in the mid-2010s.
“I wanted to kind of get into the redfish side of it,” King said about the artificial lure manufacturing market.
While sales are good along the coast, many, many of them fly off the shelves in the New Orleans and Chalmette areas, he said.
King and LaBorde, who both lived in LaPlace when they founded Delta Lures LLC in 2011, came up with the idea for the specialty spinnerbait and helped in the design created by Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss. Pace was the 2013 Bassmaster Classic champion who fishes now with the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.
At home in the marsh
“I love fishing the Redfish Spinnerbait in the marsh,” King said. “It’s one of my favorite things to catch them on. You can catch redfish and bass, even some speckled trout and the occasional flounder might hit.
The ¼-ounce Redfish Spinnerbait has a single No. 4 gold Colorado blade on a “safety pin” harness. Anglers have the choice between a .40 stainless steel wire on the standard Redfish Spinnerbait or an .51 stainless steel wire on the Heavy Duty Redfish Spinnerbait.
King prefers the .40-gauge wire because of the extra vibration on the retrieve. The HD Redfish Spinnerbait is available online only.
“I personally like the thinner one,” King said. “I know some people who like to use the thicker wire so they don’t have to straighten the wire up after every redfish. You get more vibration with the thinner wire while the heavier wire holds up to redfish.”
The Redfish Spinnerbait is armed with a 4/0 corrosion-resistant Mustad Ultra-point black nickel hook on a jighead with ring-necked baitkeepers on it, he said. He noted there are six ring-necks on the jighead.
Matrix Shad
The baitkeepers hold the Dockside Bait & Tackle’s Matrix Shad or Vortex Shad, ultra-popular swimbait soft plastics, firmly in place while casting, retrieving and catching. Lemonhead is the most popular Matrix Shad color while black/chartreuse is most popular in the Vortex Shad, according to King.
“My favorite color is a Green Hornet Matrix Shad,” he said. “To me it looks like a mullet or something. It looks like a baitfish to me. It’s more natural, so I use that one.”
The Redfish Spinnerbaits are efficient in the marsh, he said, adding he retrieves them close to the top.
“Most of the time you’re fishing 12 to 18 inches of water,” King said. “When you throw it up there, you know, you’re fishing shallow in the marsh.”
And that’s where the redfish — rat reds, slot reds and bigger — live and eat.
He knows if the redfish aren’t hitting the Redfish Spinnerbait, they’ll hit the Delta Lures Thunder Jig, a bladed jig also adorned with either a Matrix Shad or Vortex Shad.
For more information on the Delta Lures Redfish Spinnerbait and other Delta Lures LLC products go to www.deltalures.com.
The post “Delta Lures Redfish Spinnerbait” first appeared on MS-Sportsman.com.