During the fall, especially during stormy weather, large adult red drum move to the gulf beaches, possibly for spawning, where they can be caught from piers and by surf anglers. Juvenile red fish feed primarily on small crabs, shrimps, and marine worms. As they grow older, they feed on larger crabs, shrimps, and small fish. They generally are bottom feeders but will feed in the water column when the opportunity arises. The best natural baits are live shrimp, small finger mullet, Atlantic croaker, and small live blue crabs.
Live fish are best on the bottom using a slip-sinker type rig where the fish can swim freely.
The bait fish are hooked through the lips or through the top of the back behind the dorsal fin. Small blue crab are fished on bottom and are hooked through one of the swimming legs at the rear of the crab. Stalking the shallow grass flats for red drum is the ultimate challenge for the wade anglers. A weedless spoon is used in areas of heavy submerged or floating vegetation. Shrimplike plastic worms and jigs are good and both are fished under corks or bounced along the bottom.