Inshore guide Capt. Tommy Derringer, 48, chases redfish in the shallow creeks, flats and backwater estuaries off the Intracoastal Waterway around St. Augustine, Florida. Since his early teens, redfish have predominantly been his game — to the point of obsession. Spin, fly or bait, Derringer does it all. I caught up with him ahead of a late-winter charter to ask about his favorite spring approach.

“It’s kind of a one-two punch, an old tournament thing,” says Derringer, who previously worked as a golf pro and used his days off to fish redfish tournaments before flipping the script and becoming a full-time guide. “We have mullet year-round here, but in the spring, when the mullet show up in droves and the redfish really turn on to them, I’ll almost always have one angler throwing a topwater and another throwing a paddletail,” he says.

A weedless paddletail works well on springtime redfish. Photo by Tommy Derringer

Redfish have such downward-facing snouts that even though they’ll light up on topwater offerings, Derringer figures they miss about 80 percent of their attempts. It’s a fun albeit frustrating game. Derringer’s preferred topwater is a Berkley J-Walker 120 (120mm, or about 4.75 inches) in HD Pilchard. After a few swipes, a redfish will often snatch this false prize, but if the hook evades the fish, there is an ever-ready paddletail in the boat.

Because of the oyster beds and spartina grass that make up the bottom in these waters, Derringer employs a weedless, 5/0, 3/16-ounce Saltwater Assassin Swim Hook in Clear Silver Glitter with a Saltwater Assassin 4-inch Sea Shad in Mississippi Hippie twisted on to it.

Always have a topwater lure and some soft plastics available when hunting redfish.
Always have a topwater lure and some soft plastics available when hunting redfish. Photo by Tommy Derringer

The topwater serves as a finger-mullet imitation, while the paddletail imitates a (very large) mud minnow. Derringer’s method covers the bases of a redfish’s forage in spring, and even if they won’t go for the topwater, it still works as an attractant and a teaser, at which point the paddletail usually seals the deal.

Derringer doesn’t fuss much with colors, opting for earthier tones in the warmer months, when the waters around St. Augustine are on the murky side. During the colder months, he fishes a mix of whites and chartreuse because the water is clearer.

As for leader, Derringer ties on a few feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon, keeping those oyster beds in mind. “Around here, we have a saying: If you’re not fishing over oysters, you’re not fishing,” he says. But those oysters tend to be sharp, and the abrasion resistance of fluorocarbon is preferred whether he’s fishing a subsurface or a topwater.