Entry 223-1
Sleeper Lures for Redfish with Ray Van Horn
Editor’s Note: On October 7, 2007, Ray Van Horn of Tarpon Springs, Florida, Strike King Pro Team member, and his partner, C.A. Richardson of St. Petersburg, Florida, finished in third place in the 2007 Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup tournament in Morehead City, North Carolina. Van Horn has learned to convert Strike King’s bass-fishing lures to salt-water lures and then fish those lures to catch tournament-size redfish. This week, he’ll tell us about the sleeper lures he uses to catch redfish.
Part 1: The Redfish Magic and the Pure Poison
Quesion: Ray, at your last tournament, how did you find and catch your redfish?
Van Horn: We had changing conditions every Part during practice. We had overcast skies and wind and rain, so we used Strike King’s Redfish Magic 1/4-ounce spinner bait in chartreuse-and-white or with a Glass Minnow body. We also used the Pure Poison, which located plenty of redfish.
Quesion: How were you fishing the Redfish Magic?
Van Horn: We were fishing many areas with heavy mullet concentrations. As the water rose, there was a lot of cane along the Intracoastal Waterway and in the creeks, so we searched for the baitfish along those canes. Most of the redfish were on the first creeks along the Intracoastal Waterway. To find the fish, we had to use a bait we could fish fairly quickly. Strike King’s Redfish Magic and Pure Poison were the best two lures for this tactic.
Quesion: The Pure Poison is a bass bait. Why were you using it to catch redfish?
Van Horn: I really wish you wouldn’t tell anybody about the Pure Poison because it’s a sleeper bait for redfish. It’s more-versatile than the Redfish Magic. The Pure Poison is a jig, a spoon, a crankbait and a spinner bait. I’m using it more for redfish than I ever have. Right now, Pure Poison is kind of a secret on the redfish tournament trails. We’ll be fishing the FLW Championship in Orange Beach, Alabama, in mid-October, and we’ll definitely be using the Pure Poison. Redfish are attracted to flash. When I’ve compared the Redfish Magic to the Pure Poison, the strikes are much-more aggressive on the Pure Poison than the strikes on the Redfish Magic. The strikes on the Pure Poison almost will jar our rods out of our hands. We caught our biggest fish of the tournament on the Pure Poison.
Quesion: What pound-test line are you using with the Pure Poison?
Van Horn: We’re fishing it on 50-pound-test Sufix Performance Braid line. To the end of the line, we tie a uni-knot on 30-pound-test fluorocarbon leader. 
Then we tie a Palomar knot to either the Pure Poison or the Redfish Magic.
Quesion: What colors seem to work best for you?
Van Horn: On the Redfish Magic, the red head with a white-and-chartreuse Glass Minnow body seems to be the best. On the Pure Poison, I use pumpkin-chartreuse.
For more information about catching redfish with Strike King lures, check your local TV stations to watch “Flats Class,” TV show, or visit the Flats Class website.
Next: Fishing the Glass Minnow
Contents:
- Part 1: The Redfish Magic and the Pure Poison
- Part 2: Fishing the Glass Minnow
- Part 3: Drop Shotting for Redfish – Power Finesse Fishing
- Part 4: The Pitch Bait
- Part 5: Opposites Attract
