Seasonality
The redfish is an essential fish in the Mediterranean food chain, and its abundance makes it a good source of food for large predators. However, they often seek shelter from predators to avoid ending up as snacks, which is why they head for port areas.
This fish is equally at home in winter and summer, as it follows schools of forage fish and traps them against the shore to feed. In winter, it can be found under large schools of anchovies or sardines, occasionally grabbing one to fill its stomach. In summer, they tend to be more opportunistic, moving around a lot in search of a meal. Autumn and spring are periods of transition, and we generally find more small individuals that have not migrated to breed.
How to find them
Redfish have an important relationship with light sources, particularly those created by man, such as street lamps. As a result, most redfish are caught at night, close to sunrise and sunset. Small forage fish are attracted by this light, giving the red snapper an opportunity to hunt by emerging from the shadows.
The redfin usually moves in schools of several dozen individuals, so it's not uncommon to witness feeding frenzies that last only a few minutes. The wriggling at the water's surface caused by a school of cornered forage fish is a good way of spotting a potential shoal of hunting reefers. During the daytime, the fish are generally more difficult to find, as their large eyes are sensitive to strong light, so they tend to hide under boats or go deeper into the water until nightfall.
Triggering attacks
Redfish fishing is above all imitative fishing, where you try to use lures that resemble usual prey. All types of lures work, but the most effective are undoubtedly soft lures and casting jigs. The aim is to get the lure into the right layer of water, the one just above the chub, while keeping it moving at the right speed.
During periods of high activity, it's best to fish rather quickly, while we'll slow down the animations drastically if the fish are already digesting their meal. At night, redfish generally remain at the edge of the light halo, so it's necessary to make our lure pass over the same spot to imitate a dazzled prey.
