Welcome to the guide on the best lures and soft plastics to catch Redfin. Redfin or English Perch is an iconic bread and butter species brilliant to target with lures and soft plastics. Reddies are predatory fish with wide mouths that school up in big numbers. They taste great and are especially fun to catch using light spinning gear. Redfin is very accessible and found in many rivers and lakes throughout Victoria. Have a look at our detailed fishing locations guide for Melbourne & Victoria to find some location suggestions to target redfin. Some anglers consider redfin to be a noxious pest. In fact, it’s illegal to return them to the water in some states and systems locally. However, at FishingMad we love them and consider redfin to be an underrated fish species, with beautiful colours.
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Watch our detailed video guide on our top 10 redfin lures below
So what are the best lures to use to catch redfin. Reddies are opportunistic feeders that will happily scoff most lures, metals, and soft plastics. An aggressive cannibalistic species that will have a go at anything that imitates a minnow, redfin, or trout. They will often take a lure near the bottom so allow time for your lure of plastic to sink. They respond well to bright colours. Flashy silvers and golds work well, so do bright red, green, pink, yellow & orange. Redfin love structure so aim to get your lures and plastics hard up against weed beds, rocks, and tree branches.
Here’s a detailed list of our favourite lures. Remember when targeting redfin use an ultralight spinning outfit. This should consist of a fishing rod around 7 feet long. Typically 1-3 or 2-4 kilo capacity class. Coupled with a reel in 1000, 2000 or 2500 size. Spooled with a high-quality braid and finished with a leader. Further species information about Redfin can be seen by viewing our Redfin species guide
How to catch redfin with Grub style soft plastics
Curl tail grub soft plastics are a great choice for redfin. These are most effective by keeping them close to the bottom with subtle lifts and pauses. Cast grubz out and give it time to sink to the bottom and retrieve it by applying small lifts and pauses every few meters. Redfin will often strike when you pause and plastics tail is fluttering down back to the surface. So pauses are very important. A few casts in one area then moving on to trying to locate the schools. The beauty of these soft plastics is the action in the tail. You can also cast and do a slow constant roll called a slow roll. This will account for many redfin and prevent you from snagging up.
Good options here include the
- Strike Tiger curl tail grub
- Zman Grubs
- Kietech flapper grub
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Berkley powerbait grub
- Squidges biotough grub
- Savage Gear Pro Grub
- Gulp 3 inch minnow
- Atomic Plazos
- Damiki grubs
- Storm Hypno Grub
- Munroes 2.5 inch grub
Watch the video below as Al catches some BIG redfin using grub style soft plastics
The best spoons to catch redfin
Spoons have grown in immense popularity recently with the release of the Nories Wasaby and the Pontoon21 Paco. Ranging in weight from 8 grams to 15 grams these metal spoons allow you to cover great distances. They cast a mile and for this reason, have become great land-based options. Allowing you to reach deeper water. Fishing these are quite simple cast out far then let it sink for a second or two then a constant slow or medium pace retrieve. It’s a good idea to mix up the retrieval speed and add in the occasional lift and twitch.
Good options include
- Nories Wasaby Spoon
- Pontoon 21 Paco spoon
- Wrapping Minnow
- Strike Pro Bob n Spoon
The best Paddle tail soft plastics to catch redfin
Paddle tails are another great option for Redfin and it’s the simple movement of the tail which gets the attention of the ever-aggressive Redfin. These are generally fished by casting out letting the paddle tail hit the bottom. The retrieve is a simple slow roll with some twitches and pauses. I generally have the rod tip pointing down towards the ground and vary the retrieval speed. The beauty of these soft plastics is the action in the tail. So you can also cast and do a slow constant roll called a slow roll. This to will account for many redfin and prevent you from snagging up. best lures catch Redfin.
Good options include
- Zman Swim SwimZ
- Dawia Bait Junkie paddle tail minnow
- EcoGear powershads
- Kietech swim impact fat
- Fish arrow 3 inch flash j shad
- Strike Tiger T Tail
- Savage Gear Fat Minnow T-Tail
- Munroes 3.75 paddle tail
The best hard body lures to catch redfin
Hard Body lures come in a huge variety of sizes, weights, colours and bib styles. Recently Redfin hard body lures have grown in popularity thanks to the Australian release Bullet Lures which cast a mile and are easy to use. There are many techniques to try when using hard body lures they can be as simple as casting out, keeping your rod tip down and retrieving with a slow roll or casting out and retrieving with a range of twitches lifts and pauses all controlled by your rod tip. You need to experiment and find what works for you.
Good options include
- Duo Realis Ryuki Spearhead
- Daiwa Double Clutch
- ecogear sx40
- Bullet 3cm minnow
- Daiwa Presso Minnow
- Bullet 5-0 minnow,
- Ecoda mini crank
- Rapala Countdown Minnow
- small stump jumper
- Rapala Scatter Rap CD
- Jackall chubby
The best blades to catch redfin
Blades can be a brilliant choice and are great to use at new locations as they allow you to cover big distances. You simply cast the Blade out as far as you can, let the Blade hit the bottom then simply retrieve with small lifts of the Blade then a small wind of your reel to gather the slack line. Then let the Blade sink to the bottom again. Basically hopping the blade up and down of the bottom. This will imitate a wounded baitfish and quickly grab a Redfins attention. You need to pay attention as often Redfin will take the Blade on the drop.
Good options include
- Tasmanian Devil Blade
- eco gear ZX40
- Savage Gear 3D minnow blade
- TT switchblades and ghost-blades
- StrikePro cyber vibe
- Berkley Bigeye blade
The best Spinners to target redfin
Spinners are a timeless classic for chasing Redfin. Cast them out as far as you can or near structure or into open water then letting the spinner sink until close to the bottom then simply retrieving. The retrieve speed can vary however a simple constant slow roll with some twitches works well. I generally have the rod tip pointing down towards the ground and vary the retrieval speed.
Good options include
- Bluefox spinners
- Celta Classic Spinners
- Super vibrax
- Rainbow tsunami
- Yellow and gold celtas
- Savage Gear Rotex Spinners
The best Vibes to catch redfin
Vibes are another terrific choice which can be fished in a similar fashion to a Blade. They too are a good lure to use at new locations providing there aren’t too many snags. They allow you to cover big distances and can fish very well for Redfin. You simply cast out as far as you can, let the Vibe hit the bottom then simply retrieve by lifting a small wind then letting the vibe sink to the bottom again. You need to pay attention as often Redfin will take the Blade on the drop.
Good options include
- Samaki Vibelicious
- Savage Gear Fat Vibe ( Hard & soft )
- Zerek fish trap
- Strike pro hummer,
- Zerek Fish Trap Soft Vibe ( R colour ),
- Entice vibes,
- Insanity tackle mini vibe
- Storm SX Soft VIB
Old classics to target redfin
Timeless classics are just as effective now as they were back in their heyday. Although people are moving to plastics, hard-body, spoons, vibes and, Blades these old classics continue to work and produce solid Redfin.
Good options include the
- Tasmanian Devil lure
- Hogback
- Ondex Spinner
- Silver Wobbler
- Red and white Wobbler Spoon
Minnow imitations to catch redfin
Minnow style soft plastics come in 2 distinctive types, natural bait imitations to mimic a baitfish or brightly coloured to stand out and get a reddies full attention. These work really well and you just need to mix up your retrieval techniques and rig them correctly by using an appropriate size jig head and putting them on straight to enhance the plastic action. You may also want to consider using a scent like s-Factor or Pro-Cure for nonscented plastics to increase your chances.
Good options include
- Zman Streakz
- Jackall clone Fry 3.25,
- Berkley Drop shot bass minnow
Bugs and Crustaceans to target redfin
Bugs and crustaceans come in a vast variety of shapes, colours, and sizes and are growing in popularity. With realistic designs and through to brightly coloured designs with a lot of imagination. The reality is they all work. Just remember to mix up your retrieval techniques and rig them correctly by using an appropriate size jig head and putting them on straight to enhance the plastic action. You may also want to consider using a scent like s-Factor or Pro-Cure for nonscented plastics to increase your chances.
Good options include
- Berkley Gulp turtleback worm
- Munroes ziptail worm
- Savage Gear Mayfly
- strike tiger nymph
- Savage Gear Manic Shrimp
As you can see from the list above Redfin generally love bright colours. The colours I have always had success with include Red, Green, Pink, Yellow & Orange. They love anything that imitates a small Redfin or a natural baitfish.
The final word from the author
Thank you for reading the best lures catch Redfin guide. I have been targeting redfin for many years now and hope the guide above will improve your catch rates when fishing for Redfin. Remember to adhere to the Victorian legal size and bag limits. Always carry your Victorian fishing license and adhere to fishing rules and regulations. Consult the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide
If you have any additions, corrections or feedback then please notify us by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au. Also, feel free to share your fishing adventures with us we would love to add them to this article or social media pages.