Indeed, pulling the lure away from the fish is what costs most anglers a hookup with redfish. Red drum follow the lure, appearing to examine it, looking for something different that makes it appetizing. With most saltwater anglers' propensity to "drop back" a lure to a following fish, they make their biggest mistake when they stop the lure.

"You have to keep the lure coming and never vary the retrieve if you see fish following," Patterson said. "Stop the lure and he's gone. If he strikes it, the suction sometimes pulls the lure under without the fish having the hooks in his mouth. If you set the hook without feeling the fish, you'll pull it away and you may not interest that fish again."

There are plenty of other surface lures that will interest a red drum. On days when the fish are way back in the grass and very aggressive, topwater buzzbaits will turn the fish on. A gold or silver spoon with a pork or plastic trailer worked to the surface and allowed to sink to just beneath the surface is another good bet. A weedless spoon won't hang in the grass and has the added attraction of being able to sink a bit when it comes across an open hole. Floating poppers can turn the trick when the fish are back deep in the grass where a walk-the-dog lure would become hopelessly stuck. Floating soft plastics imitating worms and baitfish work well when the fish are in the grass.

There are certain things that must come together for a good topwater trip for redfish. The first is the weather. A calm day, with the sun at the angler's back or overhead, is always preferred. Calm days and a good sun position allow good visibility so anglers can spot fish, baitfish and see their lures are working properly. Windy days make it difficult to see fish or fish activity and make it more difficult to work a topwater lure properly.

As the tide ebbs, the fish move to edges of the grass, then to the deeper water areas of the creek beds and navigation channels.

Patterson's favorite low-tide redfish places are flats lining the edges of the Intracoastal Waterway. As the tide fell, he moved his boat to an area of open water, explaining how he found the low-tide haunts of the same redfish he had been catching in the marshes during high tide.

"The waters around Swansboro are filled with big redfish," Patterson said. "I fish way up into Queen's Creek, all over Bogue Sound and all along the islands and marshes on either side of the Intracoastal Waterway. The redfish might be anywhere. The key to finding them is to find the bait and the structure. Once you find those two elements, the redfish are going to be there. You might not be able to get them to bite. But they're there."