"We fish a lot of shallow areas where it can be hard to get into unless you know the water well," Cronk said. "Cow Channel, all around Hammocks Beach State Park, in West Channel, and in Bear Creek, there's some excellent fishing. There are tons of little feeder creeks and coves in these places that hold plenty of redfish. Sometimes, you can just cruise around in the backwaters using your trolling motor until you spot the fish. The best way to get to know the water is to check the places out at low tide to find the channels and then return at higher tides to fish. You can also just follow the tide as it comes up, then work your way back out as it falls."

When actually fishing the shallows, the best tactic is to fish the higher tide stages. During rising tide, the fish congregate along the edges of the grassbeds. As the grassbeds fill with water during the flood tide, the fish move into the grass and can often be seen disturbing the water or poking their dorsal fins and tailfins out of the water as they feed on baitfish and crustaceans.

"When they get back in the grass, it can be hard to approach close enough to catch them," Patterson said. "We use some different lures when the fish are back deeper in the grass," Patterson said. "You might be able catch a puppy drum on any lure that resembles a mullet."

Patterson was a professional bass fisherman before moving to the coast from Burlington, N.C. He quickly learned to apply what he had learned while bass fishing to saltwater environments.

"If you can cast it, it will catch a red drum," he said. "Sometimes we use live baits, but only as a last resort. Anything that will catch a bass will also catch a red drum. I'd rather use a scented soft bait like a Berkley Gulp! shrimp lure than a live shrimp because you have to re-bait too often when you're using the real thing. I like using buzzbaits when the fish are back in the grass. The lure rides on top of the grass and doesn't hang up and really draws some aggressive strikes."

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Capt. Rick Patterson, Cape Crusader Charters at (252) 342-1513 or Capt. Jeff Cronk, Fish'n 4 Life Charters at (910) 326-7512 or (336) 558-5697.

Other lures Patterson uses include Redfish Magic spinnerbaits and Top Dog Zara Spook and Skitterwalk series topwater lures. He prefers lure colors in orange, chartreuse or white. For spinnerbaits, he prefers gold blade styles. He also uses shallow-running stick baits, jerkbaits and bucktail jigs or leadhead jigs with soft-plastic trailers. He has used in-line spinnerbaits, such as the Terminator. But he prefers conventional spinnerbaits or topwater buzzbaits.

"I like the Strike King 1/4-ounce buzzbait," he said. "I add a 3/0 trailer hook because with red drum you get so many short strikes. I put the hook eye of the trailer hook on the bend of the hook on the buzzbait and put on a piece of surgical tubing to hold it in place. Without the trailer hook, fishing a buzzbait can be very frustrating."