GREG HILDRETH AND THE BIG BULL REDFISH
The BogaGrip and Redfish
 QUESTION:
Greg, why do you use the BogaGrip to land bull reds?
HILDRETH: Firstly, the BogaGrip doesn’t damage
the fish in any way. The BogaGrip is very easy for me
to use and allows me to get the fish out of the water
and into the boat quickly. I don’t have to fight
the fish out of a dip net, and I can weigh the fish
as soon as it comes out of the water. Another great
thing about the BogaGrip, is that you can send your
BogaGrip to  the
IGFA, (International Game Fish Association), and that
organization will certify the scales. Then if you catch
a record fish and weigh it on your BogaGrip scales,
the record will be official. The BogaGrip also allows
me to hand the fish to the customer, so that the customer
can hold the redfish without actually touching it, have
his or her picture made with the fish and then easily
release the fish back to the water
with the least trauma to the red.
QUESTION: When you fish for bull reds
in clear waters, what color of Spike-It grubs do you
like the best?
HILDRETH: I like the clear or the pearl, both with a
chartreuse-colored tail.
QUESTION: What type of retrieve do you use to catch
these big types of redfish?
HILDRETH: The redfish are bottom feeders, and they like
to see their bait. I’ve found we catch more fish
using a bottom-hopping type of retrieve
than if we use a steady type of retrieve. I fish the
Spike-It jigs by waiting until we get a bite on our
live bait before actually beginning to fish the jig
 itself.
You can spend an awful lot of time catching and retrieving,
but not catching fish. With live bait swimming on the
bottom, the bait will attract the redfish. Once we get
a redfish on, that redfish is going to excite the other
redfish in the school and this is when the school will
start a feeding frenzy and hit almost any bait you throw
in the water. We have a lot of fun catching big redfish
on light tackle with Spike-It grubs once the fish start
to rally.
TOMORROW: CATCH AND TAG BULL REDFISH
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