I don't catch a ton of redears. Most are caught while gill fishing. I've caught some really nice ones though pushing the 10 inch mark. Ditto to what Crappiepappy said. He seems to have a handle on it. MrDux gave some key info as well. I use a drop shot with a jig and piece of crawler or Berkley waxie. Crawlers seemed to be preferred but I've caught them both ways. I drop shot so I can keep in contact with the bottom without getting the jig hung up as much. SLOW is the key. If you think you're retrieving too slow, slow down even more. I fish with a Pflueger Trion GX 5, 4 lb test on a 6 foot Okuma Celio light action rod. It's a blast catching anything on such light tackle, but those bull gills and large redears put up a fantastic fight with that setup. Here's a few pics from the last year or so.