I was a gulf shrimper for several years and the man who made our nets taught me to use boiled shrimp and half rotten mullet for reds. I was not a believer until he and I limited out in less than an hour while everyone else just sat on their boats and watched us catch. I don't go fishing much unless there's money involved because I can't swim and I'm scared of the water so I don't know any names for good areas for fish as on a shrimp boat catching fish was a pain in the ass. Full moon & low tide are always best especially as a cold front blows in then it gets spectacular (at least for shrimps) my opinion is if you can't catch at that time just throw your fishing rod in the garbage dumpster.
My Vietnamese buddies who I once hated but have now come to like tell me the some people do real well hooking live crabs to catch reds but I have never tried it personally.