Best redfiah / black drum rig?
 

What is the best rig for redfish in the summertime or black drum?fishing on bottom

The Owen Lupton rig, that man spent years perfecting it and even proved it to the NC MFC/DMF it even prevents gut hooking fish typically seen by Carolina rig or flounder rigs.

8 oz. frog tongue sliding on your shockleader, a swivel, 3" of 80# flouro, 9/0 to 12/0 circle hook baited with a spot head for reds, a whole crab for blacks. if your wanting to catch smaller edible fish go to ebay and buy "River Rigs" (I prefer the 4/0 circle, no beads) bait for the target species, you'll catch fish on them.
RR

Got more time and not on phone now so will ask since this is something I spend a great deal of time doing every year. Are you fishing from shore or on a boat? Pier or inshore? Slot fish or just fishing?

From a boat would recommend using a lure for reds or a jig head with a gulp shrimp. This will give you the ability to test the most amount of water and find where they are schooling. Keep an eye on bait moving along the shoreline and being spooked. Also keep your eyes out for a large area of disturbance under the surface, will look like ripples. Single fish will look like a submarine about to surface or a torpedo. Beautiful fish.

From shore then the rig would be a good option while using another rod to possibly use a floating cork rig to drift a live bait up and down the shore. Also keep in mind if you are going to be out early in morning inshore or in the evening when sun setting, now is the time for speckled trout to spawn so they are very active at these times and a floating cork with shrimp or live mullet will attract them, they hate dead bait.

In slot, would not recommend a hook larger than 6/0 unless you are fishing in Louisiana where the slot is larger. Over slot, move the circle hook up, and good luck. Not many placed have over the slot fish inshore during the summer. Reds tend to move offshore over their juvenile phase from 0-5 years of age and after that spend the rest offshore with return trips in the fall for spawning. Cape Lookout Seashore used to be a mecca here for surf fishing for big reds.

Bait = mullet, shrimp, blue crabs broke in half are great options. 0-5 year fish in slot still eat alot of crustaceans and over slot have moved on to more bait fish and away from crabs and shrimp

I'm over on the gulf coast of Florida. When fishing for reds around mangroves or on grass flats I typically use a 1/4 oz. jig head with a D.O.A. jig tail. I've found that bright colors work well when the water is a bit murky but play around with different colors to see what works. I use a loop knot with 15 lb. mono leader to allow for some play when jigging to give it a natural look and 10 lb. braided main line. Also, gold or silver spoons have worked well for me too.