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My little brother and some friends came up to visit this past weekend so we decided to head down to the coast to do some wade-fishing. We ended up on Ochlockonee Bay and it wasn't long before we found some action. We got into a few schools of pup reds, and we eventually found some of size. We ended up with three slot redfish (a 19" , 21" , and a 25 1/2" my brother's buddy James caught) along with a pile of smaller ones. We had the 21" and the 25 1/2" red on the stringer until two of my buddies each caught a keeper flounder, at which time we decided to let the reds swim away to see another day All in all it was a good day with good company, you can't really ask for much more.


James' Redfish


These are the Flounder

Not to good to put a fish of any kind on a stringer and then decide to release it. It may swim away ok but it still may not survive. BTW, why release a red just because you caught the flounder.?

Looks like you had a good day and caught a nice mess of fish. Enjoyed reading your report.

reelbad wrote:Not to good to put a fish of any kind on a stringer and then decide to release it. It may swim away ok but it still may not survive. BTW, why release a red just because you caught the flounder.?

While that is a fair point, I completely disagree. They were strung through the bottom lip as to not damage their gills and they swam off in a very lively manner after being revived. I string them that way ahead of time to keep them lively in case I catch something more valuable (in my opinion) and would rather release them. And I released the reds because (personally) I find flounder to be far superior table fare, and seeing as we already had a mess of grouper and snapper waiting to fry up at home, why would I want to take more than I need? Sure, I could have kept the reds just to save the fillets, but I already had meat so i'd prefer to let the fish grow to be caught (or breed) another day. I had enough to feed my family and myself that evening with the flounder so why be greedy?

Just wondering, If puting fish on a stringer is the same as putting them in a cooler/livewell as it relates to culling ?

Hoxnan wrote:

reelbad wrote:Not to good to put a fish of any kind on a stringer and then decide to release it. It may swim away ok but it still may not survive. BTW, why release a red just because you caught the flounder.?

While that is a fair point, I completely disagree. They were strung through the bottom lip as to not damage their gills and they swam off in a very lively manner after being revived. I string them that way ahead of time to keep them lively in case I catch something more valuable (in my opinion) and would rather release them. And I released the reds because (personally) I find flounder to be far superior table fare, and seeing as we already had a mess of grouper and snapper waiting to fry up at home, why would I want to take more than I need? Sure, I could have kept the reds just to save the fillets, but I already had meat so i'd prefer to let the fish grow to be caught (or breed) another day. I had enough to feed my family and myself that evening with the flounder so why be greedy?

Gulf Coast wrote:Just wondering, If puting fish on a stringer is the same as putting them in a cooler/livewell as it relates to culling ?

I wouldn't consider this culling b/c he didn't replace them. I also wouldn't call it wasting b/c he gave his limit the best chance at survival.

Good report, and nice job of taking only what you want to eat fresh!

Thank you for thinking about future fish generations SIR !! And after days of consideration, over this post, I have come to the conclusion that - THAT Red had a MUCH better chance at survival, being released, EVEN AFTER BEING ON YOUR STRINGER, than it would inside your freezer. Thanks again !

Good report and some nice fish!

Nice report, well done.

Thanks to all for the kind words!

charlie tuna wrote:Thank you for thinking about future fish generations SIR !! And after days of consideration, over this post, I have come to the conclusion that - THAT Red had a MUCH better chance at survival, being released, EVEN AFTER BEING ON YOUR STRINGER, than it would inside your freezer. Thanks again !

& I couldn't agree more!

Looks a lot like Bald Point to me. Well done.

SHOWBOAT wrote:

Gulf Coast wrote:Just wondering, If puting fish on a stringer is the same as putting them in a cooler/livewell as it relates to culling ?

I wouldn't consider this culling b/c he didn't replace them. I also wouldn't call it wasting b/c he gave his limit the best chance at survival.

Good report, and nice job of taking only what you want to eat fresh!

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