Wade Fishing Ochlockonee Bay

[Hoxnan]

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

[2true]

[reelbad]

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.?

[SS-342]

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

[Hoxnan]

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]

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

[Salty Gator]

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?

[SHOWBOAT]

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!

[charlie tuna]

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 !

[Rhettley]

Good report and some nice fish!

[Troutbster]

Nice report, well done.

[Hoxnan]

Thanks to all for the kind words!

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!

[Williamsdad]

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

[MudDucker]

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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