A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Use this area to post inshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
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.
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.?
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?
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?
Catholic girl pray for me, you’re my only hope for heaven
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 !
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 !