BigBendFishing.Net

Almost too embarased to admit to all you ole salts my mistake. First the lead up. I have been fishing the Big Bend area all my life. I've lived in a lot of places, but the place I call home is St. Marks and the Aucilla River. I lived with my granfather at Nut All Rise who was a commercial fisherman for many years. My last years of high school I lived with my foster mother Miss Joy Brown above Bo Lynn's Gro. in St. Marks. The reason for this history is to let you see how I have lived right on the waters in the Big Bend area most of my life. That being said, you would think I would know all the different fish in the Big Bend by sight!
Now the confession. My son Hard Knox and our wives went to the St. Marks River last monday. I'll admit, it's been a while since I've fished there. Now our family eats fish at least three to four times a week. We are very close to running out of fish in the freezer. My wife is from the Philippines so that is divorce grounds at my house. We got to our first spot on the river and after about ten short trout my son caught a fish about 16 inches long. A small redfish I thought. Back it went. The fish did look strange though. Throughout the day we caught 6 or 7 more about the same size. Overboard they went.
They were strange looking, but I was convinced they were short reds.
When we got home with not much meat for the freezer my son Hard Knox called me and told me to watch for an email he was sending me with a picture attached of our so-called short Reds.
Bottom line. we were throwing back extra large Whiting all day. I've caught many, many Whiting in my lifetime but never any as large as these. I guess I've lost my credabality with my son as to my knowledge of of the Gulf. I've just never seen Whiting 16 or 17 inches long and as wide as a small Red. Instead of eating nice fresh Whiting this week, I'm having to eat CROW!

My brother caught a fish in Big Spring Creek a couple years ago that baffled us for weeks, til we realized it was just the biggest croaker either of us had ever seen (17"). They start to look very similar to a redfish when they get big, except for the color of course.

I caught about half a dozen of those huge croakers in East River in October. My buddy has been tearing up the big whiting just up from the power plant in the St. Marks River over the past three weeks. Been fishing here for 23 years and haven't seen anything like it.

I got into them there a few years ago...
To make you feel even worse, They were some of the best fish I've ever had! White, firm and flaky...
Delicious

CS...my partner and I caught one of those a couple of weeks ago as well. As you described, we thought it was a small red without any spot on the tail. Pitched it back I'll bet you got a lot of company if embarasement is part of miss identifying that fish.

Red, you just made me even more ashamed! We caught a pile of the Croaker like the one in your picture. We threw them back also. We must have caught 50 trout Monday, but the largest was only 14 7/8 inches long. The fishing is totally different at Keaton where I fish 99% of the time as to the type of fish caught. In the St. Marks River we caught Redfish, Jacks, Ladyfish, Croaker, Silver Trout, Speckled Trout, and Yellow Tails almost up to the bridge. Thank goodness for the 50 or so Yellow Tails, a few White Trout, and one 23 inch Red we caught, or else we would have nothing to stink up the frying pan.

What is a Yellow Tail, CSM? As the author of a fish ID book, that's a new one for me. Unless you're talking about yellowtail snapper and if so, that is some interesting news coming out of the river.

When I was stationed in Rota with the Navy, we used to order merlutha or whiting all the time. The Spanish chefs made a caramelized sauce and poured it over the baked fish. Very tasty.

Yellowtail or Silver perch

Oh, OK. Thanks for setting me straight, Hard Knox. My fish book was limited to saltwater species. Good thing, huh?

Whiting, southern king fish, I've known them as ground mullet. It's what they call them over in Mississippi where I started my saltwater fishing. They are great to eat as other have said.

Silverking,
Yellowtails are a salt water species. I've caught them many times out on the flats. They are like many of the other fish from the flats, they move up into the rivers in the winter.

Silver Perch (yellowtail)
Family Sciaenidae, DRUMS
Bairdiella chrysoura

Description: color silvery with yellowish fins; no spots; no chin barbels; no prominent canine teeth at tip of upper jaw; preopercle finely serrated; 5 to 6 chin pores; mouth terminal.
Similar Fish: sand seatrout, Cynoscion arenarius (the seatrouts usually have 1 or 2 prominent canine teeth at tip of upper jaw and do not have chin pores).

Where found: INSHORE in seagrass beds, tidal creeks and rivers, and marshes.

Size: small, not exceeding 9 inches.

*Florida Record: n/a

Remarks: spawning takes place in shallow, saline portions of bays and other INSHORE areas, peaking between May and September; matures by second or third year (by 6 inches); adults eat crustaceans and small fishes; may live to 6 years.

* The Florida records quoted are from the Department of Environmental Protection's printed publication, Fishing Lines and are not necessarily the most current ones. The records are provided as only as a benchmark.

We went fishing a couple of weeks ago up the Ochlocknee, and my mom caught at least 5 - 17' Whiting. She did the same thing last year when I took her, needless to say this time of year is her favorite, considering she like's to bottom fish.
She is 74, and there's no way you can't tell her that she is not the best fisherwoman on the boat.