After 4 years and 8 months of searching...

[ictalurus]

VICTORY!:


My first keeper red (18.5")!

Starting in about 2005 or 2006, I would catch the occasional 10" redfish once or twice a season. They were nice surprises, but not really worth targeting. However, on October 10, 2008, I caught several 15 and 16 inch redfish at Point Lookout. Suddenly, it seemed that the possibility of catching a keeper red in Maryland was in reach. Since then, I've been searching the waters of Southern Maryland tirelessly, chasing down every report of keeper reds. Last month, I lost a keeper after getting it into the yak. It was at least a couple inches longer and a good bit heavier. I was crushed and nearly cried. Today, I have redeemed myself.

With my new job and offspring, I haven't been able to fish as much as usual, and I missed a couple of my regularly planned outing with my father (fishing for shad, Dad's birthday float trip, Father's Day trip, etc.). Dad and I finally managed to get out today, and we headed out in search of specks and reds in a top secret spot in St. Mary's County. While we were out there, I got a tip from buddy and fellow forum member about keeper reds (thanks!), so Dad and I went to check it out. I hooked the red on the first pass through the area. It hit a 4" white Gulp grub. I felt a few headshakes and thought it might be a decent fish. When it charged the boat, I knew I had a nice red on the line. My heart was in my throat because I could see the leader was wrapped up around its pectoral fin, which might take the pressure off the hook. Fortunately, I brought a net this time and left nothing to chance.

We worked the area thoroughly, and I picked up an 11" perch, a couple small stripers, and a couple 12-13" croaker. The white Gulp grub was the hot lure. Dad had a smaller red and a couple stripers follow his lure in but couldn't connect. He later picked up a nice perch at another fishy spot:



All the fish we caught today were in less than 5ft of water near grass beds. The red was probably in about 2 ft. We fished from about 1.5hrs before and 2hrs after high tide. The water was pretty clear until the wind picked up, with visibility to 2.5ft or better, and water temp was around 74* (if I remember correctly).

It was a perfect day that went by entirely too fast. As usual, Dad and I had a blast, and I'm really stoked to have checked off my redfish goal from the list. Of course, after losing that really nice fish last month, I know there are bigger ones out there...

[Sun]

Congrats on the keeper red, Bill! And also a good trip with the dad.
I took my dad on his first kayak fishing trip this week and had a great time. I'm sure your time on the water with your pops was just as rewarding.

[jffoley]

Hey Bill! Good to see a report from you. And nice job on the keeper red. Especially with dad. I'm still looking for one of those. Enjoy these times. Congrats on the new job and offspring. It goes by way too quick...

[ronaultmtd]

Congratulations, Bill- glad you got that redfish keeper- I'm headed out Sunday to get me some more, too- I ate mine and it was really tasty- I used some blackening spices and pan sautéed it in butter with a drizzle of lemon juice- delicious!

[J.A. Veil]

Congratulations on getting your redfish. I had a personal odyssey to get my first redfish too -- I chartered trips in FL, TX, and LA for several years without success. Then I kayak fished in Lynhaven Inlet with Corey Routh and caught them there.

It is good to see reports from you again.

[tufnik]

Yeah, congrats! Now you can search for bulls....lol.... Did you catch it on Gulp grubs too? Thanks for the report.

[ronaultmtd]

Tuf- The big bull drum are back up in the sloughs of the Eastern Shore around the oyster beds now- with the yellow flies, black flies, no see ums and the monster striped salt marsh mosquitos- been there, done that...no thank you- got to mothership a kayak to get in and out- even an 18 foot Sea Hawk work boat can get hung up at change of tides unless you really know the waters well- just too much of an adventure for me- wait until the fall and catch them as they migrate by the hundreds off the Outer Banks- 40-60 pounders just past the first set of breakers as they head south-

[ictalurus]

Thanks, gents.

Sun--Congrats on the first trip with Dad. Dad and I have been fishing together since I was 7. We've had a lot of good times.

John F.--This might be a really good year for them here. If you get a chance, you should swing by.

John V.--Yeah, you hit all the redfish capitals. At least I never drove more than 30 minutes in my search except for a couple mothership trips with Capt. Brady.

Tuf--I caught the keeper red on the white grub with a red jighead. The big one that got away last month was on a Mister Twister Exude paddletail. The color is called "acid rain".

Ron--Gonna try your recipe tonight. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

[Southerly]

congrats on nice catch!

here's recipe i use - http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php?pageID=300&view=128

it's scary the first time you heat a pan as hot as you can and don't add any oil. but the butter you put directly on the fillet does the job. this is the smoky recipe that tastes soooo good. i make one exception in that i only turn one time.

i made a red sauce to drizzle using the water part of gently-melted butter (spoon the water part off of the top. the bottom part is the oil part of butter and is great on popcorn), 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and more of chef prudhomme's seasoning mix.

[Shady]

Very nice and even better with dad!

I second Southerly's suggestion for cooking, that's become my favorite way to cook any fish.

[scorpioreno]

Great catch and ever better than to share that with your dad. The keeper reds have been caught as far up as the Harry Nice bridge. I have caught several this year 2 of them in one day in water around 5-7 feet of water. I hope you and your Dad have more success together.

[kevinfry]

You get the red at the chimney or farther down?

[ictalurus]

Thanks for the recipe. I'll give that a try with another species before I risk my precious redfish fillets.

Scorp--It looks like this is the year for them. I'm stoked.

Kevin--It was farther down across from where I caught the citation speck last year.

[ronaultmtd]

We should be catching two year old fish at 21-22 inches- that should be three pounds apiece- For some reason our fish are a little slower growth fish than Louisiana fish- their average two year old redfish is three pounds and 21-22 inches long-

[ictalurus]

Yup, I looked at the scales and the otoliths, and it looked like this fish was two years old heading toward three. It was also a male and only had some small bivalves in its gut, which was weird. There were plenty of baitfish around. The difference between my fish and Capt. C-Hawk's is surprising given that his fish was only a quarter inch longer than mine. It just goes to show there are athletes and klutzes in the fish world, too.