Red Massacre- Late Report

[RavensDfense]

About two weeks ago, Kayakjoe made a nice discovery around the OC/Assateague area. He was kind enough to pass the word and for a week or so, a few of us had a blast catching tailing pups up to 25 inches. Our best day was approximately 40 pups between four of us. The fish were schooled up on flats in very shallow water. Everything and anything worked from a popping cork to a gulp, to a Skitterwalk topwater. When pups become schooled up like that they are extremely aggressive and competitive, so a rubber duck with a hook would have probably worked.

Unfortunately, they have since moved off the one particular flat and we/I have changed gears to other species for a bit, but they are likely still around the back bay areas. So if anyone is in the area get out and explore the flats, you might find the mother load.

Here are some of the pics of Hemmingway and myself one afternoon before Joe and Brian (Slobber Bob) joined us.

[Southerly]

very nice!

[Mark]

I have redfish envy!

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work guys. Those reds are great fighters on light tackle. I caught several over the past few days a bit south of where you described. But catching 40 pups in a day is outstanding no matter where you are.

[tufnik]

Nice action. I just got to get me some reds soon. Thanks for the report.

[hale3333]

Nice!

About two weeks ago, Kayakjoe made a nice discovery around the OC/Assateague area. He was kind enough to pass the word and for a week or so, a few of us had a blast catching tailing pups up to 25 inches. Our best day was approximately 40 pups between four of us. The fish were schooled up on flats in very shallow water. Everything and anything worked from a popping cork to a gulp, to a Skitterwalk topwater. When pups become schooled up like that they are extremely aggressive and competitive, so a rubber duck with a hook would have probably worked.

Unfortunately, they have since moved off the one particular flat and we/I have changed gears to other species for a bit, but they are likely still around the back bay areas. So if anyone is in the area get out and explore the flats, you might find the mother load.

Here are some of the pics of Hemmingway and myself one afternoon before Joe and Brian (Slobber Bob) joined us.

Im heading out the door right now.... If I didnt have guys meeting me in Crisfield I might have headed to Assateague... Get my number off Chris if you go today

[MetroMan]

wow, nice work!

[mytmouse]

Nice going!! I'm still in search of my first pup... LOL

[Goody]

Great job!

[scorpioreno]

Great report. I hope to see large schools of reds like that. I would love to see what they were feeding on in the shallows. whether something was spawned like worms or just feeding on small crabs. Thanks for the report.

[Choupique_Steve]

Excellent catch! Haven't heard anything of numbers of reds like that since I left Louisiana. Good to hear they work around out here now and again! Those smaller reds like that are such excellent table fare.

[Slobber Bob]

Definitely many thanks to Joe for sharing the info! I called him after work one evening to see if he wanted to go over to the Rt. 50 bridge and look for schoolie bass when he sends me a picture of a red and says he found them tailing. Needless to say I didn't bother going to the bridge that evening! It was my first time fishing for reds where I could see them tailing or making wake as they moved along the bottom with their backs just barely below the surface. Exciting way to fish! I never seemed to be able to get out of work in time to find them schooled up in big numbers but caught quite a few just drifting slowly over the flats casting a spook or weedless gulp shrimp. Quality fish too. Mine averaged around 23".

A few more pics to add...
P1020458.jpgP1020494.jpgP1020506.jpg

Next year we'll have to start searching a little earlier in the summer as, like Doug mentioned, it has started to slow down and the fish seemed to have moved from the area we'd been fishing. This is about when they started showing up in the surf last year, so they could be staging to leave the inlet? The number of pups that were running the surf last fall was incredible.

I would love to see what they were feeding on in the shallows. whether something was spawned like worms or just feeding on small crabs.

The flats were full of mullet ranging from finger to very large cobbs, schools of peanuts were around, and I usually saw small bay anchovies skipping around here and there. I'm sure crabs and grass shrimp were in the grasses too, but the three fish I kept all had empty stomachs surprisingly.

[RavensDfense]

When I would approach the school they were flipping on their sides rooting around on the bottom. You could see them from a ways away because of their silver flash in the sun. One red I caught coughed up something that I could not identify. It was a black spoung looking organism. For lack of a better description it looked similar to a black tounge, approximately 3 inches long. Should have taken a picture.

As Brian said, there was also a ton of bait, from bunker to crabs to bull minnows. They were still there when I returned a last time, but the reds were gone. It makes me wonder if the reds were eating the mystery organism and once they "cleared" this one particular flat of them, they moved on to another.

[Junior]

Great report! I drive 6.5 hrs to Kure Beach, NC to do this kind of fishing. Psyched to hear that reds are much closer than that!

[Runnin]

That's awesome. That's an outing as good as you could get in Louisiana.