afternoon reds

[somdsparky]

talked the wife into coming out with me this afternoon. hooked up with a decent sized red within 15 minutes of hitting the water. lost him at the boat trying to grab the <12" leader as he surged and tore his lip. I was left with a decent chunk of drum lip on a jighead whose hook was opened up significantly. fish had some weight and fight to him.

After landing the next two, my wife sulkily paddled off and refused to take any more pics for me. oh well. At the end of the day the count was 4 reds hooked, three landed. 22", 23", 24"


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[Choupique_Steve]

Sounds like a great trip with some really nice catches! Great to see that the reds are out there!

[Southerly]

nice work! I expect these guys will be at the upper end of slot size next year.

[ronaultmtd]

We have fish that are already at the upper end of the slot, Southerly- I don't always post every trip...like yesterday- glad there isn't an upper slot for specks!

[AbuMasgouf]

Awesome going bro! Looks like some nice option for Masgouf!

[Fishinfool]

They look healthy and fat too. Great day on the water.

[somdsparky]

all the reds i've caught this summer have been in the 19"-25" range. My wife caught several under slots in late spring(15"-16"), but i've yet to see any since then. i'm assuming that means we really only have one year class fish here. that doesn't bode well for the years to come. they sure are a hell of a lot of fun though. very powerful fish.

masgouf, I had intended on doing the split and roast deal. unfortunately my wife took it upon herself to butterfly the fish while i was unloading the jeep. oh wells. planning on a loose variation of your method tonight. I kept the 22" fish and the mrs. brought back a handful of decent croaker. tony's and old bay will be used liberally

[Goody]

Nice job.

[AbuMasgouf]

masgouf, I had intended on doing the split and roast deal. unfortunately my wife took it upon herself to butterfly the fish while i was unloading the jeep. oh wells. planning on a loose variation of your method tonight. I kept the 22" fish and the mrs. brought back a handful of decent croaker. tony's and old bay will be used liberally

I'm sure it will taste good bro! That just means you have to catch more to do Masgouf!

Bon Appetit!

[sparky1423]

Nice reds Sparky! At least your wife contributes to the cause. The only thing my wife brings to the table is her appetite.

[Mbrupb]

Sick looks like you definitely have the pattern figured out now. Got my first MD pup drum on AI this weekend.

[somdsparky]

sparky: funny thing is my wife is a vegetarian. she likes to fish and cleans/cooks anything she catches. the kids and I bring the appetite.

mbrupb: i dunno if i truly have it figured out, but i've been able to at least get an inkling lol. i"ve put countless hours into research and made time to spend 10-20 hours on the water a week for the last several months. it seems to have payed off but grudgingly so lol.

[ronaultmtd]

The thing I have noticed about the reds is that we only have a one year class of fish- while there have been a lot of them, the numbers are starting to get hit pretty heavy with keepers (18 + inch fish) going home in the coolers- I haven't seen any small reds at all- that doesn't bode well for the future of this fishery- as Bill and others have stated- this fish is really tasty on the table- as good or better than speckled trout- which is a lot more stable with reproducing good quantities of small fish-

[mytmouse]

Nice catches!!

[ictalurus]

Sounds like an excellent day. Congrats on the nice fish. I wish my wife would fish with me. It would be a fun way to spend a day together.