CBBT (Bulls 7 & 8) Fri 10-20-17

[tufnik]

There I was; jigging for flounder with my go-to lure, a white bucktail. Then, bam, I got a big hook-up around 1030 hrs. To make a long story short, it took me 33 minutes to land this 49” bull red. Of the eight bulls caught in recent years (including today), this one gave me the best sleigh ride. I hooked up at the bridge piling between the SBCs and ended up nearly 300 yards bay-side of the bridge. Lucky I got it; as shown in the pic, the hook was just on the lip.

After about half an hour following the bull’s release, I get a second big hit at another set of pilings. This fish knew how to fight. After several minutes of big pullage, it went between the pilings and broke the line. No problem, I went back to flounder fishing.

Ten minutes after the break-off, I get a third big hit. Oh no, not another pesky bull?! After several minutes of rod bending fun, I thought about cutting it off because it was taking up valuable flounder fishing time. I didn’t want another half-hour fight. To my surprise, the fish began to yield early in the fight. I had the bull at yak-side after only a 12 minute fight. Sheesh, that was easy, and I got my rig back. After taking pictures and making a good release, I went back to jigging for flounder.

Catches of the day:
- Two bull reds ( 49”, around 43”; chalk up these two catches using a freshwater 8 oz baitcaster reel)
- One skate
- Half dozen bsb

No flounder, but a very nice day to fish.

[Jman]

Wow you were right- barely hooked!! I'm taking notes on the white buck tail. I went after them this morning briefly and couldn't entice any takers.


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[ComeOnFish]

I think you caught the most bull reds at CBBT.
When I mentioned that some of us fish for flounder not bull reds to catch bull reds as by catch, some of us are you, Dave and me.
I've been using 50# test braided and 40# test mono leader for flounder fishing. But I think you and Dave use typical flounder main line and leader.
I thought the mid October is the end of the bull reds migration, but I was wrong.

I am glade that you are back.

Joe

[Goody]

Lol. Nicely done there. Glad to see you're back.

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[tufnik]

Like Joe and Dave, I use a double lure rig. White bucktail at the end with a Gulp swimming mullet (white, chartreuse or pink) about 8-10 inches above the bucktail. Braid is 40# with 50# mono leader.

With the choice of white bucktail or mullet, all eight bulls I've caught ate the bucktail. None were caught on the mullet. All my swallowed bucktails had no dressing (paddletails, blue fish, squid, curly tails, etc.). Just plain-jane bucktail. I think bulls love white bucktails.

To catch bulls, you have to:
- Think and Jig for flounder, hope you catch flounder, and search hard for flounder
- Use white bucktail
- If you catch a bull, hope you don't catch another because you really want flounder

BTW, water temp was 69 deg.

[Romo]

Awesome fish! I think your leader might be a litttttle too heavy for flounder fishing. I don't know why you'd even bother fishing for flounder though when there are 50" reds swimming around!

[Slobber Bob]

Awesome fish! I think your leader might be a litttttle too heavy for flounder fishing. I don't know why you'd even bother fishing for flounder though when there are 50" reds swimming around!

I know I wouldn't be flounder fishing either, haha!

Nice fish! Hopefully you'll get flounder next time out and the bulls leave you alone .

[ComeOnFish]

I target species/fish for consumption. I have 6 very good staff, and they cover me when I go fishing. I deliver fish to them the way they like.

So, in my case, I want the bull reds leave me alone. I drive about 3.5 hours one way, and fish for 8 hours. Each bull red hook up/landing cuts into about 1 hour of valuable fishing time for other fish. When I used 20 # test leader for flounder, one day I lost 4-5 bucktails by big bulls. I remember the day Dave hooked up 7+ bull reds and lost all bucktails. That day we ran out of bucktails. So, Dave ordered about 100 white bucktails for me so that I can always bring enough bucktails for CBBT fishing. This is why I use heavy tackles for flounder fishing.

And last September, I found that the mystery big fish (that broke lines often) when I was fishing for sheepshead was also a bull red. I was using a large whole shrimp (30-40 count).

Perhaps, this is the biggest reason - but I haven't mentioned publicly:
I really hate killing fish unintentionally. I knew some bull reds I released, died after 30 minutes of resuscitation. I never mentioned/posted pic or video the bull reds that probably died by me or other kayakers. I often offer kayakers my releases of the bull reds when I saw dying bull reds after their resuscitation. I tried another 10-15 minutes, and gave up.
The bigger the bull reds, the bigger the chance of dying. Smaller ones under 48" have better chance of surviving. Bigger ones over 53" have slim chance of surviving. However, I am happy to see a kayaker landing a big bull red. I don't discourage anyone because I respect their decisions. In fact, I encourage every kayaker to land one bull red.

Joe

[mytmouse]

Nice catches Joe! Can't beat a day like that on the water!

[tufnik]

Well said, Joe. I agree.

I also had many more lost hook-ups. You can fight a bull for 20 minutes only to end up with a broken line. Lost gear and fishing time.

Luckily, all my released bulls swam away fine. But it can take as much as 20-30 minutes resuscitating and watching the bull.

My post was written to be sort of a funny story. Catching bulls are fun. It's not easy around the pilings. Everyone wants to experience the catch of a bull. On the other hand, if you want to catch flounder or stripers, a bull hook-up can be annoying....lol....pesky bulls. So, deep inside, I still may have red fever, even though I may be targeting other fish like flounder. Make sense?

[Slobber Bob]

My post was written to be sort of a funny story. Catching bulls are fun. It's not easy around the pilings. Everyone wants to experience the catch of a bull. On the other hand, if you want to catch flounder or stripers, a bull hook-up can be annoying....lol....pesky bulls. So, deep inside, I still may have red fever, even though I may be targeting other fish like flounder. Make sense?

I know. I could tell your tone from your post. I was joking myself. I'm the complete opposite of you guys though. I'm too eat up with red fever. I looooong for 20 minute fights with them!

[HokieDJ]

Nice bulls!

The flounder story is so dreadful this year. What's going on?

[ComeOnFish]

I got 3 tiny flounders this year. This year I was chasing cobia and summer specks in the western shore, VA until September. So I didn't fish for flounder/sheepshead.
Weather permitting, I will try in November at CBBT if water is too warm for togs.

Joe

[suicyderider]

Comeonfish, I have vacation Nov 5-21 do you plan to go out any of those days? I want to come fish but I cant get anyone to tag along and Id like to have someone around for the what ifs. Ive also considered Kiptopeke as an option and Rudee also. Guess it depends on the timing.

[ComeOnFish]

I know. I could tell your tone from your post. I was joking myself. I'm the complete opposite of you guys though. I'm too eat up with red fever. I looooong for 20 minute fights with them!

You are not on the opposite site. Everybody loves long fights with big fish (except skate). I have nothing in my bucket list. I think I may add one - catching a tarpon in Eastern Shore, VA. It will be C&R.

Joe