Aug, 18 Fish For The Board & 1st Red Drum

[rsd612]

Finally after 2 1/2 months of no fishing we pushed off at 1:30 in the afternoon. Went to one our favorite creeks and within minutes I had my first Red Drum.



After that the fishing wasn't hot but very steady, between two creeks these are my largest to add to the leader board. Not large enough to do any damage to the leaders but at least I'm on the board.

10 3/4"
10 1/2"
10 1/2"

We caught many fish and kept 15 at 10"s and larger for a fish dinner.

Also during the day I found a hitchhiker on the transom, he jumped off at some time later and swam to shore. He forgot to pay his toll!



At the end of the day, we also caught many little Rock Fish and seen a few Doublers but didn't have a net.

[J.A. Veil]

I'm glad you and Kim could take a break from your hectic schedule and get on the water. Congratulations on getting your first Severn redfish.

I entered your redfish on the smallest fish bragging rights leaderboard.

[rsd612]

Thanks John, funny thing was I caught a 5 3/4" White Perch thinking it was small enough for the Smallest Fish Board but it wasn't. Didn't even think of checking the Red Drum!

Thanks Again

[J.A. Veil]

I entered my 13" red drum on the largest fish leaderboard. The reds seem to be growing each week. By now, someone in the SRRKC should have caught one larger than 13".

[NoleAnimal]

Ma,. I got to get in on one of these northern reds! Nice job!

[attml]

Nice work Rod!

[tacklemake]

I think you should have entered the frog because no one had one.Nice catch of fish.....................woody

[J.A. Veil]

Ma,. I got to get in on one of these northern reds! Nice job!

The reds continue to expand their range and grow larger. Someone reported catching a small red in the Patapsco River today. I had an email from a friend who ran into a small school of them up to 17.5" a few miles from the Severn River mouth (no details given in order to protect his spot).

[NoleAnimal]

I'll tell you what, John... It'll make me a happy man if that trend continues.

[SteveL]

The reds continue to expand their range and grow larger. Someone reported catching a small red in the Patapsco River today. I had an email from a friend who ran into a small school of them up to 17.5" a few miles from the Severn River mouth (no details given in order to protect his spot).

John,

I think we may be seeing reds where they should be found in MD waters when they have a healthy population, rather than a range expansion.

Tidalfish poster HJS (Howard) caught a nice 15-16 inch red in the Patapsco from my boat on a bass assassin under surface feeding stripers 10 years ago when the reds made a seasonal showing in the MD western shore tribs. His fish was mixed in with keeper grey trout actively feeding under surface feeding rock. We released the red but kept plenty of trout and stripers--the trout are long gone but its nice to see the reds return.

So rather than a "range expansion" I would characterize it as a strong year class showing up in good numbers in MD Bay tribs within their historic range. The red population has been depressed for decades, and now that most states to the south of us protect them from commercial harvest (AND the feds prohibit harvest of them from 3 to 200 miles off the coast) we are seeing the population rebounding and individuals showing up where they should show up with a strong population and a good year for reproduction in 2011--they feed on shrimp, small crabs, soft shell crabs, shellfish, and small fishes and we have great forage for them in MD tribs.

Right now there are good numbers of reds in the mid and lower Severn and in nearby areas. Look for structure, areas with flowing water, areas with high wave energy (wind and wakes), more structure, and points or structure that acts like a point. Reds like points, moving current and high energy environments so look for those spots if you are targeting reds.

I sure hope they return next year!!