Today I went out to Sullivan’s right by the fort to catch some whiting for shark bait later tonight, while I was sitting there I noticed a fair amount of boats fishing at the grillage when I noticed this guy floating in the water. This fish was dead as a door knob all thanks to some moron who doesn’t know how to vent a fish, if you can’t figure it out then please stop fishing! Who ever you are, you are a googans and I hope you see this and feel bad for killing a 30"+ female redfish. You are the reason for all of the strict laws! You are the one ruining our fisheries, so please do us all a favor and sell your boat and get a jet ski or something because you don’t know anything about conservation or fishing! Rant over!
How can you be certain it died from a bad release? There is natural mortality of adult red fish and it’s actually something that DNR studies. I came across a big red floating one day and thought the same thing. Upon closer inspection I realized that it died naturally and not at the hand of an angler. Just something to think about.
If it did die from being caught it’s not certain it was the anglers fault either. Don’t tell people to buy jet skis. We’ve got enough out there now. Lol
I’ve seen the same thing in the same area. The one I saw was still alive and bloated. “Floundering” around on the surface. It was obvious to me that it wasn’t vented. Given that that’s probably the most well known location for redfish in the Harbor, I think it’s a safe assumption.
Tell them to get a paddle board and go hang in Shem creek! I went to grillage today and saw no fish caught! I was there low on the incoming usually not the best time for me but had a fresh net of menhaden to try.
For the ones that have read my occasional post through the years you know that mishandling of our breeder fish , by-catch mortality,ect, ect
has always been my pet peeve and have always been very vocal about it . Sad part is,the ones that stand to lose the most when the fishery is dead and gone either turn a deaf/blind eye to it , don’t believe it’s happening , don’t care , it doesn’t affect me , or are just simply too stupid to understand the implacations of the death of a fishery/species… OK this rants over,youall catch em and post cause before ya know it pictures are all that’ll be left
According to DNR, they are seeing the biggest decline of redfish in the past 25 years. Study and learn how to properly vent the fish. Use larger tackle to get the fish in faster.
Saw the same red washed up on the beach near the deadly current sign. If it was a bad release, I can almost guarantee it was from too many “selfies.” I see many anglers spend way too much time taking pictures of their catch. Some even as far as a photo session.
Big redfish just don’t roll over dead. They don’t have many predators other than sharks and while they many die of natural causes occasionally, it is the exception rather than the rule. Plus the carcass would show signs of cause of death. Most deaths as with many things are because of negative interactions with humans. Mandating circle hooks and prohibiting bring fish in the boat like with billfish would go a long way to reducing post release mortality as would using an apparatus made for getting fish back to the bottom. Retention has been prohibited since 1984.
Optiker; getting grilled for standing up for the fishery is admirable , it needs a lot more like you ,corkman, and some others like us to save it from all the na-sayers and don’t give a shatters , you got my vote:smiley:
Given the extremely warm water temps and air temps of summer, these big fish will not survive being out of the water for more the 60sec after a hard fight. If your gonna take a pic please MAKE IT QUICK!!