Bushy Park 2/20

I took my dad out fishing today. We ran down to the top of Yellow House Creek again. We got to the spot about an hour before dead low tide. I was hoping to see the usual thick schools of redfish that I have been finding there for the last few weeks. Instead, we found them to be pretty spread out and only small groups.
As we worked into the creeks with the incoming tide we found TONS of perfect bait size finger mullet. A few tosses of the cast net, and we had a live well full. I have not seen bait size mullet in quite some time up there. All I have been seeing are the big 10-12" ones. I’m guessing this appearance of bait is the reason for the spread out redfish? They really seemed to be chasing the schools of mullet hard.
We took some live shrimp with us and tried them on jigheads, free swimming on hooks, and under corks. My dad got a slot red on a shrimp on a jighead. I got an undersize trout under a cork. We got lots of bites, but only got the two fish in the boat. We dragged a Carolina rigged mullet behind the boat for a while and had a nice fish take off with it, but couldn’t set the hook before it got away with the bait.
We saw some interesting things, lots of wildlife, and lots of bait. All in all, a good day to be on the water with my dad.

I wish I had sellsfish’s skills!

Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole

Sounds like a good day on the water to me!! Well done Hoof!

j

If I went fishin as much as you, I’d be one happy camper!

Hunter P. Hames
11’ Tarpon 100
19’ Sea Fox 125 merc

im sure sellsfish would gladly show ya how to clean em up good

the key is a SHARP knife… and some practice… i could show ya but i would leave it up to the experts that are out there. im decent but i dont do it for a livin

“mr keys”

The boss got me a new fillet knife for Christmas. I’ve been itching to use it, and today I got my shot. I grew up cleaning my dad’s, my brothers’, and my own largemouth bass, and I’m really good with catfish. I’m still getting to know redfish, and they’re very similar to bass (for anyone who has cleaned one and is wondering about the other).

Some flour and a little seasoning is all it takes.

Hey, hey! My boy likes redfish! Anything a two year old will eat is great!

Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole

nice work hoof…

The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org

ive found that with heavy scaled fish like reds or sheeps that i will actually kind of scale the areas first before i cut into them… seems to help for me at least

grew up filleting rainbow trout… wayyyyyy easier

way to go on your trips though! loved eating fish when i was a kid. good on ya :sunglasses:

“mr keys”

I think I passed by you about 11:30 or so heading around the corner in Yellow House. I’m gonna have to start recognizing your boat. You did better than I did…I only spooked a couple of reds at best. I didn’t have a whole lot of time today. I tried a tt and and storm wild eyed shad for the collar. I spent maybe two hours on the water, I just wanted to get out of the house for a little bit. On my way out I considered stopping over where you guys had been and moving up in that area left of the creek mouth but didn’t have time. It was a good thing I didn’t, fedx had shown up and I had to get to work rebuilding a couple computers… which sucked compared to being out in the boat. Glad you guys caught tho… think maybe the fresh water coming down river might have something to do with them spreading out? I also saw some finger mullet back up where I went.

2004 Action Craft 1820
Flats Master SE

nice work! i grew up cleaning mostly walleye for big fish and aside from heavier scales a redfish isnt too different. as others mentioned keep that knife sharp and its 100x easier. dunno what you have but i also found a much thicker and heavier 8" saltwater knife cleans reds much better than the 6" i used for walleye at home while the 6" is great for trout, which are very similar in build as a walleye. just takes a bit of practice keep at it.

Here’s the one the boss got me:

So far (after one fish) I dig it.

Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole

Sounds like a great day, my son tears up some red fish as well but i normally grill them.

17’ Chris Craft Sport
100 hp 4 Stroke Yamaha

Great report! I always appreciate when people are specific in their reports regarding tackle, bait, and techniques. It helps me become a better fisherman!