Seven or eight years ago I used to catch up to 10 juvenile 2 1/2 to 3 inch redfish while casting for mud minnows and finger mullet in late March and early April in some of the feeder creeks off the Cooper and Wando. Not anymore, they seemed to have disappeared. I agree with Cracker Larry, round-up, weed-b-gone, fertilizers, and run off could be having a drastic effect.
Furthermore, DNR is strapped, we need funding for more good old GAME WARDENS to stop all illegal fishing activities.
Corkman, I agree with you. Back in MD, grasses that used to grow in the tribs of the Chesapeake Bay were said to be lost due to sedimentation. That could be true to some extent as sedimentation is certainly one contributing factor. However, I had noticed that farming & road side vegetation control practices use a lot of herbicides. Where they had tilled fields or cut & mowed right of ways at one time, which has an associated cost, now they spray, which takes less time & is likely less costly. It’s obvious where the spraying is being done, as everything turns brown. Could very well be that all these chemicals are getting into the waterways & having a negative impact.
Unfortunately, everywhere is strapped for funding, so they have to do the best they can with the resources they have. IMO, the best way to help them is report illegal poaching activities when we see it, and let them do their jobs. They’re not going to catch them all, but perhaps they can catch & prosecute enough of them to make the rest think twice about the consequences. That is of course, as long as the judicial system takes the same offenses seriously & deals out sentences that actually deter the illegal activity.
That was a big problem back in MD, as judges often didn’t take such offenses as serious, and in many cases even repeat offenders got off with small fines, or no fines. Fortunately,primarily due to public concern, both sporting & non-sporting folks alike, that has been changing for the better!
When I lived in MD, I kept the “Catch a Poacher Hotline” number in my phone, and now do the same here in SC. Poachers steal from all of us! We can always make a choice, either be part of the problem or part of the solution.
I have rarely caught any redfish in a cast net and I bait cast in an area loaded with bass. It’s hard to gig that area because all the mid-size bass keep the water muddy, but no juvies in the cast net.
Olde Man Charters
dont talk about gigging sulcatman the locals here will pluck out your eyes and make you eat them with a reciepe from cooking your catch forum!
good one snipper
quote:
Originally posted by sniper7dont talk about gigging sulcatman the locals here will pluck out your eyes and make you eat them with a reciepe from cooking your catch forum!
Nope, that only happens when you rape a resource knowingly.
If I get murdered in the city, don’t go revenging in my name…
ya gotta admit that line about using a recipe from the cooking section was lol
I don’t remember many identifiable juvenile Reds but I caught a slot Red a couple years ago behind Capers Island when I threw the net on a school of Mullet. ( I put him back ) When I catch anything that even looks like a juvenile Red I put it back just in case. It’s rare though. It’s scary to think about the chemicals we use every day…
2005 Sea Hunt 212 Triton
“Head East”
quote:
Originally posted by PeaPodya gotta admit that line about using a recipe from the cooking section was lol
Skinnie1 is feeding him one liners…
If I get murdered in the city, don’t go revenging in my name…
We catch a lot of juvenile (3") reds in cast nets around Port Royal. Also a lot of trout, snook, spanish and king mackerel, and many others. They make good bait 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
rape a resource knowingly. oh brother. if one guy staying well withing the legal limits of a recreational fisherman is RAPING anything you have a much bigger problem on your hands. or option B which is what i think is more likely. We have a few drama queens on here 
quote:
Originally posted by PeaPodya gotta admit that line about using a recipe from the cooking section was lol
Think you meant “reciepe”. May be similar to “gorgonzola accoutrement”…
“I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now…”