Had been fishing the latter days of Dec thru this weekend. Fish further up the Cooper for Cats and while patiently was threw a few plastics and caught Reds 25" to 28" with a beautiful evening sky
Nice Reds the last week of Xnas.
I know this is not a freshwater forum but managed some Cats 20 lb to 25 lbs. Anyway on to the beginning
Jan 2,2021 Ran after some Reds and what a day this was catching Red after Red and had this 25.5" revive in the livewell before releasing
Around 9:00 pushed a little further up the River with the incoming slowing think this was 23" and immediately release while still active.
Just as I was ready to come in because of rain off and on I threw a Little Cleo for awhile and landed this 24" Striper and it was not a Hybrid (Released)
Back at the house by 12:30 0r so with nothing to clean but the boat. By the way Optiker had a great evening catching cats and a a few reds at the same time and got in around 7:00 that evening. Happy New Year to all!!!
"Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education"
Always good to see you FatRat. I ended up with 8 reds, 2 striper, 1 trout and 1 catfish, nothing too large, and best of all when I returned to the dock I stumbled while stepping off the boat and right into the water! I was fine besides a bruised ego and very cold and wet. That was a first for me and a wake up call. Glad you had a good day. Hope you tagged that striper. If not, please do in the future. Thanks,
opti, you’re a big man to admit that. if you go enough times, almost everything happens eventually - fall in, grounded for hours waiting on tide to return, snap 2 rods 10 seconds apart, fall off poling platform into boat, fall off poling platform out of boat, snag a manatee not on purpose, snag a jet ski on purpose, tow someone in, get towed in, cut up on shells, get swamped by snowbird trawler. not that i’ve done any of these, hypothetically speaking of course.
my son got me one of those fancy self inflating lifejackets for Christmas. I fish alone 95% of the time - “dad, I’ve seen your work. I woulda gotten you a helmet too, but I didn’t think you’d wear it”
Happy new year Peapod. Yeah, not too proud to admit it. I’ve done a fair number of things on your list also. If being dumass was an olympic sport, I’d have a gold medal.
Edit to add: I always wear an inflatable when fishing solo, especially in the winter. Gladly, mine didn’t go off as I was of course at Bushy toward low tide so didn’t get too far wet above my waist
Fell down walking back to shore the other day and cut my hands and tore my waders on oysters. Do I get points for that??
Fatrat - not at all questioning your adherence to the rules or anything, and maybe I misunderstood the photo, but I believe having oversized reds in a livewell counts as legal “possession” which could result in a ticket (regardless of any intent to release). Just saying, be careful.
I took a swim a couple of weeks ago. Tripped over the trolling motor mount and did a flip into 16 ft of cold water. I was layered up with clothes and deck boots. Inflatable life jacket was in back seat of truck. Scared the bejebus out of me. I believe I didnt sink immediately because of air between my rain suit and other clothes. Didnt lose hat, glasses or fishing rod : )
I had a real tough time getting back in the boat as I was soaked. I finally used the fin on the outboard lower unit as a step to help crawl back in. Thank goodness the tide was light and the boat didnt drift away from me I have inflatable life jackets but dont have confidence in them as I have heard of them not going off. I have been looking at jackets kayakers use. If anyone has a recommendation I would sure like to hear.
John , you are correct. I would hope you could explain the situation and get some slack, but that would depend on the DNR. Have you ever talked yourself out of a speeding ticket?
Peapod always nice hearing from you as well as Optiker. Didn’t get a chance to tag this baby because as I laid it on the back to get the gun it made its way bacd to the waters. Reds tire out but this striper was still a strong swimmer. JAinsc your probably right about putting fish in the livewell but I perfer to revive my fish to live another day than release and float back on top. I’ve been through this in the number of years of catching reds. Once I place a tag in them and provided DNR runs up on me I hope they don’t fine me. Oh it’s not like I’m riding around with a tagged fish. I flood the livewell with plenty of oxygen and swim for awhile then release. By the way DNR are hiring (: !!!
"Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education"
If you follow my Release Over 20 Initiative, you will have seen that I have been promoting putting fish in the livewell to let them revive while you get your stuff ready for a pic, measure, tag, whatever. If DNR were to challenge me on that, I would politely explain why, and if they were to ticket me, I would ask for a jury trial! Put the resource first. Well done FatRat.
