I fish the Ashley and western edges of harbor and I’m wondering if there is something wrong with the normal population of 1 and 2 year old red drum. In my last 7 trips, 27 of 29 reds were well overslot and six were over 30 inches. Is anyone else seeing this ?
For me, thats the best kinda of trips because I don’t eat no meat without feet 
, but for real, thats a good problem to have. My catches have all over the spectrum though, so I donno really what to tell you. Relish in it while you can 
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It’s the blue devil hat, don’t lose it
I remember when my little boilermakers were catching fish like that
Cherish every moment
I’m seeing the same thing you are
Except I’m not seeing as many of the big ones
I’m thinking it’s because the game wardens are not checking anyone at Bushy Park
They may check for a license or life jacket but don’t look for illegal fish
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awesome!!!
Still early for them smaller fish to pop out the hideaway creeks. Too much food to swim away from to become potential porpoise toys
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Noticed that too in the Wando. Lots of over slot but not many young ones. Tried a few spots that usually hold slot reds but didn’t catch a single one. Wonder if it has anything to do with the past freeze?
Hi guys. I’m a member of the SCDNR Marine Advisory Committee, so feel free to ask if you have any questions. If I don’t have the answer I can get it - or better yet just ask Barbawang 
. The 2021 redfish year-class was a particularly strong one relative to years before and after. The subsequent year-classes have not been as good, so what you’re seeing is the '21 year class (4 yr olds) are now around 28-33". Soon those will be heading nearshore and vacating the estuaries for the most part. Those 12 and 13 lb bags you’ve been seeing in the redfish tournaments the last few years ain’t gonna be as easy to achieve in the next few!
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You got it, Op
Here’s 1,000 words for ya
This is average catch of all sizes by year from our inshore net survey, and we did indeed catch/tag almost exclusively those overslot fish from ‘21 today
Edit to add that we are very lucky and grateful to have you in that role!
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Thanks for the info barb on flounder
Opti was the first one to let us know that all the big ones were female
Need to have a slot limit
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Can we see the rest of that chart?
Of course! It was on display at our last open house this spring. I’ll post it Monday
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Great info!
I was waiting for someone to question the validity of the data and or how its acquired… And I’m glad I didn’t have to go get my popcorn while Barbawang schooled em If you didn’t know, BW is instrumental in gathering that data. I’ve volunteered on electrofishing and also trammel net surveys and it is very interesting. In short, each dot represents thousands of acquisitions at randomized testing sites and has been done the same way for over 20 years. SC has some of the best scientifically valid data of any state in the country.
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My $.02/anecdotal data. I fish up and down the Wando. I’ve found bigger fish in the bigger water: Wando banks, big creeks. Smaller, slot or less fish, in the narrower, shallower creeks. I’d try the smaller feeder creeks into the Ashley.
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I’ve seen flounder in a crab trap but never a spotail
Are the entrances to your trap on the bottom?
It’s just a regular pot, i don’t know. I usually keep a juvie sheep or two in there, but I haven’t gotten spot tail before. I thought it was interesting. He was still alive too