# SCHOOLING REDS OFF THE BEACH



## TARPON01 (Apr 22, 2008)

Went cobia fishing saturday and things started off pretty slow. The clouds were pretty thick so early in the morning so we decided to check out a bunch of birds diving about a mile off graytonbeach. I was expecting spanish or bonito but it turned out to be thousands of bull redfish. As soon as we casted into the schools we all hooked up. We fished this same school of fish for 2 hours and landed around 15-20 total. The fish hit anything from cobia jigs to gotcha plugs. It was truely a sight to see and one of the coolest things I have witnessed on the water.There were also some huge sharks feeding on the reds.


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## TARPON01 (Apr 22, 2008)




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## TARPON01 (Apr 22, 2008)




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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

Good thing we cant keep any bull reds , those things are almost extinct! :banghead



Awesome pics btw


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## Clam (Nov 10, 2007)

That's pretty awesome! nice pics


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## Bologna Gravy (Oct 5, 2007)

Would the last photo qualify for a slot Red ? 

BG


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## TARPON01 (Apr 22, 2008)

He was still a little over when you pinched his belly fin!


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## Adicted2Fishn (Oct 4, 2007)

> *choppedliver (4/12/2010)*Good thing we cant keep any bull reds , those things are almost extinct! :banghead
> 
> Awesome pics btw


No one said they were almost extinct, when a red matures to "Bull Red", that is when they start spawning..... so by not keeping the Breeding Stock, we keep the Red Fish population up.... 

I have been in wads of Reds such like pictured above... and WOW, I was using everything in the tacklebox.... they were definately not picky.... Great feeling when fishing/catching is non-stop.... I actually got one of the sharks that take advantage of them.... Great Report


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## Pass Time (Feb 6, 2009)

Thats pretty cool right there...never have seen that before. That had to be a wad of fun. We were cobe fishing off of grayton saturday and must have missed that action.


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## Renegade_2010 (Jul 8, 2008)

> *TARPON01 (4/12/2010)*






So is this a slot fish now? Maybe if you pinch the tail you've got it.


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

wow thats awesome....havent been in them quite that thick but ive had them thick enought to get hooked just dropping a sabikki


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## sail7seas (Oct 2, 2007)

that is a great day of fishing. definitely no shortage of bull reds in the GOM.


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## bamagun (Apr 28, 2008)

We got into the same school on sunday almost in panama city.. It was a sight to see


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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

> *Adicted2Fishn (4/12/2010)*
> 
> 
> > *choppedliver (4/12/2010)*Good thing we cant keep any bull reds , those things are almost extinct! :banghead
> ...






I was being sarcastic about the extinct part... and yes, I , and pretty much everyone else, know that the bull reds are the breeding stock. 



I also know that you can keep one over slot in Alabama, and I really think that the population has rebounded enough over the years to allow us the same in Florida. I would like to keep a bull red. Of course I don't have any "scientific data" to back this up, just my experience, and the reports I see. But then I don't really trust the people who are in charge of these rules, as they are the same idiots in charge of the snapper debacle.


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## pappastratos (Oct 9, 2007)

How big were the sharks ?


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## swhiting (Oct 4, 2007)

Too cool!



Thanks for sharing the pics.


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## Marine Scout (Nov 18, 2007)

Very NIce!!!


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## BIGRIGZ (Oct 2, 2007)

WOW is all I can say... That must have been a heck of a memory!


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## JDM (Oct 1, 2007)

So if the red that got ate was over the slot, and it was put in the cooler becuase it was dead and was not the anglers fault, would there be a fine for keeping the remainder? which looks to me like it has a lot of good meat left on it.


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## snakeman14 (Apr 17, 2008)

That is awesome, I bet yall had a blast.


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## true-king (Oct 2, 2007)

Really cool guys! It's like fall all over again


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## devinsdad (Mar 31, 2010)

Yup- FWC doesn't care if a shark ate 99% of the fish. Still can't keep whats left.


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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

> *devinsdad (4/13/2010)*Yup- FWC doesn't care if a shark ate 99% of the fish. Still can't keep whats left.




FWC cant prove how big it was, so how could they prosecute you, and what court would prosecute you for keeping a shark eaten fish? Somewhere, common sense has to play in


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## wrightackle (Oct 29, 2007)

When it comes to fish regs common sense is out the window. It is absurd that Florida won't ease up and let people keep an overslot fish. Especially when you consider it was the commercial purse seiners that brought on these restrictions thru there greed. The guy with a rod and reel could never dent the population of any fish out there.


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## alle9219 (Aug 16, 2009)

> *choppedliver (4/13/2010)*
> 
> 
> > *devinsdad (4/13/2010)*Yup- FWC doesn't care if a shark ate 99% of the fish. Still can't keep whats left.
> ...


I'm sure the game warden would use common sense to figure out that fish wouldn't have been a slot fish and cited you. Seriously though there's formulas to figure out length, and if they go to court and say this fish was x wide at the fins, and y girth and so on, and here's 10 fish with similar measurements and they are all well outside the slot limit, and it'd be tough to argue against it.

It sucks to not be able to keep fish when it looks like there's a lot of them, but I'd much rather have a conservative limit and be able to catch em all day than scrounge up one or two fish a day and be able to keep them all.


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## Inn Deep (Oct 3, 2007)

"FWC cant prove how big it was, so how could they prosecute you, and what court would prosecute you for keeping a shark eaten fish? Somewhere, common sense has to play in"

Correct, but, most FWC officers will write you up for that fih. Then you Have to go to court and see what the judge has to say.


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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

> *alle9219 (4/13/2010)*
> 
> 
> > *choppedliver (4/13/2010)*
> ...




And the logic behind the law, is to prevent humans from damaging the breed stock. You didn't kill it, so you didn't damage anything.


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## choppedliver (Apr 4, 2009)

Im not doubting you would get fined. I just think any court with sense would overturn that citation, not that I want to find out. I just think it is absolutely asinine how our laws are especially with how many reds are out there


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## TARPON01 (Apr 22, 2008)

Just an FYI I did "release" the one that was caught by the shark.The sharks that were feeding on the reds were huge. I couldnt tell what kind but I am guessing bullsharks.


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