[FL FISHERMAN]

just to get a good topic started so here we go. in va and md you can keep one redfish over 27 in. i know in fl you can't. i think if enough people get together with enough good information we might be able to get that same type of limitation. i talked to a lot of people while i was at sebastian including rangers. seen them twice down there once on the boat and once on land to measure the fish. many years back they had something similar but the population of reds went down b/c people were keeping every one of them. so they restricted them. i got to talk to a few clammers out there and they are piping mad b/c the big schools are coming in and they are engorging themselves on them. leaving many clam beds desolated. so i know they are all for allowing i over the size limit. i also talked to a few charters and they said the opposite. they love the big reds b/c it is good for business and they can always get their people on them especially in the flats. so i pretty much got most sides of the story especially mine. i am a game fisher. i like to catch and release. i also like to catch and have good food on the table so i am for allowing 1 over 27 in rule. i believe there should be some restriction so we don't deplete it. especially in times of spawning. so i think there is a median somewhere that we can come to. what do you guys think? like i said might be able to get enough info and people together to present it to the fl fish and game and go from there. tight lines for everyone.

 

[Cdog]

Not trying ta throw a monkeywrench in your plan but as of Jan 1 you can no longer keep 1 over 26" in Va. Don't know about MD.

 

[FL FISHERMAN]

ooh not really a monkey wrench but just goes to show how easily things can change with the right info and people behind it. i am sure there was a lot of study for them to change that rule. just something to think about. i know for sure that the redfish population is thriving in fl. thanks for the info cdog on that note i need to get copies of the new fishing limits for both md and va for the new year.

 

[emanuel]

I have kept and eaten only two red drum in my life and neither time did I really enjoy eating them. One was 15" and the other was 23". Now I just see them as a sacred catch and release fish, I'd rather let them get to be 40+" and have the fun of screaming clickers.

Maybe I wasn't using the right recipes but I just didn't like them as table fare, flounder and trout are so much better.

 

[Kozlow]

FYI Link http://floridamarine.org/features/view_article.asp?id=4706
I like to catch and release my self (the larger ones)but there has to be a reason for
the size limits.Protection for future generations?????
I think when they get to be monsters they
just dont taste as good.(my opinion)

T-----Lines

Kozlow

 

[Sandcrab]

Keep the "puppies" and let the "old dogs" go!

 

[emanuel]

I have eaten the puppy drum, just not that interesting on the table. Same goes for croaker, black drum, just about anything in the drum family. Now those big "gator" trout, mmmmmmm! We really should have a recipe section. I could use some recipes for pinfish and stingrays, goodness knows I catch enough of those to feed a third-world country.

With the size limits on the big reds, I took a semester of Marine Science and what I learned is that the bigger ones can produce alot more offspring than the pups can. Also, in terms of genetics, the big drum are more likely to have offspring that will reach the size of their parents. That sounds good to me, monster drum everywhere!

 

[FL FISHERMAN]

yeah i have also heard that the big ones don't taste as good. but i have never eaten a big one yet to offer my own opinion on that subject. i started this to see what every ones opinions were on the subject not to get crucified b/c of my view. trust me i love the feeling of throwing the big one back. i threw back a 13 lb 10 oz large mouth in my lake 2 years ago. the fish of my life, but sometimes i just want to keep one for the table and even maybe mounting. i know in the past 10 years in fl there has been a big push for catch and release. i live on a small lake in orlando and i grew up watching how that method saved the large mouth population in my lake. when i was a kid i couldn't catch a bass over 3 lbs. and i was using shiners. now 14 years later i am catching 7,8, 10 and even 13lb bass regularly. i was just thinking that they should have a certain time every year (maybe a month, couple weeks..) to bag one over 27 in. just to have a good turnover ratio of the fish. having monster redfish everywhere in fl sounds great but we might start noticing diseases,bait getting depleted and the smaller pups getting skinnier and starving out. i was just thinking maybe it could change in the next 5 to 10 years. just my logic of it thats all. not based on scientific facts, just my eyes and ears thats all.

 

[emanuel]

yeah, no one is crucifying you on the subject. I just like the thought of a lot of big drum around. Perhaps they'll lift the restrictions when they population stabilizes enough. Then they can maybe have a one or two over 27" limit in effect for those people who want to. Might be great, as long as the commercial fishermen are prohibited from harvesting them.

 

[Jack Crevalle]

Your comment about the clammers sounds like the theory some put forth here in Maryland for the declining blue crab population. They claim that it is the fault of the resurgence of the striper population since stripers like crabs. This of course overlooks the facts that many oystermen turned to crabbing when the oyster population went south and that down in Virginia they still dredge female crabs from the mud of the lower Chesepeake in the winter time.