banded redfish

[sprigdog]

well, tagged. Same difference. Nicest day of the year by a long shot. Warm, no wind(morning) and a few fish. Love these late march early april days, temperature is perfect except...damn sandgnats. First good sighting of the year today. Only wound up bit 6-7 times from bugs and bit 8 times by fish. Fish was 29" but couldnt read the tag. My eyes dont work for up close and small.

[TakeEm']

what tide were you fishing today if you dont mind me asking?

[dukhuntr]

Good Deal Sprig! I couaght one one time fishing in Char. harbor wit h my grandfather years ago. It's the one and only red fish I remember still to this day!

[duckcrazed]

Slacker....No T-Shirt for you....

[sprigdog]

Slacker....No T-Shirt for you....

since i already own one i figured i'd save the state some money so you can get paid this month

twas the flood tide

[Palmetto Bug]

Recreational taggers are taught to stick them beside the dorsal fin. I've seen ones tagged in the belly before that were supposedly done by DNR biologists. I have no clue why they stick them there. It looks dangerous.

Not only did you miss out on the tee shirt, you won't get the letter that has the history of the fish. That's the best part of the program; finding out where the fish was caught and how much he weighted. They'll also send you a letter if it gets recaptured.

Have you tried zooming in on the photo to see if you can read the tag?

[winyah-jay]

Nice fish Sprig. What bait were you using? I have seen the fish starting to eat mullet again. You should have just plucked the tag and looked at home. It looked like it was about worn out anyway.

About the belly tag...I have reported 3 DNR biologist tags this year and all were tagged in the dorsal. Not sure who tagged that fish, but most orange tags (in my experience) were placed by DNR.

Here's my guess...fish tagged around 2 years ago in the mouth of waccamaw river. The fish travelled 12.5 miles to North Inlet.

[sprigdog]

i figured i'd let the next fella get a t-shirt. I did clean all the moss off the tag for him.

Jay, the bait was the only thing i ever tie onto the end of my line between Dec-Mar. 1/4oz jig, 3" gulp shrimp. They are starting to split up.

[BigBrother]

Congrats on landing a tagged fish.

I agree, sticking a belly tag in sounds dangerous, but then again, I vent fish by jooging an ice pick in their ribs...hellifIknow, I am not a bio. I have tagged probably 20 reds and all were in the shoulders, after I pulled a scale out.

[duckcrazed]

The smaller fish are belly tagged, larger fish are shoulder tagged. Belly tags are stuck in betadine before being inserted...I've recaptured one that was out 13 years, so they have good retention. And thank you sprig for for saving the project money...I'll sleep easier tonight knowing my furlough will only be 9.827 days instead of ten lol...

[GMAC]

I caught one one time at S Santee - released in the Wando. All the fins were gone, tail included. The biologist said that it happens sometimes. A fungal infection from being handled at the time of tagging. It still put up a pretty good fight.

[duckcrazed]

Unusual to see them move like that...most of them move less than a 1/4 mile over 4 years until they move out w/the big boys offshore...

[HUNTINDUCS]

Congrats on the tag and the release.