After seeing the picture of Gregg, Dickey and their various chilluns on their flashback fishing trip, I decided to head out to my new favorite honey hole and wet a line myself.
I love just gettin out there in the fresh air and sunshine. Catching any fish is really secondary. I'm also kinda conflicted when it comes to using live bait. Those live shrimps sure do seem to appeal to the fishies. I always tell 'em, "this is gonna hurt a little" before inserting that hook through their rectums and skulls.
Sometimes (most times) I'll just use frozen dead shrimp. That they're already dead saves me half the trouble. Well, yesterday I went with the good stuff. Although I spared the fish (gettin to that), I have the souls of about two dozen crustaceans on my conscious.
As stated, the fresh air and sunshine are the best reasons for gettin out there. But I've always got a fish supper on my mind also. As a rule, I throw back anything that I (or the DNR) think is too small. Also, if by the time my bait starts runnin low, I don't keep anything. One or two fish don't feed many folks (unless you're Jesus).
Early in the day, I caught this legit Red Fish. These guys are delicious fried, but I prefer to blacken 'em. Well, I landed him, but then I went and did something stoopid. I decided to document my catch with a photo (as I often do). I snapped this picture, then while I was putting the camera away the fish flipped himself back into the water. Red Fish 1 - Rusty 0.
I caught another red a few minutes later. Didn't have my ruler with me so I wasn't sure he made the minimum 14" length. So, back he went (no photo). Red Fish 2 - Rusty 0.
Didn't get another bite for quite a while so I stopped and ate a sammich. Went back to casting. About 30 minutes before my predesignated quittin' time, I caught a beautiful Red Fish! A good 2 inches over the minimum length. I put him in my cooler and went back at it. Then I noticed I was out of shrimp.
If I'd secured the first one and kept the second one - this third one would've made a feast. One fish does not a meal make, so I kissed him on the lips and said, "may we meet again on another day". Back he went. Red Fish 3 - Rusty 0.
I wanted to take a picture of #3 but my camera battery had given up the ghost for the day.
I ended up eating Burger King for dinner.
I can't wait to try it again!
Bobby Charles! Thanks for that one!
Nice Red! When using live shrimp put the hook into the area in the very top of his head between the eyes and the brain. The shrimp will continue to swim around and stay alive a surprisingly long time. I've had them jump clear out of the water when a large fish is approaching.
Live shrimp is the best of all saltwater baits IMO, especially when trying to catch Specks. A Speck won't hit a dead shrimp, but a Red will.
I was just on YouTube before I saw this thread and couldn't resist posting the four videos I was watching...
Synchronicity is cool! 😉
Video more pertinent to the subject. How to rig a live shrimp.
Sadistic, but almost funny at about 2:20: "he really doesn't like that!."
Heading back out early next week. The weather's good, the tourists are gone and the reds are way up in the grass. It'll be great!
After seeing the picture of Gregg, Dickey and their various chilluns on their flashback fishing trip, I decided to head out to my new favorite honey hole and wet a line myself.
I love just gettin out there in the fresh air and sunshine. Catching any fish is really secondary. I'm also kinda conflicted when it comes to using live bait. Those live shrimps sure do seem to appeal to the fishies. I always tell 'em, "this is gonna hurt a little" before inserting that hook through their rectums and skulls.
Sometimes (most times) I'll just use frozen dead shrimp. That they're already dead saves me half the trouble. Well, yesterday I went with the good stuff. Although I spared the fish (gettin to that), I have the souls of about two dozen crustaceans on my conscious.
As stated, the fresh air and sunshine are the best reasons for gettin out there. But I've always got a fish supper on my mind also. As a rule, I throw back anything that I (or the DNR) think is too small. Also, if by the time my bait starts runnin low, I don't keep anything. One or two fish don't feed many folks (unless you're Jesus).
Early in the day, I caught this legit Red Fish. These guys are delicious fried, but I prefer to blacken 'em. Well, I landed him, but then I went and did something stoopid. I decided to document my catch with a photo (as I often do). I snapped this picture, then while I was putting the camera away the fish flipped himself back into the water. Red Fish 1 - Rusty 0.
I caught another red a few minutes later. Didn't have my ruler with me so I wasn't sure he made the minimum 14" length. So, back he went (no photo). Red Fish 2 - Rusty 0.
Didn't get another bite for quite a while so I stopped and ate a sammich. Went back to casting. About 30 minutes before my predesignated quittin' time, I caught a beautiful Red Fish! A good 2 inches over the minimum length. I put him in my cooler and went back at it. Then I noticed I was out of shrimp.
If I'd secured the first one and kept the second one - this third one would've made a feast. One fish does not a meal make, so I kissed him on the lips and said, "may we meet again on another day". Back he went. Red Fish 3 - Rusty 0.
I wanted to take a picture of #3 but my camera battery had given up the ghost for the day.
I ended up eating Burger King for dinner.
I can't wait to try it again!
absolutely awesome post 
"unless you're Jesus" 
😉
living here in RI where saltwater fishin' is really good, I rarely go. (my son goes often, takes the grandkids, they have a blast ) I'm freshwater. Go quite often, love being outside, with Sept./Oct. coming a great time to be out fishin'.
again, cool post
