Red DrumNatural History and Fishing Techniques

in South Carolina

byDr. Charles Wenner

Educational Report No. 17

Marine Resources Research InstituteMarine Resources Division

South Carolina Department of Natural ResourcesP.O. Box 12559

Charleston, SC 29422

Original PrintingOctober 1992

PREFACE

In the summer of 1986, the Marine Resources Research Institute of the South CarolinaWildlife and Marine Resources Department began intensive studies of the natural history anddynamics of recreationally important inshore fishes in our estuaries and bays. The major objec-tive of these studies was to obtain the scientific knowledge required to develop policies and regu-lations that protect and maintain these economically and ecologically valuable resources, includ-ing red drum, spotted sea trout, and southern flounder. This publication is the first in a seriesthat is being developed to distribute the findings of these studies to the angling public. In addi-tion to information about natural history, we have also included a section on fishing techniquesdesigned to assist readers, particularly beginning anglers, in their piscatorial pursuits as well asa section explaining the approach and rationale for conservation efforts that have been or soonwill be proposed. As a result of this work, I hope the recreational fisherman will gain a betterunderstanding and appreciation of the actions that are required to ensure that an abundantsupply of fish is available for future generations.

It has been said by men who are much wiser than I, that the Lord does not subtract the daysspent fishing form an individual’s allotted time on earth. As I approach my 50th birthday, I morefully realize how precious is the time spent in the peaceful pursuit of fish. The following poem,which was the favorite of my late father-in-law, Roland Lewis, puts into words my feelings aboutfishing in a more meaningful way than I am able to accomplish.

I hope the reader enjoys this publication, and I would appreciate any comments and sugges-tions that would assist in making future editions of the planned series more informative anduseful.

Charlie Wenner

ADDENDUM

Since this booklet was first published, indeed shortly after it was released to the public,Colonel James P. Rathbun passed away after a battle with cancer. He was an extremely honestand courageous man who was willing listener. Frequently, when faced with a difficult situationthat requires honest thought, I say to myself “How would the Colonel handle this? What wouldhe say?” Frequently I wish I could simply call him up and ask his opinion on some matter deal-ing with our natural resources, or just to say hello. South Carolina is indeed a better state forhaving had this man as a citizen. Recreational anglers as well as all those who love the beautyand resources of our coastal area have better opportunities because of this man. Indeed, he was apositive influence on my life and I sorely miss his candor, good humor, and integrity.

THE FISHING CURE1

byEdgar A. Guest

There’s nothing that builds up a toil-weary soulLike a day on a stream,

Back on the banks of the old fishing holeWhere a fellow can dream.

There’s nothing so good for a man as to fleeFrom the city and lie

Full length in the shade of a whispering treeAnd gaze at the sky.

Out there where the strife and the greed are forgotAnd the struggle for pelf,

A man can get rid of each taint and each spotAnd clean up himself

He can be what he wanted to be when a boy,If only in dreams;

And revel once more in the depth of a joyThat’s as real as it seems.

The things that he hates never follow him there -The jar of the street,

The rivalries petty, the struggling unfair -For the open is sweet.

In purity’s realm he can rest and be clean,Be he humble or great,

And as peaceful his soul may become as the sceneThat his eyes contemplate.

It is good for the world that men hunger to goTo the banks of a stream,

And weary of sham and of pomp and of showThey have somewhere to dream.

For this life would be dreary and sordid and baseDid they not now and then

Seek refreshment and calm in God’s wide, open spaceAnd come back to be men.

1 from A Heap o’ Livin’ by Edgar A. Guest, published in 1916 by The Reilly & Lee Co.,Chicago, Illinois.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATION

Support for the research that supplied much of the information that I have used to describethe natural history of the red drum was provided by the Sport Fish Restoration Fund that isadministered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The money in this fund is derivedfrom excise taxes on sport fishing equipment, so in essence, you the angling public have sup-ported this work.

I would have never been able to learn about red drum in South Carolina without the assis-tance of the following biologists and students who work with me at the Marine Center at FortJohnson: Bill Roumillat, Mark Maddox, John Archambault, Louie Daniel, Joe Moran, andGeorge Reikerk. Fred Holland carefully edited the text and made it much more understandable,however, any errors are mine. Karen Swanson carefully turned my stick diagrams into goodlooking figures and made the camera ready copy of the document.

I have never really written anything that I could have dedicated to anyone. Should I dedi-cate this to my loving wife to whom I have been married for 16 years; to my Dad, who first tookme fishing, or perhaps my Mom who suffered through my many indiscretions; to the memory ofBilly Sales, a wise old drum fisherman of the Outer Banks of North Carolina who first called me“Damn Yankee” and instructed me in the fine art of throwing a large diameter cast net when youhave no teeth to hold the lead line (he used a spring clamp that was hung around his neck); toJack Musick who took me on my first trip to the Outer Banks; to Dee Oliver who first introducedme to the habits of “Sweet William” (old Billy Bass) in South Carolina?

All are indeed deserving of acknowledgment, however, I would like to take this opportunityto dedicate this work to Colonel James P. Rathbun. If he approached his duties as a UnitedStates Marine with the same energy as he has championed the cause of the wise use of SouthCarolina’s fishery resources, he must have been one hell of a soldier. Thanks Colonel. Your ef-forts on behalf of future generations of South Carolinians is gratefully acknowledged.

CHANGES IN REGULATIONS

Since this booklet was first published, there have been some changes in the laws that regu-late the harvest of this species. The following are regulations that are in place as of 1 January1996. The prudent fisherman will keep abreast of any changes in the laws after this time.

1. Size limits: minimum size - 14 inches total length maximum size -27 inches total length

2. Catch limits : five (5) fish per angler per day - no red drum may be harvested from FederalWaters which lie beyond 3 miles to the off-shore boundary which is 200 miles at sea.

3. Gear Restrictions: can be taken only with rod and reel year-round or by gigging duringMarch through November

Red drum are a gamefish in South Carolina. Native fish caught in the State’s waters can notbe legally sold. Fish from states where their harvest is legal may be sold in South Carolina withproper documentation; also those fish produce in a mariculture (fish farming) operation may besold with proper documentation.

1

INTRODUCTION

Fishes are given two types of names: ascientific name which is derived from theLatin or Greek language, and an officialcommon name designated by the AmericanFisheries Society in an attempt to standard-ize public usage across the nation. Thescientific name of the subject of this publica-tion is Sciaenops ocellatus (Sciaenops -Greek word meaning a perch-like marinefish; oceallatus - Latin word meaning an eye-like colored spot), and the common name isred drum. Most anglers in coastal SouthCarolina, however, call this fish “spot-tailbass” or simply “spot-tails.” To fishermen instates that border the Gulf of Mexico andalong the east coast of Florida, this species isknown as “redfish” because of the bronzecoloration. In Virginia, red drum are called“channel bass.” Anglers in North Carolinarefer to red drum less than 15 pounds as“puppy drum,” those 15 to 30 pounds as“yearlings,” and those heavier than 30pounds are simply “drum.” Throughout thetext, I will use the accepted common name,red drum.

The red drum is a member of the familySciaenidae (= drum family) which includesseveral species that are sought by inshorefishermen. Some of the red drum’s relativesfound in coastal South Carolina are theblack drum, spotted seatrout (= wintertrout), weakfish (= summer trout), kingfishes(= whitings), Atlantic croaker, and spot(Figure 1).

Red drum are found along the Atlanticcoast of the United States from the easternshore of Delaware to southern Florida. Inthe Gulf of Mexico, they range from southernFlorida to northeastern Mexico (Figure 2).Samuel F. Hildebrand and William C.Schroeder in their classic 1928 book entitled,“Fishes of the Chesapeake Bay,” reportedthat north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina,red drum were most abundant in springthrough fall, and this species was a favorite

target of surf fishermen along the NewJersey coast. Presently, however, red drumare rarely encountered north of the easternshore of Virginia. This is possibly a resultthe decline in their abundance that hasoccurred over the last several decades. Ingeneral, as abundance of a species declines,its range shrinks to areas that provide themost favorable habitat.

Red drum generally are an iridescentsilvery grey with a coppery cast which isdarker on the back than on the belly. Thetip of the tail of young red drum, 10 to 18inches long is a beautiful silvery blue whichdisappears in larger fish. However, theintensity and proportions of the color of reddrum depends to a degree upon where youcatch him. Red drum taken in brackish orlow salinity water (salinity is the amount ofsea salts dissolved in water; full strengthseawater contains about 36 pounds of salt forevery 1000 pounds of seawater) have a dark,copper color; whereas individuals taken inthe surf are more silvery. Many fisheschange color to blend in with their surround-ings. If red drum remained dark when theymoved from the rivers to the ocean, theywould be easier to see against the white,sandy bottom of the coast than if their colorbecame lighter and more silvery.

In our state, the red drum goes by spot-tail bass because of the dark spot near thetail. Many red drum have more than onespot. The most that I have seen was 12: fivespots on the left side and seven on the right.Predators often strike prey on the areaaround the eye, and scientists believe thatthe spot near the tail may divert predatorattacks from the vital head region allowingthe attacked fish to escape.

Red drum grow to about 100 pounds.The all tackle record documented by theInternational Game Fish Association (IGFA)is 94 pounds 2 ounces. This fish was caughton November 7, 1984 at Avon on the OuterBanks of North Carolina by David G. Deuel.The South Carolina state record fish of 75

2Figure 1. Common relatives of red drum found in South Carolina.

Spotted seatrout (Winter trout)Cynoscion nebulosus

Weakfish (Summer trout)Cynoscion regalis

SpotLeiostomus xanthurus

Atlantic croakerMicropogonias undulatus

Black drumPogonias cromis

Kingfishes (Whitings)Southern kingfish (pictured here)Menticirrhus americanusGulf kingfishMenticirrhus littoralisNorthern kingfishMenticirrhus saxatilis

Red drum (Spot-tail bass)Sciaenops ocellatus

3

pounds 0 ounces was taken by A.J. Taylor in1965 at Murrells Inlet. The IGFA saltwaterline class records are in Table 1 to providereaders targets to shoot for in their anglingpursuits.

THE JUVENILES (OR EARLY LIFE STAGES)

We have been sampling the small creeksthat wind through the Spartina (cordgrass)marshes since the spring of 1986 to deter-mine the value of estuarine marshes andcreeks as nursery habitat for fish. To accom-plish this goal, we have to determine whatsmall fish use these creeks as nurserygrounds, when they use them, how long theyremain there, how fast they grow, and whatthey eat. The majority of the creeks westudied were in the Coosaw River near St.Helena Sound, and off the South Edisto,Stono and Wando Rivers. Samples werecollected once a month around low tide whenfishes, crabs and shrimp that were spread

out on the flooded marsh surface and mudflats at high tide were concentrated in thesmall creeks. At this time we had a muchbetter chance of obtaining a good sample.

Our initial observations found that thesmall creeks that cut into the marsh andhave some water in them at low tide areimportant habitat for juvenile red drum.Red drum juveniles first appeared in thesecreeks in August, and continued to move intothem until early October when the highestabundances were consistently observed (seeFigure 3). When juveniles first arrive in thecreeks, they are about one-half inch in totallength (this is the length of the fish mea-sured from the tip of the nose to the tip ofthe tail). As the water temperatures beganto decline in December, the number of juve-niles occurring in small creeks rapidly de-clined. From January through March whenthe water was coldest (near 50 F), very fewred drum juveniles were found in shallowcreeks. The only places we have consistentlyfound juvenile red drum during winter is in

Figure 2. Distribution of the red drum along the southeastern coast of the United States and in the Gulf ofMexico.

4

Table 1. Salt water line class records for red drum as published by The International GameFish Association, 300 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316- 1616 in 1990.M = men’s class; W = women’s class. weight = pounds - ounces.

Line Class Weight Place Date Angler

M - 2 lb 12 - 13 New Smyrna Beach, FL Aug, 31 1986 D.M.FairbanksM - 4 lb 22 - 13 Empire, LA Mar 13, 1982 M.F.ClaverieM - 8 lb 60 - 8 Oregon Inlet, NC June 7, 1987 S.C. LeeM - 12 lb 69 - 3 Gwynns Island, VA July 10, 1975 J.O. EverettM - 16 lb 57 - 0 Wreck Island, VA Oct 19, 1984 H. GablerM - 20 lb 72 - 7 Hatteras Island, NC Nov 27, 1973 W. PlagemanM - 30 lb 90 - 0 Rodanthe, NC Nov 7, 1973 E. HooperM - 50 lb 94 - 2 Avon, NC Nov 7, 1984 D. G. DeuelM - 80 lb (vacant - minimum weight for entry is 68 lb)W - 2 lb 11 - 6 Flamigo, FL July 7,1984 B. EarleW - 4 lb 15 - 4 Lake Braunig, TX Sept 23, 1984 V. J. HernandezW - 8 lb 39 - 10 Ocracoke, NC Nov 15, 1988 Mrs. W.B. DuValW - 12 lb 51 - 8 Cape Hatteras, NC Nov 19, 1958 J.S. DullW - 16 lb 60 - 4 Avon, NC Nov 5, 1984 J. HinsonW - 20 lb 65 - 0 Cape Hatteras, NC Nov 11, 1983 L. GottertW - 30 lb 69 - 8 Cape Hatteras, NC Nov 16, 1958 J. BrowningW - 50 lb 70 - 4 Oregon Inlet, NC May 28, 1985 E.Z. PomoryW - 80 lb (vacant - minimum weight for entry is 68 lb)

the main channels of the rivers at depths of30 to 50 feet and salinities that are one-halfto two-thirds that of seawater. In spring,when the waters warm, juveniles movedback into the shallow creeks and were mostabundant in late spring. In June and July,when the fish are 10 months old and becom-ing subadults, they migrate from the creeksand begin to occupy other habitats (see nextsection) just as the next year’s juveniles arebeginning to migrate into them. The spatialseparation of the very young and the oneyear old fish reduces cannibalism and com-petition.

The juveniles which were approximatelyone-half inch long in August when they firstmoved into the creeks, increased to twoinches in length by November. The youngred drum grow very little from Decemberthrough March (see Figure 4). Fishes arecold blooded animals and their body tem-perature is the same as that of the surround-

ing water. During winter, they are relativelyinactive, eat very little and do not grow. Inextreme winters they may actually decreasein weight. In spring and early summer, asthe water in the estuaries warm, red drumjuveniles grow rapidly increasing in size atthe rate of 11/2 inches per month. By Julywhen the young red drum migrate from theshallow creeks, their average length is be-tween 7 and 8 inches.

The smallest red drum feed mainly onsmall shrimp-like organisms called opossumshrimp. As they grow, the size of food itemsin their diet also increases. Juveniles 2 to 3inches long feed mainly on grass shrimp andsmall fishes such as juvenile spot and mum-michogs (these are commonly known as mudminnows in coastal South Carolina). Reddrum around seven inches in length eat mudcrabs (these are the small crabs that youfrequently find around oyster bars), fiddlercrabs, and small fishes (Figure 5).

5

Figure 4. The average size of juvenile red drum in shallow creeks each month. Note that during cold months, thesize changes little however, as the water becomes warm in spring, growth is rapid.

Figure 3. The total number of juvenile red drum caught in four samples in shallow creeks each month (solid line)and the water temperatures at that time (dotted line). Note the catches are very low from January toMarch when water temperatures are at their lowest.

Month of Sample in Creek

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Tota

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augh

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140

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0

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90

Temperature

Number

Number of Juvenile Red Drum in Creek Samples: 1986-1991

Month of Sample in Creek

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Wat

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0

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0123456789

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Length

Temperature

Average Size of Juvenile Red Drum in Creeks

6Figure 5. Food of juvenile red drum.

8%

Fishes

Fiddler Crabs

Mud Crabs

Grass Shrimp

Fishes

Grass Shrimp

Copepods

Opossum Shrimp

~ 1/2 to 31/2 inches total length

3% Other

12%

31/2 to 7 inches total length

Percent of the Diet by VolumePercent of the Diet by Numbers

9%

9%

19%

60%37%

11%

9%

31%

5%

1%5%

81%

Other13%

47%

1%3% 36%

Other

Other

7

SUBADULTS

The subadult phase in the life cycle ofthe red drum is the period between their exitfrom the shallow nursery habitat at age 10months and the attainment of sexual matu-rity which occurs at about age 3 to 5 years.During this time red drum mainly inhabitlarger tidal creeks and rivers, although somesubadults may also be found along the frontbeaches of the barrier islands, around inletsnear jetties and sand bars. Some have evenbeen caught on nearshore artificial reefs.Red drum may leave their nursery groundsas a group since recreational anglers catchand release many sub-legal red drum in Julyand August around oyster bars, rocks andpilings in the larger creeks and main rivers.In the four month period between 10 monthsof age when they leave the nursery creeksand 14 months of age, red drum increase inaverage length from about 9 inches to almost14 inches for a growth rate of 1.25 inches permonth. Most red drum reach the minimumlegal size of 14 inches in October and No-vember. During this period of rapid growth,the increases in weight are dramatic. At anage of 10 months, a 9 inch long, red drumweighs about ~ 4 ounces. Four months laterred drum average slightly more than apound which translates into a growth rate ofabout a quarter of a pound per month. Table

2 may give the reader a better idea of thegrowth of red drum during their subadultphase.

After leaving the nursery habitat andmoving to the larger creeks and along thebanks of the lower parts of the river systemsthat make up South Carolina’s estuaries, thediet of red drum changes. Over 94% of thefood items in the stomachs of subadult fromred drum between 7 and 11 inches in lengthwere crustaceans (crabs and shrimp). Theother 6% was fishes, mainly mummichogs(mud minnows). The most abundant preywere fiddler crabs which made up almosthalf the diet. Mud crabs, blue crabs, andgrass shrimp also were important. Commer-cially and recreationally harvested penaeidshrimps (brown, white and pink shrimp),however, were not an important food item inthe diet of subadult red drum. This findingwas a surprise since the preferred baits usedby recreational anglers to catch young reddrum are penaeid shrimps (Figure 6).

Seasonal changes in the growth arereflected in the density of the bones andscales of red drum much in the same manneras rings reflect seasonal growth patterns intrees. Therefore, to determine the age of afish, we use the same process foresters use toage trees. We count the rings in the bonesand/or scales. Counting rings in scales isonly acceptable for aging relatively young

Table 2. Growth of subadult red drum in South Carolina’s estuaries. Results are for “averagefish” born in 1986.

Month Year Number Age in Length in Weight inof rings on months inches lb- oz

scales or otoliths

August 1986 0 BirthSeptember 1986 0 1 1/2 1/100 ozSeptember 1987 0 13 12-3/4 0 lb 12-1/4 ozSeptember 1988 1 25 21-1/2 3 lb 7 ozSeptember 1989 2 37 27 6 lb 11 ozSeptember 1990 3 49 31 10 lb 7 oz

8

fish because in larger, older fish, scalesbecome thick and annual rings are difficultto see. I prefer to use rings in one of theearbones (otoliths in the jargon of fisheriesscientists) called the sagitta to age red drumbecause in this structure the rings are verydistinct and easy to count.

If for example, biologists want to deter-mine the age of a 20 pound red drum caughtduring a fishing tournament, the followingprocedure is used. The length and weight of

the fish are measured, and the largest pair ofearbones is removed from the skull, cleanedand taken to the laboratory. There, twocross-sections of one of the earbones aremade through the center with a jewelerssaw. The section is then viewed under amicroscope and the rings counted (Figure 7).

By examining sections of the earbonestaken from red drum of various sizes eachmonth throughout the year, it was shownthat (1) juvenile red drum do not deposit a

Figure 6. Food of subadult red drum - 7 to 21 inches in total length.

Fiddler Crabs

Fishes

Swimming Crabs

Mud Crabs

Grass Shrimp

33%

35%

16%

6% 6% 4% Other

52%

Percent of the Diet by VolumePercent of the Diet by Numbers

4% Other

7%

7%

11%

19%

9

ring after the first winter when they areabout seven months old; (2) older fish formone ring a year on the earbones in April andearly May. If you captured a red drum inMay 1990, that had one ring near the edge ofits otolith, the fish would be about 21 monthsold and was spawned in late summer of1988. By convention, fisheries scientistswould refer to that fish as a member of the1988 year class.

Figures 8 and 9 summarize growthinformation for red drum during their juve-nile and subadult phases based on measure-ments of ear bones and length information.These figures represent the “typical fish”,that is, the points are average values of

length and weight of several red drum ateach age. The information in these figurescan then be used to estimate the age orweight of a red drum based on only a lengthmeasurement.

ADULTS

The adult phase of the life of the reddrum begins when the fish mature and canspawn. At this point in the life cycle, reddrum move from the estuaries and join thebreeding population inhabiting the coastalocean off South Carolina. It is rare event foran angler to catch a trophy red drum largerthan 15 pounds inside the estuary.

Figure 7. Photograph of a cross-section of a red drum otolith showing rings.

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Figure 9. Changes in weight of subadult red drum with age. Points represent average values of weight at an age.The dashed lines show that on average a red drum of 14 inches in length, the minimum legal size, isabout 14 months old and weighs about 1 pound. R1, R2, and R3 are the ages of red drum when theyhave deposited 1, 2, or 3 rings on their earbones and/or scales. A fish that just formed one ring weighsabout 11/2 pounds, 2 rings about 43/4 pounds, and 3 rings about 81/2 pounds.

Figure 8. Changes in length of subadult red drum with age. Points represent average values of length at an age.The dashed line shows the minimum legal size of 14 inches; on average, a 14 inch red drum is about 14months old. R1, R2, and R3 are ages of red drum when they have deposited 1, 2, or 3 rings on theirearbones and/or scales. A fish that just formed one ring is 16 inches long, with 2 rings about 24 incheslong, and with 3 rings about 29 inches long.

Fish's Age in Months

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

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LEGAL SIZE

Fish's Age in Months

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

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LEGAL SIZE

11

Studies in South Carolina have foundthat male red drum less than 22 inches intotal length are immature. Males this sizeare between two and three years of age. Byage 4 when male red drum are about 28inches long, all males are mature. On aver-age, a male born in 1991 spawns in 1995.Females are older and larger than maleswhen they reach maturity. In South Caro-lina, females do not spawn until they are 33inches long or about five years old. In otherwords, the “average” female red drum bornin 1991 does not spawn until 1996.

In coastal South Carolina, the exactlocations where red drum spawn and the sizeof the spawning population are unknown.Neither spawning fish nor recently fertilizedeggs have been collected in our waters.However, the smallest larvae (about one-tenth of an inch in length) are caught in finemesh nets near inlets, red drum probablyspawn in the coastal waters, in the vicinityof inlets. In the northeastern Gulf of Mexicooff the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabamacoasts, red drum spawn about 12 miles fromthe mainland in water depths ranging from30 to 60 feet.

Many fishes use predictable changes intheir environment as cues for timing repro-ductive activity. This ensures that spawningcoincides with environmental conditions thatare favorable for the survival of young. Themost important environmental factors affect-ing reproduction of red drum as well asmany other fishes are water temperatureand the amount of daylight (photoperiod inthe jargon of fisheries scientists). Therefore,as days begin to get shorter and SouthCarolina’s coastal waters begin to cool in midto late August, adult red drum begin theirreproductive activity. Because one monthold red drum are more abundant in nurseryareas during October, the most intensespawning activities seem to occur in Septem-ber.

Although spawning red drum have notbeen observed in nature, intensive studies

have been carried out in the laboratory.Researchers from the Marine Division of theSouth Carolina Wildlife and Marine Re-sources Department obtained adult red drumboth from recreational anglers and their ownsampling activities and held them in tanks.By controlling the water temperatures andregulating the amount of light, these reddrum were induced to spawn. Table 3 sum-marizes the environmental conditions usedto induce spawning of red drum. The processused compresses the four seasons into sevenmonths. Red drum have been kept inspawning conditions for as long as threemonths and during this period, thirty adultred drum (8 females, 22 males) produced anestimated 60 million fertilized eggs.

Male red drum produce a “drumlike”sound and stay close to the females in labo-ratory tanks when it is time to spawn. Inaddition, they change color becoming darkred or bluish gray above and pale white ontheir belly. The males nudge the females inthe belly with their head during courtship.Contractions of the muscles adjacent to theswim bladder cause it to vibrate and producethe drumming sound. Members of the familyof fishes to which red drum belong have theability to produce “drum-like” sounds, hencethe name “drum” family.

In the laboratory, spawning beginsaround dusk when females discharge ripeeggs into the water and the males releasesperm. The eggs that are successfully fertil-ized, float to the surface, unfertilized eggssink. Red drum eggs are about 0.04 inchesin diameter (you would have to line up 25eggs in a row to cover a distance of one inch;625 fertilized eggs would fit into a one inchsquare). Immediately after fertilization, thered drum embryo begins to develop insidethe egg. Hatching occurs in 28 to 29 hourswhen water is maintained at 72 degreesFahrenheit. Hatching takes slightly longerin cooler water and slightly shorter inwarmer water.

At hatching, the small larvae are 0.07

12

Table 3. Schedule of holding conditions for laboratory spawning of red drum used by theMarine Resources Research Institute of the South Carolina Wildlife and MarineResources Department.

Season Hours of Water Number of DatesLight Temperature Days Held

Fall 11 70 14 Sept 24 - Oct 711 66 14 Oct 8 - Oct 2110 63 14 Oct 22 - Nov 4

Winter 9 59 14 Nov 5 - Nov 189 55 24 Nov 19 - Dec 119 59 7 Dec 12 - Dec 19

Spring 10 63 14 Dec 20 - Jan 211 68 14 Jan 3 - Jan 1612 73 14 Jan 17 - Jan 3013 77 14 Jan 31 - Feb 13

Summer 13 81 14 Feb 14 - Feb 2714 82 14 Feb 28 - Mar 1314 84 24 Mar 14 - Apr 714 82 14 Apr 8 - Apr 21

Late Summer 13* 81 14 Apr 22 - May 5-early fall 12* 77 May 6

* = when spawning generally begins.

inches in length. Their mouth is not yetformed and as a result they cannot feed.These small larvae rely upon yolk remainingfrom the egg as their food source (see Figure10). Three days after hatching, the mouth,stomach, liver and intestines are wellformed. The food reserves in the egg (theyolk that was on the belly of the larva) areused up and the larvae begin to feed onsmall planktonic animals in the water.

A particularly critical point in the lifecycle of the red drum is the movement of thedeveloping young from the coastal watersinto the nursery habitat. Anyone who hasspent time fishing in South Carolina estuar-ies is familiar with the strong currents thatmove both upstream and downstream witheach tide. The question arises as to how dothe young red drum which are poor swim-mers reach nursery grounds that are fre-

quently 20 or more miles upriver from theocean when these strong currents couldsweep them out to sea.

Although scientists have not specificallystudied how red drum do this, they haveexamined other species of fish and shrimpthat spawn offshore and use the upperreaches of the estuary as a nursery area.When the tide begins to flood, young of thesespecies move towards the surface and ridethe tidal currents into the estuary. Gener-ally, they move closer to the surface at nightthan during daytime flood tides. In watersnear the coast and around inlets, turbidityincreases with depth, that is, the deeper yougo, the muddier the water gets because of thesettlement of particles of silt and other mate-rials suspended in the water. The larvaeavoid the clear surface water during the daybecause there they would be more visible to

13

Late stage egg = 24-29 hours afterfertilization

diameter of egg = about 0.04 inches

Figure 10. Fertilized eggs and development of larvalred drum.

Thirteen day old larvae: length = 1/4 inch

Eight day old larvae: length = 0.15 inches

Four day old larvae: length = 0.11 inches

Larvae 36 hours after hatching:total length = 0.07 inches

oil dropletegg yolk

Larvae one hour after hatching:total length = about 0.07 inches

egg membrane

tail

oil droplet for flotation

developing red drum

head

eggyolk

predators. However, they move nearer thesurface at night because in the dark theycan’t be seen. When water begins to movefrom the estuary to the ocean with the ebbtide, the larvae sink to depths close to thebottom. As you go from surface to bottom,the strength of the tidal currents decreases(Figure 11). The result is that the larvae aregradually transported up-estuary and finallyenter the shallow creeks. Once in thesenursery creeks, the larvae settle to the bot-tom and begin to take on characteristics ofjuveniles.

Successful spawning of red drum doesnot necessarily translate into large numberof juveniles. Of the millions to billions ofeggs that are spawned only a small propor-tion survive to reach the nursery grounds.Environmental factors affecting the numberof red drum larvae that enter our estuariesare not known. However, scientists haveshown in other species with similar lifehistory patterns that the frequency anddirection of winds can affect the number oflarvae that enter estuaries. In addition,relatively few of the larvae that reach thenursery ground will survive the first winter,especially if water temperature declinesbelow 40°F during winter cold snaps. Lessthan 1% of the eggs of ocean spawners likered drum survive to become juveniles. Oncered drum reach about four inches or 7 to 8months of age, mortality rates due to naturalenvironmental factors decline to a relativelylow level.

After red drum reach sexual maturityand join the spawning population found incoastal waters, they grow very slowly. In1988, when I first looked at a thin slicetaken through the center of an earbone froma 30 pound red drum under a microscope, Iwas very surprised. The fish had 23 ringswhich meant that it was about 25 years oldand was spawned sometime around Septem-ber 1963. My previous experience was withthe fast growing subadult red drum foundinside South Carolina’s estuaries which, on

14

average, attain a length of 31 inches and aweight of 11 to 12 pounds in four years.After more of the large adult fish were exam-ined, the same pattern was consistentlyseen. Biologists studying red drum in NorthCarolina and Georgia have also shown thatred drum have a long life span and once thatthey attain sexual maturity, the growth rateslows. Figure 12 shows the change in lengthwith age for red drum in South Carolina andFigure 13 presents the change in weight thatoccurs with age. From Figure 13, it is appar-ent that weight is more variable than lengthat a given age. This is because the weight ofan individual red drum depends on theseason when it is caught. If a red drum iscaught in September, it will probably weighless at a given length than the same size fishwould weigh in November. This is becausein late September red drum have just fin-ished spawning, a process which takes agreat deal of energy (you can say that duringthe period from August to mid-September

the adult red drum have more on theirminds than food). When a fisherman catchesa trophy red drum (>30 lbs), he or she iscatching an old fish, that in many instancesmay be older than the angler. Figure 14gives a graph from which the weight of a fishcan be estimated from the length.

The foods of the large subadult andadult red drum are mainly fishes and crabs(Figure 15). Fishes are about one-half of thefood items eaten and make up over three-quarters of the total volume, Atlantic men-haden and spot are the preferred food. Veryfew mud minnows and striped mullet areeaten. This makes sense because mud min-nows and striped mullet are mainly found inshallow water around marshes whereas spotand Atlantic menhaden are abundant incoastal waters where large fish are found.Swimming crabs (these are crabs whose backlegs are flattened and act as paddles) such asthe speckled crab or blue crabs, are thepredominant crabs eaten by adult red drum.

Surface

BottomSurface

Bottom

Surface

BottomSurface

Bottom

Flood Tide

Ebb Tide

Strong Current

Strong Current

Strong Current

Weaker Current

Weaker Current

Weaker Current

Weaker Current

Strong Current

Daytim

eN

ighttime

Figure 11. Surface - bottom currents and clarity.

Ebb TideDirection down estuary

Flood TideDirection up estuary

15

Figure 13. Growth of red drum; solid line describes trend in weight with increasing age; dots represent individualfish. A is the subadult phase - red drum in this phase are generally in the estuaries; B is the size range(from about 8 to 13 pounds) and the age range (3 to 5 years) when red drum become mature and leavethe estuaries to join the spawning population in coastal waters; C is the adult phase.

Figure 12. Growth of red drum in South Carolina; solid line describes trend in length with increasing age; dotsrepresent individual fish. A = subadult phase - red drum in this phase are generally inside estuaries; Bis the size range (from about 25 to 34 inches total length) and the age range (3 to 5 years) when reddrum become mature and leave the estuaries to join the spawning population in coastal waters; C =adult phase.

Age in Years

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

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3035

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C = Adult Phase Red drum mature age (3 to 5 years) whenB = Size (25-33 inches) and A = Subadult Phase

A B C

16

If I had to choose a bait for large red drumbased on these findings, I would pick livemenhaden and chunks of blue crab.

TAGGING STUDIES

Marks or tags have been used to iden-tify fishes in the wild for over 300 years.Izaak Walton wrote in The Compleat Anglerin 1653 that private citizens tied ribbons tothe tails of juvenile Atlantic salmon. Thejuveniles left the streams and went out tosea where they fed and grew. When thesalmon reached sexual maturity, they re-turned to the streams where they spawned.It was shown by the return of tagged indi-viduals that the Atlantic salmon returned totheir birth place to spawn. In the UnitedStates, the tagging of fishes first began in1873 when Atlantic salmon were tagged andreleased in Maine’s rivers. Since that firstexperiment over 120 years ago, fishery biolo-gists have tagged and released many types of

fishes (large and small; young and old; fresh-water and saltwater; in streams, rivers,lakes, estuaries and oceans) to study theirhabits. Tagging studies have many purposesincluding:

investigation of movements andmigration,estimation of growth rates in the wild,determining the degree to which fishfrom different regions intermingleduring reproduction and other criticalperiods,estimating abundance,estimating the proportion of fish beingtaken by fishermen.

Each of these uses are briefly discussedbelow.

Personnel in the Marine Division of theSouth Carolina Wildlife and Marine Re-sources Department are presently usingseveral types of tags (Figure 16). On ourproject, we use internal anchor tags to markred drum from 10 to 22 inches in total length

Figure 14. Weight in pounds of red drum at a given total length. Curve represents the average fish. To estimateweight go along bottom to value, say 30 inches, go to curve, and then read value of weight off left scale;for 30 inch red drum weight is about 10 pounds.

Total Length in Inches

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

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17

and dart tags for larger fishes. Each tag hasa serial number printed on it as well asinstructions on how to forward the informa-tion about the captured fish to the WildlifeDepartment. The angler who cooperates withthe study will receive a letter detailing thehistory of the captured fish as well as areward for his or her trouble.

Our project has tagged and released7,147 red drum in South Carolina’s estuariesand coastal waters. To date anglers havereturned tags from 1,438 fish which repre-sents 20.1% of the total number that were

tagged and released. These data furnishedby anglers showed that a high percentage ofred drum were caught shortly after theywere tagged (see Figure 17). Almost 18%were caught within 20 days of release, and66% were taken within six months of tag-ging. The longest time that a tagged reddrum has been at large was 3 years 8months. Over 38% of the tagged red drumwere caught within 1 mile of where theywere tagged and released: 72% were caughtless than 5 miles from the release point (seeFigure 18). About 15% of the tagged fish

Figure 15. Food of red drum that are 21 inches total length and larger.

Mud Crabs

Fiddler Crabs

46%

79%

1%15% 2%3% Other

Fishes

Swimming Crabs

Percent of the Diet by VolumePercent of the Diet by Numbers

4%

21%

10% Other19%

18

moved more than 10 nautical miles and only5% travelled 50 nautical miles or more.Most (45 of 57) of the tagged red drum thatmoved more than 50 miles went north and ingeneral the long distance movers were fishless than 18 inches in length. The longestreported distance was for an 18 inch totallength fish that was tagged and released inBulls Bay and was caught 189 days later at asize of 22 inches in Mantanzas Inlet, Florida.This individual moved 234 nautical miles.The farthest north a red drum has moved is159 nautical miles from Charleston Harborto above Cape Fear (see Figure 19).By looking at the distance moved and thedays at large, the rate of movement can beestimated. Movement rates calculated inthis way are rough guesses because it is notknown whether the fish swam directly be-tween the two points or if the animal stopped

along the coast to feed and rest. The twofastest moving red drum averaged 3.7 milesper day. One fish, 12 1/2 inches in length,moved from Charleston Harbor to NorthMyrtle Beach (86 miles) in 23 days; theother, 13 inches in length, covered the 73.5miles between Bulls Bay and Cherry Grovein 20 days. Most of the fish that movedlonger distances were less than 18 incheslong.

In the general description of tagging, Imentioned that data from these studies couldbe used to measure the growth of fishes inthe wild. For example, during the course ofour red drum studies, we have recaptured,re-released, and recaptured several hundredfish. Each time they are captured, the fishare measured and the increase in size isdetermined. In July 1988, we tagged a reddrum born August/September 1987 that has

Figure 16. Photograph of the different types of tags used by South Carolina Wildlife and Marine ResourcesDepartment - Marine Resources Division.

Internal Anchor

Steel harpoon

T-bar

Plastic dart

19

Figure 17. Breakdown of the days at large for 1,546 tagged red drum caught by recreational fishermen; almost18% were harvested in less than 20 days; 66% were caught in less than 6 month; about 13% were atlarge for more than 1 year and of these 21 individuals were taken after 2 years. The longest period atlarge for a red drum to date is 3 years 8 months (1355 days).

Figure 18. Breakdown of the distance moved from the tagging location and where the red drum were harvested.When distance is 0, fishes were caught where they were tagged and released. One nautical mile = 1.15statute miles or 6, 080 feet.

0-19

20-39

40-59

60-79

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-15

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subsequently been recaptured and re-releas-ed five times as follows:

Date Total Age Comments GrowthLength (Months) (Inches/(Inches) (month)

07/27/88 10.1 11 initially tagged10/24/88 14.1 14 recapture 1 1.0012/20/88 14.4 16 recapture 2 0.1509/14/89 19.8 25 recapture 3 0.5510/13/89 20.4 26 recapture 4 0.6012/13/89 21.1 28 recapture 5 0.35

Tags from 19.2% of the 4,400 red drumthat were marked have been returned byanglers. This however, does not mean thatthe harvest rate is 19%. It is actually muchhigher than 19% because when tag returndata are used to estimate harvest rate, manyfactors need to be taken into account. First,an estimate of tagging mortality (that is thepercentage of the fishes that die as a resultof capture, tagging, and handling) is needed.Because red drum is a hardy species thattolerates the stresses associated with taggingand all the fish we tagged were in goodshape, very few of the 4,400 fish we taggeddied from tagging. Second, information onthe shedding rate (that is the percentage oftags inserted into red drum that are lost) isrequired. Biologists in Texas have capturedred drum, marked them with internal anchortags that are similar to those used in SouthCarolina, and held in ponds for twentymonths. They found that about 9% of thetags that were inserted were lost. Bothhandling mortality and loss of tags reducesthe number of tagged fish in the wild and,hence, there are fewer marked fish availableto anglers. The estimate of 9% is probably agood approximation of the percentage oftagged fish that lost their tags. Observationson recaptured red drum have shown that themain reason for tag loss results from thecutting off of the streamer of the internalanchor tag at the body. This would result ineither a very small nub sticking out through

the abdomen or a small scar where the taghad been inserted. In either case, a fisher-man who catches such a fish could veryeasily overlook the scar or the very smallremaining portion of the tag.

The third and most important factor isthe amount of cooperation shown by thepublic with the agency responsible for moni-toring tagging information (this is the per-centage of the tags removed from marked reddrum harvested by fisherman that is re-ported). No information is available on thelevel of cooperation of anglers in SouthCarolina, but in Texas, only one-third of thetagged fishes caught by anglers was reportedto Texas Parks and Wildlife. In Georgia,approximately 50% of the tagged fish arereported. As far as the estimates of the levelof cooperation of the angling public in re-turning tags removed from harvested reddrum are concerned, the information for ourstate is simply not available. I sincerelyhope that South Carolina anglers are morecooperative than Texas fisherman who failedto report two - thirds of the tags they encoun-tered.

If you assume that (1) no tags are shedand (2) all tags removed by anglers fromharvested red drum are reported to theSouth Carolina Wildlife and Marine Re-sources Department, the overall harvest rateis 19.2%. However, adjustments for taggingloss rate and angler reporting efficiency canhave a large effect on estimates of harvestrates as shown in the example below.

4,400 0 4,400 843 100 843 19.24,400 0 4,400 843 50 1,686 38.34,400 0 4,400 843 33 2,555 58.14,400 9 4,004 843 100 843 21.14,400 9 4,004 843 50 1,686 42.14,400 9 4,004 843 33 2,555 63.8

Nu

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ag

ged

Ad

just

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arv

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ptu

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edC

ap

ture

s

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ag

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epo

rted

21

Figure 19. Some long distance movements of tagged red drum. Some recapture positions represent more than 1recapture.

22

In the worst case, a 9% tag loss and a 33%reporting rate result in 63.8% of the sub-adult red drum being harvested. Also, thisdoes not take into account these that diefrom “natural” causes such as disease, winterfreezes, or predation. When you considerthat most of the red drum we tag are 1-3years old, these data suggest that few reachmaturity and spawn and provide more bassfor the future.

FISHING TECHNIQUES

Surf Fishing

In South Carolina, most red drum arecaught by anglers fishing from boats in thetidal creeks, bays, sounds and inlets alongthe coast. However, in my estimation, thereis no finer way to engage in combat with ared drum than by hanging a good fish in thesurf on a deserted stretch of beach on aCarolina barrier island.

I began to fish the surf in earnest in theearly 1970’s while attending graduate schoolin Marine Science at the College of Williamand Mary in Virginia. My proudest posses-sion was one of the old style four-wheel driveFord Broncos (the one that looked like a boxon wheels) that had rod holders on the frontbumper and a roof rack on top. My six 11 to13 foot long surf rods with their reels werecradled on the sides of the roof rack.

The truck was completely dedicated torunning the then almost deserted beaches ofthe Outer Banks of North Carolina in pur-suit of bluefish and red drum. At this timein my life, I was completely addicted to thesport of surf fishing and have many goodmemories of time spent on the Outer Banks.The people, places, dates, and catches makea collage in my mind.

The timing of my trips to the OuterBanks coincided with the movement of tro-phy-size red drum into the surf at CapeHatteras in the spring (April-May) and fall(October-November). My ability to success-

fully fish the surf improved with time and Icaught a number of red drum that weighedover 40 pounds with the largest exceedingthe capacity of a 55 pound scale.

During the early trips, some of these bigfish were killed. I bragged about them,photographed them, weighed them in so Iwould receive a North Carolina TournamentCertificate, and ate them. Five certificatesfor red drum that ranged in weight from 46to 49 pounds are either stuck away in draw-ers or hung from the walls of my office. Thefish I killed were old (probably 20 to 40 yearsof age), large members of the spawningpopulation, a fact that was unknown to meat that time. In retrospect, the certificateswere nice, but I wish I had set those fishfree.

I’d like to share with you one of the verypleasant memories of my fishing career onthe Banks. I don’t fish there anymore be-cause big red drum are available on SouthCarolina’s barrier island beaches without thecrowds of fishermen in North Carolina.

On a Wednesday in late October, thearea around the lighthouse at Buxton onHatteras Island was crowded with anglersfishing for large red drum. Crowds make menervous, so after loading sandspikes, rods,etc., in the truck, I left to find a less con-gested fishing spot. Since Hatteras Inlet wasalso mobbed, I took the ferry at HatterasVillage to Orcacoke Island.

While driving down the beach at lateebb tide, I scanned the surf looking for a cutthrough the off-shore sand bar with an areaof deeper water called a slough on theBanks. Upon finding one of these cuts, Iwould record the distance from the hole to areference point, usually the access rampwhich crossed the dunes to the beach. Aftergoing down the beach another one to twotenths of a mile, a driftwood stake would bedriven into the beach above the high tidemark. At night, if someone used the stakesas a fishing location, they would not bewhere I wanted to be, but down the beach a

23

distance great enough so as to not bother me.The truck was parked above the high

tide mark, and preparations were made tofish that night’s incoming tide. The Colemanstove came out and a pot of coffee wasrustled up. The evening’s menu consisted ofextra chunky peanut butter and grape jellyon white bread (it’s easy to remember what Iate that night because that was standardfare), and since the bait knife was the easiestto get to, the sandwich had a faint taste ofmullet. Three rods were placed in sand-spikes spaced about ten yards apart near thewater’s edge, and the bait box was removedfrom a cooler.

To store cut bait, mainly mullet, I like touse rectangular shaped Tupperware contain-ers that are used to store bread. I line thebottom with a layer of salt and put a layer ofscaled fillets with the skin attached from oneto three pound mullet. Layers of mullet andsalt are alternated. The salt toughens thebait so that small fishes do not pull the baitoff.

The wind was light and the surf moder-ate. A four-ounce pyramid sinker probablywould have held the baits in place, but sixounce sinkers were used. Since I planned tofish three rods, if a bait broke free and waspulled along the bottom by the longshorecurrent that ran down the slough, I wouldhave a mess on my hands trying to untanglethree lines in the dark.

Three chunks of bait were threaded onthe 9/0 hooks, and the rigs were cast into theslough. One was thrown out as far as I couldheave it. The second went out a mediumdistance, and the third was cast short, closeto the beach. I set the drags on the threerods with light tension, seated myself in alawn chair, and waited for what the tidewould bring.

The next few hours were spent freshen-ing baits, checking drags, and drinkingcoffee. The tide would be high at 2 a.m. andthe night was clear with shining stars.There wasn’t another soul on the beach, and

it was one of those times when your headfills with all kinds of deep thoughts. Some-time around midnight, I dozed for a fewseconds, and woke with a start. False alarm-nothing was happening. My reaction wasone of those reflexes that all of us have hadwhen we doze off at locations when we’re notsupposed to (like in church or school). Irechecked the baits, and settled back downin the lawnchair with a hot cup of coffee.The rod that was cast out farthest in theslough bent and the drag screamed. I grab-bed the rod and tightened the loose drag.The force on the rod and the rate of disap-pearance of the line from the spool indicatedthat there was a large fish attached.

Excitedly, I hung on as the fish pulledout more line when a thought entered mymind - “What if a school swam into theslough?” Two more baits were still soakingin the surf. The “What if” then happened.

The fish I had was headed off-shore anddown the slough, and the second rod wentoff. Then, the third went off. My situationwas (1) I had three rods; (2) I had two handsone of which was slightly scalded from thecoffee spilled on it during the excitementwhen the first fish hit; (3) I was alone; (4) Ihad three large red drum on; and the 20pound test line was quickly disappearingfrom the reels.

I cradled the first rod in one arm andgrabbed the second. Fortunately, it wentslack as that fish got off. The fish on thethird reel was hung solidly and I didn’t havemuch line on the spools of either reel. WhenI tightened the drag on the third reel, it wentslack.

I then refocused my attention to thefirst rod. The fish had left me about 75yards out of the 300 on the spool. Slowly Iwalked down the beach in the direction ofthe fish, lifting and dropping my rod tip andcranking the reel as I went. Some line wasretrieved, but it was touch and go. The fishwas tiring because its runs were slower andshorter now.

24

After some time (I have noticed thatanytime you catch a large fish, the firstthing people ask you is how long it took toland the beast. I don’t know about you, butwhen the drag on my reel screams, the lastthing I look at is my watch. In addition,watches should be banned on barrier islandbeaches.) I had worked the fish to the break-ers near the beach. I waded out into thewater and waited until the fish could besurfed onto the beach by a wave.

As the foamy sea receded, the red drumwas stranded on the sand. After removingthe hook and setting the rod down on thebeach, I walked the 40 to 50 pound red drumback into the surf. There, after being pushedand pulled to get seawater flowing across thegills, the fish splashed, and with a thrash ofthe tail, swam off into the dark water.

I retrieved my rod and started down thebeach towards the faint outline of the truckwhich was about half a mile up the beach.The lawnchair was over turned and thecoffee cup was half buried in the sand. Theother lines were reeled in and one lackedbait and the other terminal tackle.

For a brief instant I thought aboutbaiting up again and giving it another shot.Instead, sand was rinsed from the coffee cup,and it was filled with a generous portion ofbrown fluid that served as emergency medi-cation. Sitting in the chair, I toasted thepowerful red drum who had provided such awonderful night. Salutes were also made tothe two fish that got away. Still dressed inwaders, alone on a barrier island beach withgood thoughts in tow, sleep overcame me.

The next day, a fisherman that I knewfairly well asked how I had done. “Notmuch. One wimp I threw back. So slow I fellasleep in my lawn chair. Don’t waste yourtime. You do anything last night?” I said asplans for the next night were being made inmy mind. Secrecy is a must for folks like mewho are allergic to people when drum fishingat night. That story is gospel as I rememberit, and now let’s get back to the task at hand.

Surf fishing for red drum requires theuse of fairly heavy tackle since the anglerwill be casting a 3 to 8 ounce sinker plus arelatively large piece of bait. Also, there isthe possibility of hooking a trophy-sized fishin the 40 pound class. The surf is not theplace to challenge red drum with light orultra light tackle. This point was well illus-trated to me one day while fishing for reddrum with a friend. We caught a few fish inthe 5 to 15 pound range, and he was usinglight tackle (medium-light action rod, 12pound test line). This gear was adequate tohandle the fish thus far encountered. Iissued warnings to switch to a heavier rod,however, as a “sportsman” he continued touse the light weight gear. Shortly thereaf-ter, his rod bowed, the drag screamed, andthe fish took off for parts unknown. After agood, quick run which took almost all theline on the lightweight reel, panic set in.Additional pressure was applied to the dragin an attempt to turn the fish, and the lineparted. He looked at me with as sad a lookas I have ever seen and said “You shouldn’tgo bear huntin’ with a 22.” Enough saidabout light tackle in the surf.

Although there are probably as manydifferent variations in the tackle used in surffishing as there are anglers, I will try todescribe the types of equipment that haveworked well for me. I prefer a spinning rod,9 to 13 feet in length, strong enough tohandle heavy terminal rigs and large fish.Surf rods are manufactured out of two gen-eral types of materials, fiberglass or graph-ite. Those made of graphite are light andstrong but are more expensive than fiber-glass.

My six surf rods are all one piece, fiber-glass. I avoid those made in two sectionsthat are joined with a ferrule. My distastefor them stems from the weakness of the twopiece rod in comparison to the one piece.Several times, I have seen these break at theconnecting point when fighting large fish. Itmay be difficult to find a one piece surf rod of

25

the appropriate length, but once found, youhave a piece of equipment well worth thetrouble. Catalogues from outdoor sportingequipment suppliers generally do not offerone piece fishing rods over 7 feet in lengthbecause of shipping problems. To get a good,one-piece outfit, you will either have to ordera custom built one from a full service tackleshop or purchase a blank and the associatedhardware (reel seat, guides, grips) and buildyour own. There are several “How To” booksavailable that can be ordered from Saltwa-ter Sportsman, that provide step by stepinstructions on rod building and repair. Ifyou have the time and patience to undertakesuch a task, the monetary savings can beconsiderable. If you can’t procure a good onepiece rod, most coastal tackle stores carry areasonably good line of two piece surf rods.

An important consideration is the typeof guides on the rod. Over time, the passageof monofilament through chromed stainlesssteel guides causes them to groove. This inturn, frays the line making it weak andlikely to break. Newer composite metals andceramic guides have alleviated this problem,however, when purchasing a rod, look closelyat the guides. If metal, ask the dealer abouttheir resistance to grooving by monofilamentfishing line.

The spinning reel should be balancedwith the surf rod and have a large line ca-pacity. As a minimum, I would recommendthat the reel hold at least 250 yards of 20pound test monofilament. Trying to savemoney by purchasing an economical surf reelis an unwise decision. Buying a reel is likebuying a tool. A quality tool will cost more,but will last longer and perform better. Geta good, dependable reel; remember you gofishing for pleasure, and cheaply made,malfunctioning equipment can ruin an out-ing. Be sure to purchase a spare spool foryour reel and fill it with the appropriate line.If you have a problem with the line, you thenhave the option of changing to a new spool.

When you go into a quality tackle store

or browse through a catalogue of a large mailorder house that specializes in fishing tackle,the diversity of fishing lines is usually amaz-ing. Prices range from low to extremelyhigh. For example, in a recent catalogue,prices for a 650 yard spool of monofilamentranged from $6.50 to over $20.00. For surffishing, I prefer clear Ande 20 pound testmonofilament line. I have found it to bestrong, resistant to abrasion, and availablein 1/4, 1/2, and 1 pound spools at moderateprices. Other manufacturers such asDuPont, Berkeley, and Shakespeare producequality lines that are satisfactory. It islargely a matter of personal choice, however,very cheap line is generally stiff and has atendency to tangle easily. Do not be shyabout changing line if the spool becomes lowor the line is badly twisted or abraded.

Terminal tackle consists of hooks, lead-ers, swivels, and sinkers. The size of thesinker needed to tend bottom without drift-ing depends on surf conditions. If the surf issmall or moderate, a two or three ouncepyramid sinker should be sufficient to holdbottom. However, rough surf and stronglongshore currents require heavier sinkers.At times a six to eight ounce pyramid sinkeris needed to keep the bait stationary. Suc-cessful surf fishermen usually carry severalsinkers of different weights and select theproper size for the conditions. Do not usemore than the minimum weight necessary.

A very popular arrangement of theterminal tackle is called a “fish finder” rig.Basically the line above the swivel, leader,and hook is threaded through a nylon“slider” to which the pyramid sinker of ap-propriate weight is attached by means of aconnector. The theory behind this rig is thatwhen a fish picks up the bait, it will not feelthe weight of the sinker. Current thought isthat if a fish feels the weight of the sinker, itwill not take the baited hook. The remain-der of the rig includes a #3 (65 pound test) ora #5 (100 pound test) black finish, brassbarrel swivel secured to an 18 to 24 inch

26Figure 20. Diagram of a fish finder rig.

monofilament leader (50 to 80 pound test)with a 5/0 to 9/0 O’Shaughnessy hook. I useclinch knots to put the tackle together (Fig-ure 20 & 21).

Some anglers who fish with cut bait inthe surf use Tuna Circle Hooks, a hook stylethat has been part of the tackle of commer-cial fisherman for many years. Size 6,7, or 8(Figure 22) can replace the O’Shaughnessyhook on the fishfinder rig. I make one minormodification to this style of hook. They aremanufactured without an off-set, that is, thepart of the hook that curves up to the pointis in the same plane as the shank. To modifyit, I place the shank in a vice and bend theterminal end of the hook to one side withpliers to off-set it slightly. In the secondgeneral type of surf rig, the sliding nylonsleeve is removed and a 3 way swivel issubstituted for the barrel swivel. The linefrom the reel, leader, and pyramid sinker areall connected together at the swivel (Figure23). As in the fish finder rig, a tuna circlehook can be substituted for theO’Shaughnessy hook.

During the best times of the year forcatching trophy red drum in the surf, fairlylarge sharks are present along our barrierisland beaches. Since a shark can and fre-quently does bite through even heavymonofilament, a different type of leader

material will increase the probability ofsuccessfully hooking and holding one ofthese “toothy critters” in the surf. Therefore,some fishermen substitute 40 or 60 poundtest nylon coated stainless steel cable for themonofilament leader. Instead of knots, theleader material is joined to the hook andswivel by means of crimped sleeves. Thecable is available both coated with nylon anduncoated. Sleeves are specifically manufac-tured for a given size of cable, and the anglerneeds to be sure that when purchasing them,the sizes match. Many red drum fishermenuse cable leaders for the added margin ofprotection it provides.

I have always used the stationarysinker rig for two reasons: (1) when castingthe fishfinder, the sinker has a tendency toslide up the line and reduce the distance ofthe cast; (2) it has been my experience thatthe fishfinder rig fouls frequently and youend up with a mess at the end of your line.However, some of the best surf fisherman Ihave known, use a fishfinder exclusively,and you can’t argue with success. Bothwork, so use the one that is most comfortablefor you.

The last type of surf rig has two hooksand is generally used when the smaller,subadult red drum are available in an area.The sizes of the components are smaller than

sliding nylon sleeve

20 pound test monofila-ment line to spool

clinch knot

5/0 to 9/0O'Shaughnessy Hookimproved double

clinch knot #3 or #5 black finishbrass barrel swivel

50-80 pound testmonofilament leader

18-24 inches longpyramid sinker 2-6ounces as required

duolock snap

27

Fig. 1 Pass the end of the leader or line through the hookeye, and pull about six inches of line through to tie theknot. Bring the end of the line back toward the stand-

Figure 21. Clinch knot (upper) and improved doubleclinch knot lower for connecting terminaltackle together.

Figure 22. Some sizes of O'Shaughnessy hooks upperand tuna circle hooks lower. Actual sizes.

Fig 2. Slowly pull on the standing part of the line, andthe line's end, until the turns in the knot draw tightlyagainst the hook eye.

Fig. 1 Double the line, bringing the line end backparallel to the standing line so there is about eight inchesof double line. Take the end of the double line and pushit through the hook eye. Wrap the doubled line end fivetimes around the doubled standing part of the line, andpush the line end back through the loop formed near thehook eye.

Fig. 2 Pull the doubled line end through the loop in frontof the hook eye, then push the end through the largeloop as shown.

Fig. 3 Moisten the knot with saliva, then pull tight.

8/0 9/0

6/05/0

4/03/0

2/01/0

4 6

5

8

9

28

the other types since smaller fish are gener-ally targeted (Figure 24). The two hook stylebottom rig can be used to catch whiting,Atlantic croakers, or spot in the surf aftersmaller hooks (#1, 1/0) are substituted forthe 3/0 or 4/0 hooks.

In coastal South Carolina, most of thegood surf fishing spots are accessible only byboat. Usually, the boat is anchored behind abarrier island or an off-shore bar in pro-tected water. Gear must then be carried tothe fishing area, a distance that varies fromseveral hundred yards to several miles. Ifyou’re like me, you neither want to transportany more stuff than necessary nor forgetsomething in the boat and have to walk backto get it. To help those who have never triedthe sport to get started, I have listed belowsome of the essential equipment.

Since surf fishing for red drum peaks inspring (April - May) and fall (October - Nov-ember), water temperatures will be below70°F. Therefore, a pair of chest waders is amust. They are produced by several manu-facturers at a variety of prices. One note ofcaution. Do not ride in your boat to and fromthe fishing site with your waders on. If youshould happen to fall overboard and thewaders fill with water, you could drown.

When surf fishing from the beach or onan off-shore bar, you have two choices. Ei-

ther you can stand for 2 or 3 hours holdingthe fishing rod or you can use a sand spikeand set the rod in it. To me, a sand spike isa must and is frequently the most overlookedpiece of surf fishing equipment. A welldesigned spike can make a surf fishing tripmuch more pleasurable. However, beware ofcheaply constructed sand spikes made oflightweight materials; they lack durabilityand provide little service.

The sand spike can be used to not onlyhold the fishing rod but also the bait and astringer for your catch. Figure 25 provides ageneral plan for one that is easy to construct.On the top eye you can attach a small baitbucket with a brass or stainless steel snapeye which can be purchased at a hardware ormarine supply store. Any small pail with ahandle and a lid can be used for bait. Iwould suggest adding some salt to the bait totoughen it and prevent spoilage. Frozen cutbait, even when salted after thawing andcleaning, is not very good because it does notstay on the hook as well as fresh bait. Livebait works best, but it is very hard to keepalive when surf fishing.

Since it is no fun carrying a heavytackle box long distances down the beach tothe fishing location, a minimum amount ofextra tackle that might be needed should betaken. The spare tackle includes several

Figure 23. Diagram of a surf fishing rig for red drum.

pyramid sinker2-6 ounces as required

#1 or #2 black finishbrass 3-way swivel

20 pound testmonofilament

improved double clinchknot

clinch knot

duolock snap

50-80 lb. test monofila-ment leader 18-24

inches long

clinch knot

5/0 to 9/0O'Shaughnessy Hook

29

offshore is shallow (Figure 26). If the profileis steep, waves break close to shore carryingaway sand and leaving deeper water. Byobserving the breakers, you can locatedeeper holes and cuts. Since red drum moveinto these deeper areas on the incoming tideto feed, fishing the cuts increases yourchances of catching a red drum.

It has been my experience that moretrophy-size red drum are caught at nightthan during the day. The old timers andthose anglers who catch many large red

Figure 24. Two hook surf rig.

terminal rigs, an extra spool of the appropri-ate pound test fishing line for the reel, addi-tional pyramid sinkers of different weights,and either a pair of needle-nose pliers or oneof those gadgets to remove hooks from thecatch. Also, when fishing at night, I use asmall disposable pocket flashlight secured toa string with plastic electrical tape and hungaround my neck. Prior to the fishing season,I put together about 50 terminal rigs for surffishing. Each one is individually placed in asmall zip-lock bag to prevent tangling, andstored for later use. Packaged in this man-ner, they are convenient to carry.

Best fishing is on the rising tide. Expe-rienced anglers arrive at the beach at lowtide to identify the deeper holes. To locatethese, carefully observe the profile of thebeach. If the beach slopes gently, the water

Figure 25. Sandspike for surf fishing.

11/2" internal diameterschedule 40 PVC

32"

32"

4" x 1/4" galvanizedeye bolt withstainless locknut

cut to 45o angle orgreater with a hack saw

aluminum angle

locknut

PVC

snap

eye bolt

snap

eye bolt

aluminum angle

monofilament line to reel

3/0 to 4/0O'Shaughnessy Hook

#4 black finish3-way swivel

improved doubleclinch knot

16 inch 30 pound testmonofilament leader

6-8 inch 30 pound testmonofilament leader

4-6 inch30 pound test monofila-

mentleader duolock snap

2-4 ounce pyramid sinker

30

Gently sloped beaches have the waves breaking off-shore with most energy being dispatched before thewave reaches the beach.

Gentle slope

Steep slope

Steep sloped beaches have the main force of the wavebreaking very close to shore which scours out a deeperarea.

The off-shore bar will have a cut through it where thebeach has a steep slope; fish move through this cut tofeed along the beach.

where would I go to obtain the maximumamount of food for the least effort?” Al-though in the surf they feed on other fisheslike spot, they primarily eat crabs (which arealso a good bait). The surf breaking on thebars frequently uncovers crabs that arepartially buried in the sand. These make thered drum’s supper. Cuts in the bars providethe “highways” for the large fish to move andfeed. Good luck and good surf fishing.

Boat Fishing

By far most red drum are caught incoastal South Carolina by anglers who fishfrom boats. These individuals stalk thecreeks, bays, sounds, inlets and waters infront of the barrier islands. In the protectedwaters of the creeks and the smaller bays,red drum range in size from less than theminimum legal size of 14 inches in totallength to a few fish in the 15 pound range.In the lower parts of the estuary, aroundinlets and on the oceanic side of barrierislands, small, medium and trophy size reddrum can be caught.

To better understand how, when, andwhere to catch red drum inside the estuaries,the previous information about their move-ments and diet is helpful. The subadult reddrum inside the estuaries move with thetide. Previously, I explained that one of itsfavorite foods is fiddler crabs. These crusta-ceans live in burrows that are underwateronly during those periods when the tidefloods mudflats and the marsh surface. Inplaces where large areas of marsh that havedense populations of fiddler crabs are floodedat high tide, red drum move up on the marshsurface to feed. If you drift along the shal-lows adjacent to such an area at nightaround low tide when the water is clear witha spot light, frequently either red drum ortheir “vapor trails” (a line of sediment that issuspended in the water by the rapid escapeof the startled fish) can be seen. Most often,red drum can be observed around the sub-

Figure 26. Read a beach to locate cuts and fioles.

ShallowShallow

Deep

Beach

drum, fish mainly at night. Very few peopleknow where they go, when they go, or even ifthey are successful. Surf fishing for reddrum makes people kind of “close to the vest”with their knowledge.

There are many beaches along SouthCarolina’s coast where a surf fisherman cando battle with a red drum. Remember thatthe topography of the beach changes season-ally and annually, and you can not simply goto a site, cast in a bait, and expect to catch ared drum. Study the lay of the beach andconsider it from a fish’s perspective. Askyourself the question “If I was a red drum

31

Figure 27. Diagram of a shoreline with exposed and submerged oyster reefs at low tide demonstrating where reddrum might be located around low tide.

submerged shell

exposedoyster

bar

exposedoyster

barexposedoyster

bar

exposedoyster

bar

marsh surface covered with stands of cordgrass

submerged shell

submerged shell

shoreline

Areas with the greatest probability of holding red drum at low tide.

merged edges of oyster bars in water thatmay be only 6 to 8 inches deep (Figure 27).On occasion, you might find them with theirbacks sticking out of the water.

When gigging (graining) was permittedyear round, those individuals that partici-pated in this sport, would wait until an“Alberta Clipper” would come through thearea in January or February. As this fastmoving cold front passed, cold northwesterlywinds would drop the air temperature tofreezing or below. Strong winds would stirand cool the estuarine water quickly. After ahard blow of a day or two, the winds dimin-ish, and the waters inside the estuary clear.

It is then that red drum would be easy tar-gets for the barbs of a gig because of theirinability to regulate their body temperaturewhich results in the fish becoming sluggishand slow moving in these cold waters. Gigfisherman would venture out on the earlyincoming tide on these clear, cold nights inboats equipped with lights to illuminate theshallows, these “cold stunned” red drumwere easy targets. I have seen old photo-graphs of gigged red drum from four to tenpounds covering the bottom of a pickuptruck’s bed. Most gig fishermen would stoppatrolling the shallows when the waterreached the marsh surface because as the

32

flats of Spartina (marsh grass) becameflooded, red drum moved into the grass.Although present law does not permit gig-ging during the colder months (Decemberthrough February), it is still permitted dur-ing the warmer months. As with harvest byrod and reel, the minimum legal size is 14inches total length and the bag limit is fivered drum per person per day

How does all this pertain to catching reddrum with a rod and reel? If red drum in-side the estuary move on to the surface of themarsh to feed at high tide, the best time togo for them is the period around low tidewhen they are concentrated in the shallowsand therefore available to boat fishermen.It’s tough to fish in the dense strands ofmarsh grass. However, some people fish inthe high marsh areas. These anglers sightcast to "tailing" red drum.

One point to keep in mind is that not allred drum move onto the flooded surface ofthe marsh at high tide. However, enough ofthem do in many areas that the chance ofcatching a fish inside the estuary are greaterfrom mid-ebb tide to mid-flood tide which iswhen they are restricted by water depthfrom going into the grass.

Subadult red drum can be taken witheither natural or artificial baits inside theestuary. Most anglers use either live or deadnatural baits as opposed to artificial lures.The preferred natural baits are shrimp (aliveor dead), mud minnows, mullet (alive ordead) and crabs (alive or dead). When sub-adult red drum are not on the marsh surface,they are generally found around structurewhich includes things in the water like oldpilings and dock rubble, rocks, or oysterbars. If you refer back to the section thatdetails the food of subadult red drum, smallcrabs other than fiddlers are frequentlyeaten. These are most abundant aroundstructures and red drum move along these,feeding on the crabs.

For a rod and reel combination, I useeither a seven foot long light action, one

piece fiberglass rod with ceramic guides anda spinning reel filled with eight pound testmonofilament line or a six foot long mediumaction, one piece fiberglass rod with ceramicguides and a spinning reel with six poundtest monofilament line. The seven foot com-bination is light enough so that 14 to 16 inchlong red drum give a reasonable fight whenhooked, yet strong enough to handle a fish inthe eight to ten pound range. The lighteroutfit is used when the fish are mostly small.On both rigs, a 15 foot shock leader of 12(seven foot rod) or 10 (six foot rod) pound testmonofilament is secured to the main linewith a blood knot (Figure 28). This is astrong knot when properly tied and is smallenough to pass through the rod guides eas-ily.

Natural baits can be either fished offthe bottom by using a float or on the bottomwith a weight. Both are effective, however, Iprefer to fish baits on the bottom because reddrum are primarily bottom feeders. By usingbottom rigs around structure, you will losemore terminal tackle than by float fishing,but the reward is more strikes. The twomost widely used floats are the balsa woodcasting float (the favorite of most anglers)and the popping cork. The latter gets itsname from the concave depression on the topof the float that will cause a surface distur-bance and a popping sound when the rod tipis raised smartly. Here it acts like a surfaceplug calling the fish’s attention to the factthat there is a bait drifting by directly belowthe float. They come in weighted orunweighted models with the weighted typepreferred because of the small amount oflead in the bottom will make it easier to castand will also make the float ride better inthe water. The basic plan for this terminalrig is shown in Figure 29. The depth thatthe bait is fished can be changed by remov-ing the plastic rod, sliding the float up ordown the line as desired, and resecuring thefloat on the line by wedging the line againstthe float with the plastic rod. A small piece

33

the chances are much better that the hookwill decompose. This hook is less expensivethan those that are either cadmium or nickelplated or stainless steel, all of which are rustresistant to a greater or lesser extent. Sec-ond, when choosing a hook for live bait, Iprefer to use the largest one that will allowthe bait to act as naturally as possible con-sidering the circumstances. Third, thelarger the hook used, the fewer fish that willbe gut hooked. This is important because

of split shot above the hook will tend to keepthe bait at the desired depth, and the hookcan be secured to the leader with a clinchknot or a Palomar knot which is easy to tieand strong (Figure 30). At the business endof the rig, I prefer to use either a 1/0, 2/0 or3/0 bronze, short shank O’Shaughnessyhook. Several things need to be consideredwhen selecting a size and style of hook. First,a bronze hook will rust quickly, so if the fishis released with this type of hook still in it,

Figure 28. Blood knot to join 8 pound testmonofilament main line with 12 poundtest shock line.

Fig. 4 With its ends trimmed closely, the finished knotlooks like this.

Fig. 3 At this stage the turns should look the way. Nowslowly pull on both ends of the line.

Fig. 2 Turn the other line around the standing part ofthe first line three or four times, and put its free endthrough the loop from the opposite side.

Fig. 1 Cross two sections of monofilament and wrapone section three or four times around the other. Nowplace the wrapped end through the loop formed by thetwo mono sections.

Figure 29. Popping cork for float fishing with livebait for red drum around structure.

main line to reel

18 inch 20 pound testmonofilament leader

clinch knot

size 12 or 14 black brassbarrel swivel

clinch knot

1/0 to 3/0O'Shaughnessy Hook

Palomar knot

1/8 ouncesplit shot

cut through axis of float tothread line into interior

hole

plastic rod to wedgeline against float;regulates depth atwhich bait is fished

concavedepression which

disturbs waterand causes

"popping" soundwhen float tip isquickly raised

34

when fishing the shallows in the early fall,the angler will catch some sub-legal reddrum less than 14 inches total length. If youuse a very small hook (#2 or #1), there is agreater probability of gut hooking and caus-ing a severe injury to the fish. Fishes thatare gut hooked have a lower probability ofsurviving. When the available baits aresmall, I switch to a lighter style hook such asa 1/0, 2/0, or3/0 Aberdeen hook which will allow the baitto swim naturally rather than going to a

Fig. 1 Double the end of the line and pass the loopthrough the hook eye.

Fig. 2 Double the loop back, then make an OverhandKnot around the standing line, leaving a loop largeenough for the hook (or lure) to pass back through.

Fig. 3 Put the entire hook (lure) through the loop, asillustrated.

Fig. 4 Pulling on the standing line will draw the knottight. Trim it, and the knot will be compact and effective.

Figure 30. Palomar knot for securing hook, swivel orlure to the line.

smaller size hook.When fishing for red drum with live bait

on a popping cork, first find a location withstructure at mid-ebb tide to early flood tide.Adjust the depth of your bait so that it is offyet reasonably close to the bottom. Cast therig into the desired location and let the baitdrift. Every so often with the line tightbetween the rod and the float, lift the rod tipsmartly. This will result in a surface distur-bance with a popping sound.

The other popular type of float used inlive bait fishing is the balsa wood castingfloat. The configuration differs from thepopping cork (Figure 31). To regulate thedepth that the bait is fished, a knot of cottontwine is slid up or down the main line. Theegg sinker brings the bait down to the de-sired depth and the small plastic bead jamsagainst the cotton knot. If when fishing this,the float lays on its side, either the bait is settoo deep and the weight is on the bottom, orthe egg sinker is not heavy enough to makethe float ride correctly in the water. Tocorrect this problem, first shorten the depthby sliding the knot towards the terminalend. If this does work the float still ridesimproperly, remove the egg sinker and sub-stitute a heavier one.

Cotton stoppers for balsa wood castingfloats only last one trip, and sometimes donot make it through an entire outing. Unfor-tunately balsa wood casting floats are notsold with an extra stopper, so in an emer-gency, I attach a rubber band to the linewith a couple of overhand knots. This hasits shortcomings because the rubber banddoes not pass through the guides of the rodcleanly and has a tendency to slide, so youend up constantly adjusting it. Replacementcotton stoppers can be purchased in tacklestores for about $1.50 for a package of three.A procedure for making replacement cottonstoppers using a hollow plastic coffee stirrer,a spool of heavy cotton thread, and a pair ofscissors (I also need my bifocals) is providedin Figure 32.

35

To fish the balsa wood casting float rig,simply cast the bait out to the desired loca-tion, let it drift around the structure andwait for it to be pulled under. Wenner’s lawof float fishing states that “a fish will notstrike a live bait and pull the float underunless the angler is opening a beer or soda,eating a sandwich, or lighting a cigar, pipe,or cigarette.” Next time you’re float fishingwith live bait, keep a mental record of whenyou get strikes. I guarantee most of themoccur when both hands are occupied withfood, drink, or smoking materials.

The basic rig for bottom fishing with

Figure 31. Casting float for live bait fishing for reddrum.

cotton thread

hollow plastic stirrer

Fig. 1 Cut about an 8 inch long piece of cotton thread;double it to form a loop about 4 inches long; lay the loopparallel to the stirrer.

Fig. 3 Place the end of the thread through the loop andpull the loop carefully from under the whips; after threadis pulled through, pull gently on each end of the thread tosnug it down on the stirrer.

tag end

cotton loop

stirrer

12 inch cotton thread

Fig. 2 Place the tag end of a 12 inch piece of cottonthread at the same end as the loop; make 7 turns orwhips around the stirrer, the loop and the portion of theline going to the tag end; make the whips beginningaway from the loop and working towards the loop.

tag endstirrer

cotton loop

tag end

Figure 32. Construction details for stopper knot usedin float fishing with live bait with balsacasting floats.

Fig. 4 Slide the knot down the stirrer; trim long ends toappropriate length and cut the stirrer to desired length(an inch or two). Store in small compartment of tacklebox.

tag end

cotton thread stopper toregulate depth of bait; cansubstitute piece of rubberband secured to line with

overhand knot

1/0 to 3/0bronze livebait hook

Palomar knot

size 12-14 blackbrass barrel

swivel

clinch knot

clinch knot 18 inch 20 poundtest monofilament

leader

3/8 to 1/2ounce egg sinker

4-6 inch balsa float

main line to reel

plastic bead

36

either live or cut bait is quite simple (Figure33). I use the lightest sinker that will keepthe bait in place, and frequently in quietareas with no current, the egg sinker isremoved and a small split shot is fastened tothe leader directly below the swivel. Whenfishing with either cut or live bait with thistype of tackle around structure, fish the baitat the edge of the obstruction. Do not castthe bait directly into a clump of oysters,because you’ll never get it back. Even whenyou just fish the edges you will lose a lot oftackle. I usually keep about a dozen rigsready to fish, each individually packaged insmall zip lock bags, in my tackle box.

In the coastal areas of our state, mostfisherman use a cast net to catch shrimp,finger mullet, and small menhaden for bait.Mud minnows are most easily caught with aminnow trap. The best time to get fingermullet and shrimp is the period around lowtide when they are concentrated in the shal-low creeks. It’s almost impossible to catchbait around high tide because bait animalsare dispersed, usually on the marsh surface.A good general size for a cast net is one thathas a radius of five feet. When thrownproperly, the net will cover about 70 squarefeet of bottom. I prefer a monofilament, fastsinking net such as the Betts DeLux Modelwhich is available in most full service tacklestores. Minnow traps are constructed out of1/4 inch mesh, galvanized hardware cloth,and are available in most tackle stores for

Figure 33. Bottom rig for live bait fishing for red drum.

less than $10.00. Mud minnows inhabit thesmall, shallow creeks that cut through themarsh, and traps baited with a piece ofcrushed blue crab or some fresh fish willcatch them.

Once you have the bait, the next ques-tion is how do you keep it alive? There areseveral options which vary in cost fromalmost nothing to about $100.00 Mud min-nows are very hardy and can be kept in abucket partially filled with water as long asthe water does not get too hot, the minnowsare not overcrowded, and the water ischanged often. Shrimp, finger mullet andmenhaden could not make it for long undersuch conditions. Another alternative is aminnow bucket that has many small holes init that permit water flow through the pailwhen it is placed over the side. It is shapedso that if you are trolling, the bucket pullsthrough the water nicely. Mud minnows,shrimp and finger mullet do reasonably wellin it, however, the capacity of this style ofbucket is small. The cost is less than $15.00and it is readily available in most stores thatcarry fishing tackle. Other alternatives are“bait savers” which come in 5 or 10 gallonmodels. These are plastic buckets withhinged lids and aerators that oxygenate thewater. The aerator runs off a 12 volt batteryand comes with battery clips. These sell for$40 to $60 and are quite good for mud min-nows, shrimp and finger mullet. An advan-tage of these is that they come ready to use,

main line to reel

size 12-14 blackbrass barrel swivel

1/4 to 3/4ounce egg sinker

Palomar knot

1/0 to 3/0bronze livebait hook

clinch knot

18 inch long 20pound test

monofilamentleader

37

however, during hot weather the waterneeds to be changed occasionally. For $30 to$40, kits with bilge pumps, wiring and aera-tor hoses can be obtained; these convertstandard ice chests into bait wells.

The system in my boat is probably themost satisfactory for keeping large quanti-ties of all types of bait alive for long periods(Figure 34). This system consists of a waterpump mounted on a stainless steel bracketwhich is fixed to the outside of the boat onthe transom, hose from the pump to a plasticbarrel, an overflow from the barrel that goesoutboard, wiring to a switch, and the bat-tery. The beauty of the system is that it iscontinuous flow and new water is constantlyadded and in hot weather, temperature doesnot cause a problem. When the inflow pipe

has a 45 degree elbow fitting place on theinside, a current can be set up with theincoming water. Many baits prefer to be in aslight current. All bait fishes and shrimpsthat I have kept in this system which costsabout $40 (plus the plastic barrel) have donevery well. I have held more than 100 men-haden in the tank all day and this species isnotorious for being difficult to keep alive inbait systems.

There are opportunities for catchingtrophy bass from boats. The places aremainly around the mouths of inlets and onthe ocean side of barrier islands either nearoffshore bars or the front beach. If you areseeking large fish in these areas, the oldaxiom that “large baits catch big fish” ap-plies. I prefer to use larger (6 to 8 inch long)

currentoutflow coupling; interior covered with plastic meshscreening to prevent shrimp and small bait fishes fromescaping out the overflow pipe.

section of radiator hose for outflow

45o elbow

Figure 34. Continuous flow bait well setup.

hose to pump (inflow)

PVC pipe cut at 45o angle withangle facing forward; projectsslightly below bottom oftransom

overflow pipe

plastic barrel

inflow hose from pump

pump

cut off valve

38

menhaden fished on the bottom live bait rig(see Figure 33). When chasing big fish thatmay go 40 pounds, it is constructed ofheavier materials such as a size #8 blackbrass barrel swivel, 50 pound test mono-filament leader, and a 4/0 or 5/0 bronze shortshank O’Shaughnessy hook. Around rockslike at the Charleston Harbor jetties, a 2 to 6ounce egg sinker is used since currents arestrong and the bait is large and active. Withthis terminal tackle, the bait will drift some-what on the bottom, however, the roundsinker does not hang up as frequently onirregular bottom as do other types ofweights. On the sand bars and off the frontbeaches such as those around Bulls Bay, livebait can be fished on the fishfinder rig (seeFigure 20) with a pyramid sinker of appro-priate weight.

A question frequently posed by noviceanglers concerns the best locations on thebait to secure it to a hook. Previously Imentioned that a main concern in the selec-tion of the size and style of hook is to selectone that allows the bait to swim as naturallyas possible without fatally injuring it. Fig-ure 35 shows the locations for hooking thefour main live baits used along the SouthCarolina coast. Shrimp can be hooked justbelow the rostrum on the head or throughthe tail. When placing a shrimp on a hookby passing it through the body near the headregion, be careful not to go down too far onthe side and pass it through the shrimp’svital organs. To affix a mud minnow, passthe hook through both lips. One thing aboutmud minnows is that when they are fishedon a shell covered bottom, the fish try to hidein the shells. This does two things. First, ittakes the bait out of the view of the fishyou’re trying to catch, and second, it in-creases the chances of catching the bottomand losing your rig. Finger mullet can beattached through the top lip or by passingthe hook through both eyes. Finally, myfavorite bait, the menhaden can be attachedby threading the hook through the bone near Figure 35. Locations for securing main live baits to

hook.

Shrimppass hook through verytop of shell

rostrum pass hookthrough tail

Mudminnow

pass hook throughboth lips

Finger mullet

pass hookthrough lips orthrough eyes

Menhaden

pass hook through "nose" betweeneyes and the tip of the snout

open mouth, passhook through topof head

39

the surface of the head in the area betweenthe eyes and the tip of the snout, or by open-ing the mouth and passing the hook upthrough the top of the head in front of theeyes.

Although most red drum are taken onlive or cut bait, artificial baits may inducestrikes from this species. The most popularlure is the 1/4 ounce red grub head with a 4inch long “Mister Twister” tail in eitherchartreuse green-metal flake or smoky-metalflake. Small bucktail jigs in yellow or whitealso take red drum. A trick I like to use is todress the hooks of these jig type lure (grubsand bucktails) with a small piece of cutshrimp. This provides a natural scent thatattracts feeding fish. Spoons such as theKrocodile (1/4 ounce, 2 1/8 inches long) or theDarderle (1/4 ounce, 1 3/4 inches long) ineither brass or nickel colors are occasionallysuccessful.

Plugs that I have taken some red drumwith are the Rebel minnows such as the 4 1/2 inch long, 3/8 ounce or 5 1/2 inch long, 1/2ounce floating minnow in silver/black andsilver/blue colors, and the jointed minnows ofthe same lengths and colors. Generally, notmany red drum are caught on plugs, butwhen you hang an eight pound fish on lighttackle in 24 inches of water with a plug, it’san exciting experience.

When fishing a plug, spoon or grub I donot use any snaps or swivels. I tie the grubdirectly to the line with an improved clinchknot. Spoons and plugs are secured with aloop knot (Figure 36) which allows the bait agreater freedom of movement thereby givingit more action when pulled through thewater. When you fish without a swivel,monofilament line will twist. The degree oftwist depends upon the lure, with spoonstwisting more than the other lures men-tioned above. To remove twists, I cut thelure off and, while I am running the boatahead, trail the monofilament line from thereel behind the boat. Simply free spool theamount you feel may be twisted, let it trail

Fig. 1 Tie a simple Overhand Knot about 4 inches fromthe end of the line. Push the end of the line through thehook eye, then back through the center of the OverhandKnot.

Fig. 2 Next, with the end of the line, make anotherOverhand Knot around the standing part of the line.Now slowly pull the two knots tight, at the same timesliding them together so they "jam" or lock against oneanother.

Figure 36. Loop knot for securing a plug or spoon tomonofilament fishing line.

behind the moving boat for a few minutes,and reel it in. The twists will be gone.

RULES, REGULATIONS ANDCOMMENTS ON CONSERVATION

In South Carolina, red drum is classi-fied as a gamefish and can not be bought orsold unless produced by a mariculture opera-tion or is imported from a state that permitscommercial harvesting (e.g., North Caro-lina). The source of all red drum sold com-mercially must be documented. Red drumcan only be harvested with hook and line orgig. The gig season is closed, however, dur-ing December, January and February. Thegig season is closed during these threemonths because red drum are less activethen. Historically, large members of reddrum would be gigged after a winter stormpassed through the Low Country. The lowtemperatures and the strong northwest windwould rapidly cool the inshore waters. Afterthe front passed, the winds diminished, and

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the water regained clarity, spotted sea troutand red drum were easy targets for gigsbecause of their sluggish movement. TheExclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of theUnited States which extends from the threemile limit to 200 miles offshore, is closed tothe harvest of red drum. Red drum caughtin these waters can not be retained.

In state waters, red drum smaller than14 inches total length must be released.Total length is the straight line distancefrom the tip of the snout to the end of thetail. The possession limit is five red drumper angler per day of which only one can belarger than 32 inches total length.

The rationale for these regulations isderived from evidence that indicates that thenumber of red drum that escape harvest inthe intense inshore fishery and survive longenough to reproduce is not adequate to in-sure a stable population for future genera-tions. The five-fish bag limit is an attemptto restrict the harvest of the sub-adult reddrum and thus insure that a portion of themreach the size and age at which they becomemature, and then join the off-shore spawningpopulation. The possession limit of one fishper angler per day for red drum greater than32 inches total length is an attempt to pro-tect the spawning fish that are found nearinlets and along the ocean side of barrierislands. Almost all fish larger than 32inches are mature, and this restriction re-duces the fishing mortality on the reproduc-tively active fishes. The ultimate goal ofthese regulations is to maintain the numberof spawning fish at a level which will insurean adequate supply of juveniles and sub-adults inside our estuaries.

The above conservation measures arenot readily accepted by some South Carolinaanglers mainly because, historically recre-ational fishermen had few if any restrictionson their harvest. As a result, many anglersfeel it is their God-given right to catch asmany red drum or other fish as they want.Some of these anglers feel that the bounty of

the sea is endless. However, this has provennot to be the case. Abundances of many ofthe recreationally and commercially impor-tant species of marine fishes have declined toalarmingly low levels. The available infor-mation indicates that these declines haveresulted from unrestricted levels of harvest.In the case of red drum in South Carolina,the recreational harvest alone has causedthe problem since there is no commercialharvest in our state. Species like red drumthat grow rapidly to an edible size (1 to 2pounds in slightly more than a year) butmature slowly (do not reproduce for 3-5years) are particularly vulnerable to over-harvesting.

We must remember that as members ofa free and blessed society, it is a God-givenright to fish. However, with every rightcomes a responsibility. Ours is to insurethat our children and grandchildren havethe opportunity to catch a red drum. Thiswill not happen unless we do three things:1) insure that adequate numbers of sub-adults escape to replace the spawning adultsthat die of natural causes; 2) protect spawn-ing adults from excess harvest, and 3) pro-tect the fragile juvenile nursery areas in theshallow marsh habitat. I hope that we canachieve these objectives. After spending thecountry into a massive debt, the least we cando is to leave future generations a few fish tocatch.