Wife's First Inshore Red

So I finally got a good day when she was off of work and took the wifey out for a day of fishing in the "little boat". Glad that we did!

Water temps in the ICW behind St. Simons have hit 69-70 degrees, and the trout and redfish are on heating up along with it. They are back up on flats and points with 3-5 feet of water and shell beds, if you can find them. The trout are still smaller fish that wintered over in the creeks, but the reds are nice slot sized and are still schooled up, so if you get one, keep fishing.

Here is the wife's first "inshore" red. She was surprised at how much fight they put up on a 7' med-hvy bass rod.




Managed a few myself. I have discovered that while I love catching them, redfish are not my favorite table fare (much prefer trout and flounder) so the reds all go back now.




Caught this trout and the first thing I thought was "Lamprey!", having seen the effects of them in the Great Lakes. But this patch was too big, and rectangular. Any ideas? I hope it's an ingury and not a disease. Thinking about sending it to the DNR.




Lastly, these catfish, which I have never encountered before, are all over right now - usually right next to the grass. They are colored like a channel cat, but they have a huge head. Anyone know what they are? It's not the usual cat I am used to catching off the beaches. Much too thick and the head is too big.

Found it

Found the catfish. Ariopsis Felis (Herdhead Catfish)

http://www.marinefishesofgeorgia.org/common-fish/hardhead-catfish.html

Website says they are "pretty good" food fish. Wish I had known that, as we caught several nice sized ones, and I do like catfish.

Awesome fish brother. Thanks for the post. Great report

Awesome report!!!

Nice Day

Glad to hear you had a good day with your wife on the boat. Looks like some nice fish there.

Way to go, man. Always good when the wife catches em!

love me some redfish

Her first redfish were a bit bigger, but so was the boat and tackle.

I've NEVER been told those hard head cats are good to eat. Have caught them by the hundreds, I've been told that the sail cat or gaftstop is the better eating of the two but like I said, never tried either of them and I'm from South Louisiana.

plumber_1969 said:

I've NEVER been told those hard head cats are good to eat. Have caught them by the hundreds, I've been told that the sail cat or gaftstop is the better eating of the two but like I said, never tried either of them and I'm from South Louisiana.

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Can't say, myself. Probably not going to try. These are not the "sea cats" I am used to catching along with the sail cats on the Atlantic coast. They are a lot stockier with a wider head.

Scallen2112 said:

Found the catfish. Ariopsis Felis (Herdhead Catfish)

http://www.marinefishesofgeorgia.org/common-fish/hardhead-catfish.html

Website says they are "pretty good" food fish. Wish I had known that, as we caught several nice sized ones, and I do like catfish.

Click to expand...

I've caught thousands of these over the years. Tried cooking and eating them several ways during this time because I kept hearing the above. I eat and know how to prepare most fish for eating and can even make gar good table fare. Have never been able to get hardheads to taste any different than spoiled mud (even with hot sauce and or pepper rub). Not on my menu of edibles.

I've caught & eaten both gaff and hardheads---
I'll pretty much try anything, especially deep fried.

I can't remember much about the two, except one was saltier, maybe.

Reds & trout are tastier!