Frank Sargeant - The Redfish Book: A Complete Anglers Guide

Published by

LARSENS OUTDOOR PUBLISHING

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

http://www.rlpgtrade.com

Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom

Distributed by National Book Network

Copyright 1991 by Frank Sargeant

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

Library of Congress 91-90328

ISBN: 978-0-936512-12-6 (paper : alk. paper)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Im indebted to dozens of guides, biologists and expert anglers from throughout the range of the redfish for the contents of this book. Among the guides who were particularly helpful are Doug Bird, master of the Laguna Madre in Texas and Ronny Groinier and Terry Shaughnessy in the bayou country of Louisiana. In Florida, thanks to Oscar Lee at Apalachicola Bay, Frank Schiraldi at Crystal River, Earl Waters and Mike Locklear at Homosassa, Dennis Royston at Hudson, Paul Hawkins, Russ Sirmons, James Wood and Jim ONeal at Tampa Bay, Scott Moore, Bill Miller and Chris Mitchell at Charlotte Harbor, Kenny Shannon at Venice, Colby Dollar at Homestead and Mike Collins at Islamorada. Ken Lauer, primo surf-caster at the Outer Banks of North Carolina was also a great help, as was Joel Arrington, well-known low-country outdoor writer. Larry Mendez of Shoalwater Boats and Alex Leva of Hydra-Sports were instructive, as was Bob Icenogle of Bobs Machine in Ruskin, Florida, in rigging and running the ultimate redfish boat. And biologist Mike Murphy of Floridas Department of Natural Resources provided all of the research material on the life patterns of redfish. Thanks, too, to all the thousands of Tampa Tribune readers who have shared their secret spots and their know-how with me for all these years, and to the Florida Conservation Association, whose devoted efforts resulted in the current redfish revival in my home state.

COVER: Cover illustration of a battling redfish is by St. Petersburg artist and guide Russ Sirmons. Sirmons sculpts his exquisite works in glass with sandblasting equipment, sometimes taking weeks to perfect a single piece. He accepts commissions to do fish and birds of all species. His telephone number is (813) 526-2090.

This is a book about redfish, or channel bass, or red drum--whatever you call Sciaenops ocellatus in your part of the country. Redfish angling is booming throughout the range, from southern Texas to the Outer Banks of the Carolinas, thanks to unprecedented concern among the sportfishing community and widespread passage of tough new laws protecting the species. There are probably more reds and bigger reds in more places today than at any time in the last decade, thanks to control of harvest pressure in nearly every state where the bronze brawlers are found. The redfish recovery, though far from complete, is in full gear throughout the range.

More importantly to the angler, reds are again moving into historic haunts in many parts of their range--the shallow flats where they can be seen before being caught. Sight-fishing adds a whole new dimension to the pursuit of redfish, and has created a whole new generation of enthusiastic redfish anglers. Reds are now recognized as great gamefish, as well as fine table fish. Theyre one of the great fishery conservation stories of our time.

This book covers where, when and how to find and catch reds in every season of the year, and in each type of habitat where they are found. This information came from literally thousands of hours of research with rod in hand, under the tutoring of many of the nations best redfish anglers--the folks who really wrote this book.

It also touches on the biology, habits and habitat of the species, as well as on their recent history--and on their future--a text being written even now by concerned conservationists, biologists and fishery managers across the country. Hopefully, those who read their words here will come to know and admire this unique species, and become a part of the continuing effort to further the redfish restoration.

(EDITORS NOTE: Limits, seasons and other management rules mentioned throughout THE REDFISH BOOK were current at printing time, but are subject to change by action of state or federal fishery councils. Check local laws before harvesting reds in your area.)

Frank Sargeant is outdoors editor of the Tampa Tribune and a senior writer for Southern Outdoors, Southern Saltwater and BassMaster magazines. He was formerly an editor for CBS Publications Division, and a writer for Disney World Publications, as well as southern editor for Outdoor Life. His writing and photos have appeared in a wide variety of other publications including Field & Stream, Sports Afield, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and Readers Digest. He was a fishing guide before becoming a writer and editor. He holds a masters degree in English and Creative Writing from Ohio University, and has taught writing at the high school and college level. He has fished for redfish throughout Florida and the Southeast for more than 20 years. Sargeant lives on the Little Manatee River, near Tampa, Florida.

WATERS LIKE WARM SUMMER BREEZES slide around your bare legs. You wade through fields of waving grass, womans hair blowing in the tidal wind, where crabs sail like gliding birds, pinfish flirt like butterflies. The surface is slick, molten glass flexing slightly as the last soft swells from distant rage finds the land.

Through this viscous sea comes the sea beast, multi-headed, multi-tailed, in communal motion covering half an acre, a single mind split 500 ways.

Redfish. Coming to your lure.

Times shutter clicks, the mind framing photographs that will be filed for later viewing in distant places too far removed from the coast.

That moment before the cast when you know the fish are coming to you is the most perfect in angling--all potential, unsullied by the flaws of men and tackle and fish.

You can visualize the perfect angler--you--making the perfect cast to the ultimate fish, the longest, the heaviest, the most heart-strong--and battling him to an heroic end. The line does not fray, the drag does not stick, the rod does not crack in these soft-focused dreams. And both man and fish walk away uninjured by the fray, and better for it.

But red drum dont have time for dreams. They keep moving. If youre not quick about it, theyll be out of range. Coppery torpedoes pushing a metallic hump of water, they are impossible to miss.