A RECORD DAY
There are many reasons why we look forward to the fall. Cooler weather, changing leaves, football, and bull red drum. October and April are the best times to fish for these giants, whose size averages at over 20 pounds.
Howard Carr, William Carr, Cole Sims, Thomas Fassuliotis, and I set out on Saturday, October 14th, to try our hand at catching them. We launched the boat before sunrise and rode out towards the ocean.
The high tide had just turned to a falling tide and we drifted along the grass trying to catch small red fish on shrimp. Keeping the boat quiet is the most important part when it comes to catching small red drum. Closing hatches and dropping weights could spook fish even outside of casting range. You can often see these fish causing ripples and even lifting their tails above the surface but often times you see them after they are spooked. We casted the shrimp as close as possible to the grass and let the cork float along the grass. This works best if the shrimp are alive but a hungry fish will bite anything if compelled. There was little activity in the marsh grass so we moved out to the sandbars in the mouth of the inlet.
The land breeze caused the inlet to be calm and the breaking waves outlined the sandbars. William tossed the anchor and we drifted with the current trying to figure out which direction we would be facing with the current and wind. Sometimes I have to try anchoring several times to get the desired position but this time, I felt good about where we were when we got started.
The rods were already rigged with lupton rigs which are designed to prevent gut hooking and in turn, protect the fish from injury. In no time, Cole, William, and I casted 4 lines out behind the boat, each baited with crab or mullet. We sat quietly for a few minutes before a rod bowed over and started screaming. William seized the rod and began his long struggle with the bull red drum. An early indication that a red drum is on the line is when they break the surface in the distance. The angler can also feel jolting of the rod which is the fish slinging his head side to side underwater. It feels like you could lose the fish at any moment but by keeping steady pressure on the rod, you can contain the fish and bring him alongside the boat. William’s fish was worn and turned to his side when I grabbed his tail and mouth, lifting it into the boat. Everyone was observing the size and before the hook was out of it’s mouth, another rod bowed over and the drag was zinging off the reel. Cole took the rod and kept the pressure on. The fish kicked his tail and we could see the black spot from the boat. The fish took off and pulled line but Cole prevented him from crossing the other lines.
Red drum often travel in schools and the quantity of fish caught is maximized when lines remain in the water, even when a fish is fighting. Before Cole’s fish was landed, Thomas had a fish on. The two crossed over and under each other trying to steer their fish clear of the other. In the meantime, William and I were baiting the next hook. Howard wrangled the fish into the boat for pictures. There was little time for pictures because another fish was on the line. Howard reeled in the red and we had an order that each person took turns reeling in the fish.
There was no time to eat and I started to worry that our 3 big mullet and 24 blue crabs would not last the morning. I rigged one of my small rods with shrimp on a whiting rig and tossed the shrimp off to the side. I caught a whiting almost instantly and the fish liked it even more than the mullet. The hook held these fresh whiting cuts longer and we reused them over and over. I was still fishing for whiting when I had a major strike. My Penn 4000 rod is made for smaller reds and I had a bull on the line. I was in for a long fight because the drag is not strong enough to slow them. I used my fingers to slow the fish and eventually landed it. William caught some whiting on the lightweight rod too and another red drum bit. I couldn’t believe these big fish were eating such small bait. William played the fish perfectly, giving line when the fish ran, and reeling with every chance. He finally landed the fish and we had caught 15 by high tide.
The fish got a bad case of lockjaw during the high tide and would not bite anything. My record up to this point was 16 bull reds and we were now at 15. We took advantage of the slow action at high tide to make lunch and tie rigs before the fish started to feed again. Sure enough, the tide turned to the incoming tide and we had a double hookup. Thomas and Cole landed number 16 and 17 breaking my previous record.
We were still anchored in the same place but conditions were getting rough during the incoming tide. The boat rose and rocked over swells and we fell all over ourselves while following fish around the boat. Howard was releasing fish number 19 and Cole leaned over the side the throw up. A cresting wave lapped some water over the bow and we decided to move away from the sandbar and anchor along a foam line where two opposing currents meet. We set the anchor and were positioned directly over the foam.
We cast the lines out at one O’clock and the next hour and a half to come would keep us busy and test our teamwork as the fish started to frenzy.
The bait didn’t have time to reach the bottom. Fish bit the lines instantly and we caught number 20. I untied a knot while William baited another hook and Howard was reeling in a fish. Two more fish were hooked before Howard landed his fish. There was not a moment when a fish was not splashing near the hook. We could not remove the hooks fast enough to pull in the next fish and whoever was free at the time was casting other lines. We broke 30 fish and we were out of crabs. William suggested we use the mullet scraps and skin so we don’t run out of bait. I have always used big slabs of mullet or shad to catch these Bulls and I did not think mullet skin would be enough. The bull reds came to eat the mullet skin as fast as they did the crabs.

We had the fish handling down to a science now. One person would rig the line, someone else baited the hook, and another was ready to cast it out. I don’t think the bait ever had time to reach the bottom. We broke 40 fish and had one more piece of bait. The rigs were decimated and I used 50 lb brain to reinforce the frayed 80 lb fluorocarbon leader. We landed one more fish before the rig gave away and the last piece of bait was gone.
We were all in awe of what had happened. We hit the fish just right and everyone was exhausted. Saltwater fishing is absolutely a contact sport when crew men are running back and forth chasing fish while the boat is rocking. We have had many great days of fishing in Georgetown but the numbers that we caught Saturday shredded any expectations. One thing to remember about fishing is that the fish have a way of humbling the anglers from time to time. Anglers need to be humbled because it maintains their respect for the game and keeps excitement in the chase.