Any advice for fishing @ grayton beach?

[SlowMovin]

Thirty-five inches is a big redfish. The man who told you about it being "too big to keep" was right. Legally they must be at least 18 inches and less than 28 inches. You caught a big one.

All the more impressive because this time of year redfish tend to move inshore. It's mostly winter time when you catch them in the surf. What kind of bait were you using?

How many pompano? How big and what were you using for them...sand fleas?

 

[Allifunn]

So glad you had a productive and enjoyable trip to SoWal..it is the best place on earth!

Sorry about the red fish...but it sounds like you had a thrilling "fight" on your hands...that is the main thing! :clap_1:

 

[taterbaby]

Hi Henk,
Surf fishing, you're most likely going to encounter pompano, whiting, catfish and ladyfish. The last two are not good for eating. Whiting are ok, pompano are excellent. You may also encounter some spanish mackeral, which are a smaller version of king mackeral. They do not put up much of a fight, but are good eating unless you don't like fish.

I gotta ask-are you referring to the catfish as not good to eat-is it the same catfish that we have here in Mississippi? Please let me know-cause as a Mississippi girl-I can hook you up with some awsome Mississippi catfish recipies-man -they are a delicacy here in our state.

 

[DBOldford]

Henk, you will encounter a very exotic species of Gator at Grayton Beach, if you frequent The Red Bar. They walk upright...sometimes. When the moon is full and the tunes are right, they will lie on their backs and scrape the sky with all fours. This is known as the "dirty gator." They drink beer and anything else that comes around after 11 p.m. Their diet consists of sushi or peel-and-eat shrimp at mid-day; paneed chicken or grouper with mashed potatoes by night, occasionally a crab cake of two if they're runnin', and a breakfast of 3 Advils and black coffee that will stand up without a cup. If you see one of these Gators coming, give him a wide birth. And if it's a "her," with or without babies, run fast and run far!

 

[catweazl_2000]

@ slowmoving:
the redfish and one pompano's fell for sandfleas. Theother pompano took a 2.5 inch pearlwhite rubberfish. Funny is that if a fish bites and the line comes to shore , you're almost for sure dealing with a pompano. I caught 2 of them and let a big one slip away in ankle deep water:-( those I landed where 12' and 15' long.
The redfish was caught when my bait was in the deeper part behind the sandbank, a good 150-200yards from the beach.

@Taterbaby;

The catfish I caught were grey of color and had a strong spike in the backfin.
they are pretty slimy on the skin...they seemed to be quite common, I caught about 5 of them. Getting the hook out is quite difficult. They have a very tough mouth. I don't think they will ever make a popular consumptionfish.

@ Donna;

I have seen those gators.. The redbar was a nice place. There was live music and loads of gators indeed.
Around our hollydayhome I heard some "real" gator growling around sunrise. Later that day we went to the western lake and saw one swimming around in a small freshwater lake close by it was around 4 foot long. There I also met a 5 to 6 inch turtle strolling on the banks.
Way more dangerous for tourists are chiggers. I personally found those animals that are invisible very irritating. luckily I seemed to get rid of them using chiggeraid...
It seemed though that my dad in law, who had been at the same locations was not bothered by them at all How's that possible???
Laterz,
Henk

 

[SlowMovin]

I gotta ask-are you referring to the catfish as not good to eat-is it the same catfish that we have here in Mississippi? Please let me know-cause as a Mississippi girl-I can hook you up with some awsome Mississippi catfish recipies-man -they are a delicacy here in our state.

I'm only talking about what are referred to as "hardhead" catfish, which is a salt-/brackish-water cat that are very common in brackish lakes and bayous. Extremely bony, extremely slimy and a finning feels like a wasp sting. Because of the boniness you get very small filets (even from large fish) and they don't taste that good anyway.

Other freshwater catfish species, especially blue cats, are great eating. I may be mistaken, but I think most of the catfish you see at the seafood section of grocery chains like Publix are farm-raised blues.

Sail cats are also good eating, but a lot of anglers tend to avoid them because they slime up everything and also have poisonous fins.

AquaticBiology probably has better information on them...just my observations.

 

[aquaticbiology]

"channel catfish"

"surf catfish"

large "blue" freshwater catfish, "sail" catfish (extremely long threadlike dorsal fin), etc. can be eaten (if you don't think about what catfish normally eat!)

skin, fillet then cut the fillet into small chunks, dip in lemon juice, toss in a mix of flour, black pepper, red pepper and salt, to cover the chunks completely with the four mixture, then stir-fry for 8 minutes in hot wok oil!!! (gets rid of all parasites due to extremely high heat)

 

[catweazl_2000]

It looks like the channelcatfish indeed

Graytonbeach, I mis your sunset.....

 

[Kurt]

Redfish are sweet meat - you caught a monster. They are prized for their tastiness, fight, and beauty. Let us know when you are back.

 

[BeachSteelers]

As far as I know, so long as you are standing or on manmade structure you do not need a fla. fishing license.If your in a boat you need one unless it's a guided charter which that captain has paid the fees upfront. Unless that's changed this year.And if lucky you can get a king or spanish just off the beach although you usually wait for schools to show up. Now pray the june grass goes away.