Red Drum?

[Bay Invader]

Is there any truth to the rumor of a red drum population in the Great Bay since it's so shallow?

[Fly Ty R]

Maybe. There are plenty of reds in SJ in the late summer. Shallowness really has nothing to do with the abundance of reds. Reds need lots of oyster beds and food to thrive, which is why there aren't any more viable populations in NJ. The ones we get are migrants from the south. With the decline of oysters and the destruction of eelgrass flats, the reds moved on south. But there used to be a huge population here 70+ years ago, moreso than stripers.

[gotboost1]

Man I wish there was,what a fun fish to catch...

[It,s Gittin Deep]

caught a couple red drum in september in great bay this year,not as good as the year before.best day was 5 up to 30 inches.louis

[Leadchucker]

We had a mini run of puppys on the beach of NWW in early November, not as good as some years, but still nice to catch them. About 15 years ago when fishing on LBI, we actually found schools of them along the beaches while they were tailing in the wash. It not uncommon to run into them in the mid to lower reaches of the state. The NJ state record for red drum was set in the Great Bay area (it says Great Bay/Atlantic Ocean) in 1985 @ 55lbs even.

Now this will make you sick. In the 1930's the clammers and oystermen in Great Bay had so much trouble with redfish destroying thier bed, they would go at night and find the schools and use dynamite to blow them up. It is said hundreds of channel bass would be floating on top of the water in the morning. I can find no information as to what happened to them after that, if they just left them to rot (probably) or scooped them up for something.

[Bay Invader]

Thanks for all the imput guys.I think I might spend some time trying to find some in 2007.Thanks again for all the info.

[It,s Gittin Deep]

Hi leadchucker the fish that were on the beds were black drum they would use explosives to get rid of them my father was one doing it.louis

[Fly Ty R]

IGD:
Not all of them were black drum, but I'm sure some were. I don't know about Great Bay, but Corsons used to be the redfish capital of NJ before the oysterbeds went away and beach filling became commonplace.

[jc]

how about that for a NJ Angler fishing TV Show. Catching NJ Reds the Old Fashioned way.

[Fly Ty R]

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~np37/redrum.jpg