$100 Drum

[shunt]

Took my son (11 yrs old) and daughter (7 yrs old) last Sat. evening for a few hours in the surf at Topsail. Had a great night just spending time with them...lots of fun laughing, watching them fighting fish, answering questions, teaching, etc. Added bonus was that the fishing was good with both kids getting real nice pups (32" for my daughter and 28" for my son), blues and a biter as well. They caught all of the fish on new rods I just finished buiding, breaking the rods the right way and just adding to the experience.

The "bad" part...

I have been out of town working this week and just got around to downloading the photos tonight...when I pulled up the photo of the 32 incher my daughter caught, I saw it plain as day...one of those $100 red belly tags! When she started fighting the fish, some folks walking by crowded around to watch her do battle. I rushed to get the fish measured (she wanted to know how her's stacked up against her brother's!) and released quick. One of the folks in the crowd snapped a couple of quick photos and I slipped the fish back in the suds without even thinking about a tag! She will be "sick" the morning when I explain it to her...had a ball regardless...just adds to an already great story.

[ice cream man]

Caught a tagged Red last year, reported catch & recieved a hat - no money. I'm not sure if tag was the same color as your daughters catch.
Catching fish with kids is priceless......... ..........ICM

[rich]

They tag drum with 2 different types of tags. One is a 5 dollar or hat tag and the other tag is a $100 tag. They are red and yellow I just dont remember which one is which. On the first one you have to request the money to get the money instead of the hat.
Great catch and I bet your son heard all about your daughters fish being bigger than his. Looked like fun.

[shunt]

ICM,

The red tags are $100 and the yellow tags get you the choice of a hat, t-shirt of $5.

http://www.ncfisheries.net/download/tagged_red_drum.pdf

[JMS-ILM]

thats a good class of fish, scott. pretty work. that fish has likely been sporting that tag since he was just a little pup of 10 or 11 inches. i understand how you could miss a tag during a hot bite....especially when the fish have all kinds of sea lice and seaweed hanging from them anyway. you just dont think to look.

[Timber]

Congrats on the fish! Thats a nice one! As for tags, in all the years I've been fishing (about 40), I've never caught a tagged one. Sometimes I look for a tag before I release it and sometimes i don't. Still, kudos for you teaching catch and release!

[O-SEA-D]

Beautiful pictures, fishing with the kids is awesome

Pretty work

[WAHOONBOX]

CONGRATS SHUNT.....I TOO HAVE RELEASED A FISH.... A WHITE WITH A TAG ONLY TO DISCOVER IT AFTER THE RELEASE AND FILM DEVELOPED


I LOVE TO SEE THE JR ANGLERS GET IN ON THE ACTION!

A FEW YEARS AGO....WHILE DRUMN FISHING WITH EXTRME MEASURES MHC.,.....WE CAUGHT 3 DRUM IN ONE HOLE WITH TAGS.....BUT THE TAGS WERE ALL UNREADABLE AND DETERIORATED

QUESTION: DO THEY ALL GET TAGGED IN STOMACH AREA?

[BTH284]

Way to go brother! Glad to see my niece and nephew carrying on the family tradition of the outdoor activities that you and I grew up with. Time to get them both on the old drum later this summer/early fall.

[JMS-ILM]

QUESTION: DO THEY ALL GET TAGGED IN STOMACH AREA?

the DMF biologists tag immature drum with belly tags. back tags are for fish greater than 27". when you come across a tag that is unreadable, lots of times, the duplicate tag number is etched on the part of the tag that is inside the fish. lots of times tags are covered in barnacles, seaweed, or just plain destroyed. we tag a lot of the upper slot fish we catch in the surf in the summer. there is a lot of them roaming around sporting tags in our area to the south....be on the lookout!