Chesapeake Redfishing..

[shore-power]

Went out last night to try for a few reds with a couple friends out near the mouth of the bay. Caught the very last of the flood tide when we got there. I was hooked up about 5 minutes after setting out our rods baited with peelers crabs. Fish did its thing took drag and ran around shaking its head like a good fish. Just as I got it to the boat and started to see the leader it pulled the hook.. UGHH! Oh well checked the hook and its was very sharp. Baited my lone rod I was fish again and cast out and was hooked up again in a few minutes. Made sure to hit this fish a few times again to make sure it was hooked good. About 5 minutes into the fight this fish pulls the hook! Now Im no rookie at this and have caught hundreds of thse fish over the years and I cant remember the last time I lost one to a pulled hook let alone two but I guess thats the way the lord intended it to play out so I took my lumps and baited up again. Hooked up as soon as I cast out again! Now Im fishing with 2 other salty anglers and they were not getting bit or were not feeling their bites but they were getting tired of clearing all their lines so I could loose fish so when this fish bit I let him run off a ways before throwing the reel in gear and crossing his eyes with a hook set that would make Roland Martin proud. This fish made it in the boat after a brief fight. Nice little 43 inch red tagged and released. Well after that the incoming tide petered out and the ebb began as the sun went down and brought a stiff South east breeze with it. Im no fan of the ebb tide when fishing for reds but we hung out for a few hours of the ebb and caught 2 more nice reds before calling it a day as well all had to work in the am.

I woke up in the morning thinking about the fish I lost. That kinda stuff bothers me because I pride myself on having my tackle in shape and being prepared when opportunity comes along so I can make my own luck. When I fish for drum around the CBBT I prefer 30 lb class tackle with mono line but I always have one rod filled with 65 lb. braid on a 6'6" Fenwick Pacificstick in case the drum are bitting very softly. Many times that rod has made the difference between catching some and not catching as I hold that rod and I can feel the fish pecking at the bait and set the hook. I dont use circle hooks for these fish for this reason. OFTEN they will softly mouth the bait and dont always committ suicide and jump on a bait an run away from you. SO please save your breath if your going to preach to me about the vurtues of circle hooks. Im not using them for this type of fishing. That being said I really dont like fighting a big fish on braid as I always feel like Im putting too much preasure on them but I use a rod with a very soft tip to add some shock absorbtion and I set my drags much lighter than I would for mono. But like I said that braid rod has been the difference between catching a few and getting skunked because the fish were soft biters.

Just venting a bit. Here are a couple pics. of the reds. Im 6'5 and about 260 & make the fish look a bit smaller than they are

[gottaflylee]

Gotta love the Red Drum...
I hear ya with the Circle hooks when useing crabs, I don't use them either, however I do use them for the old Red Drum when I bait fish for them...

[shore-power]

Capt. Lee: Yep circles work well in most live bait applications. Thats about the only way I use them so far. I have found that the Khale style hook is a good comprimise between j-hooks and circles. I use the Khale style hooks for allot of my fishing.