Most of the red drum that David and Tammy Baxley and their charter clients catch during the winter are too short or too long to keep. However, it only takes one fish between the length of 18 and 27 inches to fill an angler’s limit.
Lee Paramore, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, said 2012 was an excellent year for reproduction, so anglers were catching tons of small puppy drum in the creeks.
“The winter of 2013 should be an exceptional one for slot-sized fish,” Paramore said. “Landings were maintained at a good level and releases of age-one fish were very high. It was obviously a good reproduction year that resulted in a huge year-class, so now the age-two fish that run from 21 to 25 inches long are abundant all up and down the coast.”
While the smaller redfish typically remain back in the creeks during winter, the 2-year-olds begin moving to the surf zone. However, Paramore said the overall abundance of red drum should keep plenty of slot-sized fish swimming in the creeks during colder water conditions.
“They get back in the creeks when it’s colder and, during the daytime they will go shallow, in only several inches of water to get warmed up,” he said. “They may also be in schools that are pretty thick.”
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