North Carolina Fish License Plates

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is taking applications for new North Carolina red drum license plates. The new plates will feature an illustration of a red drum against a background of sea grass.

The top of the plate reads, "RED DRUM" and the bottom reads "NORTH CAROLINA." Red Drum was officially adopted as North Carolina’s state saltwater fish in 1971.

The red drum tag is the twin of a new native brook trout license plate that features the state’s freshwater fish. The two license plates were the brainchild of Jon Jicha, a professor in Western Carolina University’s School of Art and Design.

The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles will not issue the red drum license plate until 500 applications are received. Revenue from the sale of red drum plates is earmarked to fund public access to and habitat protection of red drum waters.

source: North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

2013 Top Recreational Fishing Saltwater Species

U.S. recreational anglers took 71 million trips and caught nearly 430 million fish in 2013. Over 61 percent of these fish were released alive. Spotted seatrout was the top catch for recreational anglers in 2013, with 38 million fish caught.

Top 5 Recreational Fishing Saltwater Species (2013):

1. spotted seatrout
2. Atlantic croaker
3. black sea bass
4. summer flounder
5. red drum

source: Fisheries of the United States, 2013 (NOAA Fisheries)

2013 North Carolina Recreational Fishing Statistics

Recreational fishermen in North Carolina landed approximately 11.6 million fish, weighing about 13.3 million pounds in 2013, a 10 percent increase in pounds over 2012, according to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries' Coastal Angling Program.

Yellowfin tuna was the number one recreationally-harvested fish for the 2013 fishing season. Anglers caught 2 million pounds of yellowfin tuna (62,110 fish) in 2013. Dolphin came in second with 2 million pounds (248,987 fish), followed by bluefish at 971,279 pounds (1.2 million fish), red drum, 682,964 pounds (166,608 fish) and spotted seatrout, 652,102 pounds (369,500).

The 2013 recreational red drum harvest of 682,964 pounds (166,608 fish) was the highest on record.

Recreational spot landings doubled to 462,884 pounds (1.5 million fish) in 2013.

Sheepshead harvest increased by 70 percent to 497,616 pounds (272,709 fish).

Southern flounder harvest increased 37 percent to 408,642 pounds (177,742 fish).

The number of fish angler’s released back into the water grew to about 21 million in 2013, about a 13 percent increase over 2012.

The number of recreational fishing trips in 2013 dropped by 6 percent to about 5 million. Anglers took about 28 percent fewer trips than 10 years ago.

For a full landings report, see the 2013 Annual Fisheries Bulletin at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/marine-fisheries-catch-statistics.

source: N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries

Red Drum Fishing Tips

The red drum, also known as redfish or channel bass, is one of the most popular saltwater fish species in the USA. Red drum occur along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

In order to catch red drum successfully, it is important to understand their preferences, behavior, and other information. Red drum are specialized feeders with a variety of feeding patterns.

Juvenile red drum, known as puppy drum, feed on small fish, crabs, shrimp, and other invertebrates. As they grow in size, their primary food sources tend to increase in size. Adult red drum are known to feed on blue crabs, shrimp, and a wide range of fish species.

Occasionally, anglers are able to observe red drum behavior on the water. By watching reds feed, anglers can develop fishing strategies that best suit the current conditions.

Perhaps the best known red drum behavior is a phenomenon called "tailing" in which individual fish orient themselves on an angle to feed on the bottom. In calm conditions, the tails of red drum can be seen protruding from the water. Tailing drum sometimes remain in a small area for several minutes, allowing anglers opportunities to sight cast with lures or baits.

Another known behavior of red drum is their habit of cruising shorelines during early morning and late afternoon. In some areas, small to medium sized reds can be seen within a yard or less of the shoreline.

During late morning thru mid day, drum tend to move into slightly deeper water. At times, their locations may be indicated by small fish jumping out of the water.

Each of these feeding patterns may call for specific baits, lures, and fishing techniques. As with most fisheries, nothing beats experience on the water when targeting red drum.

It important to remember that red drum spook easily in shallow water. Anglers should avoid causing wakes, abrupt boat movements, loud noises, or other actions when fishing for these intelligent fish.

For anglers that have limited time available for fishing, it may be worthwhile to fish with a professional guide or experienced local fishermen for a few trips.

2013 LASS Redfish Series Event 5

Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix was the venue for the fifth event of the LASS Redfish Series, sponsored by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, Shimano and The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

74 teams registered for a chance to compete for the win in Delacroix. This is the largest and most impressive turn out for a redfish event since the inception of the Louisiana Saltwater Series in 2010. The Delacroix event also brought in 31 anglers from out-of-state including anglers from Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama..

In order to compete in the Louisiana Saltwater Series Championship teams must either have a finish in one of the qualifying events within the payout for that event or compete in at least four of the six qualifying events.

A total of 209 redfish were tagged and released by LDWF staff as part of the Louisiana Marine Sport Fish Tagging Program, where anglers become citizen scientists for the agency, collecting invaluable data.  This was a record number of Redfish topping the 202 Redfish tagged and released for the two-day LASS Redfish Championship in 2012.

The next LASS event will be a jack crevalle kayak tournament scheduled for Saturday, July 20th on the New Orleans Lakefront near The Blue Crab Restaurant.

The next LASS Redfish event will be on August 10th at The Delta Marina in Empire and the next LASS youth event will be on November 2nd at Myrtle Grove Marina.

For complete information, including rules, regulations and registration go to www.lasaltwaterseries.com

The Louisiana Saltwater Series is hosted in conjunction with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation.

source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Virginia Puppy Drum Fishing

As the 2013 Virginia saltwater fishing season moves into high gear, anglers are expecting a good season for red drum, especially smaller fish, known as puppy drum.

Virginia recreational anglers caught and released an astounding 2.5 million puppy drum in 2012, according to data from the federal Marine Recreational Information Program.

Early catches of puppy drum in Virginia could be a sign of more good fishing in the coming months. In May, flounder fishermen were surprised as keeper sized puppy drum appeared in good numbers around seaside inlets on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia's seaside bays, puppy drum often appear in shallow water around aquatic grasses and oyster beds. Puppy drum are often caught by casting or jigging soft-bodied plastics. Puppy drum are also caught with live minnows or other baits fished on the bottom or suspended under popping cork-type floats.