Species

Red Drum

Jetty

Scientific Name:

Sciaenops Ocellatus

Common Names:

Red Drum...Redfish...Rat Red...Bull Red

Comments :

One of the more sought after inshore fish species on the Gulf Coast, second only to Speckled Trout. Smaller, slot sized redfish are commonly called rat reds. The larger, oversized redfish are commonly called bull reds.

Table Fare:

Good eating. Can be fried, baked, broiled and grilled. Oversized bull reds tend to be tougher and more coarse textured than the smaller reds and should probably be released as they are the breeding population anyway.

Catch Method:

Can be caught with live or dead shrimp, cut or whole dead mullet, live mullet, menhaden shad and pigfish as well as many varieties of cut bait and many types of lures.

Catch Season:

Summer-Fall. The best time for the bull reds is during the fall when they are making their annual migration from the bays to the nearshore breeding waters. This is the best time to get them from jetties as they must pass through jetty channels in order to reach their breeding grounds.