Thread: Redfish spawn
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Old November 7th, 2003, 04:24 AM
licker
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Default Redfish spawn

Down here in Louisiana, the redfish spawn in October. We like to call it
Red October. Redfishing has been super since late August. I went three
weeks ago and caught a limit (5) of redfish in the 23 to 25 inch range in
less then 45 minutes. I went today and caught another limit with a dozen
specks for good measure. The reds were caught in a little less then an
hour. The information below may explain.

Red drum, like many other members of the drum family, spawn in high salinity
waters in areas of high tidal current flow, such as areas near barrier
island passes. Spawning usually takes place over an 8 or 9 week period from
mid-August to mid-October. During this period, male red drum stake out, in
large numbers, the prime spawning areas in and near the passes, being ready
to spawn virtually every night. There they form large schools at night,
called drumming aggregations, because of the drumming sound that they make
with their air bladders to attract females. Females on the other hand, tend
to appear at these areas only when immediately ready to spawn, which seems
to be once every 2 to 7 days. This means that the large majority of redfish
taken during this time by recreational fishermen are males, rather than
females. While the 2-month spawning period is less than half that for
spotted seatrout, the spawning potential of an individual redfish is truly
stupendous. At an average of 1.5 million eggs per spawn, and a spawning
every 2 to 4 days, the average female can be expected to produce 20-40
million eggs per season.


Sarge