Deanna UR- The Results Are In!

Q & A: Jeff sec. 50. What will you do if you don't catch any red drum and what does that tell you about the fact that you weren't able to catch anything and the current regulations?

Thanks for your question! If I was not able to catch anything I would assume that red drum in the area have been overfished and that perhaps the regulations should be adjusted to allow the population to grow again. This could be done by imposing a closed season, where a few months out of the year it would be illegal to harvest red drum in the area.




Total Red Drum Length Measurements- the green
represents the legal harvesting size.

Fortunately, that did not happen and my persistence paid off. We ended up fishing a total of six different areas in Flagler and northern Volusia County and caught a total of thirteen red drum. We fished eight or nine times, going to a couple of the same areas a few times. I did not always fish from the kayak, I fished from the banks a few times. Of the thirteen fish we caught, ten of them were legal harvesting size (18 - 27 inches in total length). To my surprise, ten of the fish we caught were caught in Volusia County and three were caught in Flagler County. My scientific question is: do the current harvesting rules and regulations for red drum in Flagler and Volusia County need to be adjusted? I would say yes based on my data. I would say that perhaps the harvesting bag limit for red drum in Flagler County (which is currently two per person per day) should be dropped down to one fish per person per day. Or perhaps increasing the Volusia County bag limit from one to two per person per day.



Fish Length by County- the green box represents
the legal harvesting lengths.

As far as what did I learn from my IRP, I surprisingly learned more than I thought I would. This project was a great way for me to learn more about my local environment and the marine life living in it, which is a plus considering my future career goal of being a game warden with FWC. Also, I typically prefer freshwater fishing but from this project I am starting to enjoy salt water fishing more than I originally used to. And of course any fishing trip is a reminder of how important patience and perseverance are.

"A bad day of fishing, is still better than a good day at work".