South Carolina stocks 900,000 red drum, trout in coastal waters
Anglers who fish along the South Carolina coast now have almost a million reasons to be more optimistic about catching red drum and speckled trout in the future.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has revealed that the agency recently completed stocking big numbers of these fish in the state’s estuaries. The release includes more than 600,000 red drum and over 300,000 sea trout.
“We know from similar stockings in previous years that this number of fish can make a significant contribution to the wild population,” said Karl Brenkert, a DNR fishery biologist.
The process annually begins when adult wild red drum and sea trout are captured and transported to the department’s lab on James Island. The fish are held in specialzed tanks that simulate natural conditions under which mating and spawning take place.
The eggs produced are incubated and hatch within one or two days. The resulting larvae are then stocked into outdoor nursey ponds at the Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton and raised to about a 2-inch size. Then they are returned to waters from which the adults were captured.
Genetic analysis of red drum and sea trout later captured during sampling research enables biologists to keep track on how the hatchery-raised fish fare after being released into the wild.
Briefly
▪ A Missouri hunter was in for two huge surprises upon reaching a deer that he’d just bagged. The animal sported a massive, atypical rack of antlers with 22 points. But there was more: it was a doe! “It took me a minute to realize the deer was missing male genitalia,” said the hunter, Curt Russell, 32, of Billings, Mo. “And its face wasn’t like a buck’s, but real petite.” Emily Flinn, a deer biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, told the Springfield News Leader that of the approximate 300,000 deer taken in the state each year, “only a handful of antlered does are reported.” Most of these have small horns, she added, and these antlers are typically covered permanently in velvet. Russell’s deer had thickened antlers that had been rubbed enough to remove nearly all the velvet.
▪ Young Texan Brooke Bateman of Dallas was hopefully optimistic when she went on her first deer hunt with dad Mike late last month. She expected to bag her first buck during the North Texas trip to a 1,800-acre lease near Stephens. But the 14-year-old hardly anticipated taking a rare, headline-making animal. Brooke felled a black-skinned buck. At first glance the Batemans thought it might be a cow. But it indeed was an antlered deer. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, it was melanistic, a deer with color aberrations caused by genetic factors. There is a possibility such deer could show up anywhere.
Catches of the week
▪ A 20-pound flathead catfish at Lake Norman by Kerry Earnhardt of Mooresville while fishing with friend and guide David Clubb. They also boated numerous white perch along with hybrids and spotted bass.
▪ A 4.85-pound speckled sea trout by the duo of Clay Morphis and Brandon Sauls to win the Capt. Rickey’s Trout Spectacular tournament at Ocean Isle for a third straight year. Morphis used a VuDu Shrimp lure to hook the winning catch in the event held annually the Saturday after Christmas at Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
▪ A 55-pound king mackerel offshore of Hatteras Village by Ohioan Scott Lover while trolling from the Longer Days with skipper Tom Randall.
This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 2:11 PM with the headline "South Carolina stocks 900,000 red drum, trout in coastal waters."