I was very conflicted this morning after reading fin fever's Sandbridge drum report. Should I fish for flounder out of Lynnhaven or drum out of Rudee? I have caught many drum but the citation has eluded me. My biggest to date was about 32".

After much flip-flopping, I decided for flounder. I played around the inlet with no bites, so off to the 1st for my 1st stop. The current was slack and the wind was pushing the boat at just the right speed. I set up in about 35' and starting bouncing bunker off the bottom.

I had been there about 15 minutes when I felt a light hit. I set the hook, the pole doubled over and the drag started screaming. I knew I had a big drum and my heart was pumping hard (not to mention my arms). Got it to the boat after a 10 minute fight. I measured him and it was 47"! My first drum citation!

Over the next two hours I caught 5 more drum. All but 1 were citation fish and the one that wasn't was an inch short at 45". As soon as the current started moving, they shut off.

A couple of curiosity seekers came by and I gave them some bait so they could partake. One gave up in short order, but the other guy stuck to it and caught a 42+. His was an admirable fight as he had very light tackle set up for specks (10# test).

After that, my arms needed a rest so I went back to the inlet in search of spot. The drum had taken their toll on my arms - I was reeling in a nice spot when my left arm doubled and locked up. It took a few minutes to straighten it out and keep the spasms from locking it up again. After that, it was time to go home.

Final tally:
1 48"
2 47"
2 46"
1 45"

Man, am I glad I went flounder fishing! I will remember this day for the rest of my life or until I get dementia.

Pretty fish

Those are some nice fish.

Good Job.

Nice fish

Ill have to give it a try this week.

Eric

Way to go Billieboy!! After fighting those fish, just how big was that spot that caused your arm to spaz out???

about 14 oz...

Bannr Day....You better believe it! Thats awesome!!! Make room for all that paper!!! Congrats!!

Awesome Job !!! good on ya !

Great Job they must be going off everywherem Finn Fever and Lady Jane also got them good yesterday.

Thanks. You reminded me of something I wanted to ask - the guy at Bubba's said I could only fill out 1 form for one fish. He said that the tournament only issues 1 paper per species per year. Is that true?

[quote=BillyBoy,Oct 2 2006, 05:18 AM][quote=skinnys-kid,Oct 2 2006, 06:03 AM]Bannr Day....You better believe it!  Thats awesome!!!  Make room for all that paper!!!  Congrats!![/quote]
Thanks. You reminded me of something I wanted to ask - the guy at Bubba's said I could only fill out 1 form for one fish. He said that the tournament only issues 1 paper per species per year. Is that true?

[/quote]
Yes but it will say Red Drum Release 4 on it.They only issue 1 paper but you can put multiple fish on one paper.

[quote=Mega Bite,Oct 2 2006, 05:24 AM]
[quote=BillyBoy,Oct 2 2006, 05:18 AM][quote=skinnys-kid,Oct 2 2006, 06:03 AM]Bannr Day....You better believe it!  Thats awesome!!!  Make room for all that When you say the guy at Bubba’s only let you fill out one form for one fish does that mean you only filled out one form total? You should have put each fish on a form and turned all four of them in. The state will send you the one paper (wall plaque) like MB said - Release 4

Nice work.

Yeah, filled out 1 form for the biggest one. Live and learn!

Sweet!!!
With all the reports of reds still in the bay, I desided to run to the shoals last night. No love there so don't waste your time. Nothing but bitters....big ones at that. Shoulda set up near the first instead.
What were they eatin Billy?
Congrats on an awesome day.

4"-7" menhaden was the bait.

[quote=Mega Bite,Oct 2 2006, 08:24 AM][quote=BillyBoy,Oct 2 2006, 05:18 AM][quote=skinnys-kid,Oct 2 2006, 06:03 AM]Bannr Day....You better believe it!  Thats awesome!!!  Make room for all that paper!!!  Congrats!![/quote]
Thanks. You reminded me of something I wanted to ask - the guy at Bubba's said I could only fill out 1 form for one fish. He said that the tournament only issues 1 paper per species per year. Is that true?

[/quote]
Yes but it will say Red Drum Release 4 on it.They only issue 1 paper but you can put multiple fish on one paper.

[/quote]

So does that mean if I catch a paper drum on Tuesday and one on Friday, I'll only get one citation??? Or is that mean multiple citations in a day???

that is awesome!!! i can't only imagine catching a drum that big. holy @#$@#!!!

went out sunday got a 49"red and 2 21" flounder all were caught on live spot

Good Job!!! I wish I could pull off something like that.... maybe one day.

Bobby

Sorry Don, only one paper per species per year. And thats calendar year. I've never caught two of the same billfish in the same state and year, but I'm sure the rule applies even to the Blue Ones.

great fish, what were you using to catch these monsters?

What if you register a citation, then you catch the tournament winner for the year? Or better yet a state record?

Eric

It's never happened to me either, but I'm trying to think positive. So when guys like Mega catch all these release fish, they get one paper per species with "x"number of released fish listed on it??(Help me out Mega)

I just want to know for next year when I get my 3 blue marlin

I am not sure Marlin quite has it right.

Billy you should have filled out one form for each fish. You will only get one wall plaque, but it will say Release - 4 on it. Also, I think each of the four would count towards your total number of citations if you were to eventually go for Master Angler I (I think it is 25 citations over lifetime of several different species)

I think that is correct. I emailed Mr. Bain and he said to fill out forms for each of the fish. The citation paper will state the number of releases for the year for that species. If it is a weight citation, the paper will be for the biggest fish and will list the number of other citation fish for that species.

Ohanafun - I used menhaden.

i believe u only get one citation per year per species to count towards a masters. ie if u caught 25 citation sheepshead in a year only one counts towards the masters.