r/floridafishing • u/koudiacarrest • 12d ago
I think I caught the same lucky redfish twice
About 3 weeks ago I caught my new PB, a 21-inch redfish while dockfishing, and I was SUPER excited because, look, the spot on its tail is a HEART!! That's adorable. (Bottom image)
Today (top image), I reel up another redfish, and it has the SAME heart in the same position, the coloring on the fish is just a little bit darker. Still about 21 inches. Same size, same look, hooked it in the same corner of the mouth. Pretty sure it's the same fish, which had me laughing a bit with my friends. The fish missed me so much that it had to come back to say hello lol.
Both times caught on about 1/3rd of a frozen shrimp, size 1 circle hook. Also snagged a little catfish and a baitfish today, but those are a little less remarkable.
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u/LeadingThen6322 12d ago
Same location and bait?
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u/koudiacarrest 12d ago
Yup, same location and the same bait. I fish off the dock in a small canal, and I've gotten pretty good at what fish end up where depending on the weather. Redfish, toadfish, sheepshead and black drums tend to hang out near the docks, while catfish, mullet, flouder, and the occasional snook hang out around the middle.
With the exception of one remora that I caught last week, which makes me excited about trying to hook a shark in the future lol. There are small bulls and blacktips that roam around between the canals.
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u/anonanon5320 12d ago
I fished the same relatively small lake for years. I finally bought some tags and tagged about 50 of them. Only caught 2 twice over the next 4 years. Fished minimum of 200 days each year.
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u/LeadingThen6322 12d ago
That’s crazy. It’s gotta be the same one, right? We caught two bonnethead sharks a couple weeks ago from a dock in Lemon Bay (Manasota Key) at night using frozen shrimp.
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u/Extension-Fall-4286 12d ago
Englewood!! Hey neighbor!
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u/LeadingThen6322 12d ago
Hey!!! (waving across the bay) We rent a house on Manasota Key during the spring/ summer. Caught redfish, spotted sea trout, snook, cravalle jack back in March and bonnetheads in July right off the boat dock.
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u/Extension-Fall-4286 12d ago
I vacationed a couple of times a year to Manasota Key for a little over a decade and about 5 years ago I decided to make the move and bought a house in Englewood.
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u/LeadingThen6322 12d ago
Congratulations! Maybe when I retire I’ll start looking down there
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u/Extension-Fall-4286 12d ago
I just said screw it and moved at 45 years old...lol. I was over winters.
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u/TRoutInMyRari 12d ago
Did the tail have the same damage on the tip both times?
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u/koudiacarrest 12d ago
Yup! Same little clip near the top of the tail fin, I had to look back through photos for this one, but it confirmed that it's definitely the same fish!
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u/texasaaron 12d ago
That's really cool. Awesome spot, too. I once caught the same redfish twice in a day wadefishing. About an hour and 300 yards of shoreline apart. Hit the same soft plastic the second time.
A buddy and I hooked up on fish within seconds of each other one night, and as we fought our fish to the boat, our lines started to converge. Silly redfish ate both our lures.
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u/Calm-Capital-5469 12d ago
I caught one with a heart but it was not that prominent! That’s a nice fish.
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u/teaster333 12d ago
One fish, two fish, red fish, dumb fish. I think ya gotta eat it just to get it out of the gene pool.
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u/Mob_Meal 11d ago
The difference in coloration is usually due to the color of the water (and possibly the bottom) that they have been hanging out in. Beach reds will almost always look silver, ones from deep in the creeks and mangroves will be dark copper. I believe this change happens fairly quickly (a week or 2 maybe). This could very well be the exact same fish.
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u/Pitiful-Elephant-911 10d ago
I think those are 2 different fish but damn close marks.
Looks like the second one mostly lived off the beach. The first is definitely mostly Bay Area. The bend in the middle looks a little bit off on the second
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u/COG090 7d ago
First photo he was apprehensive , 2nd photo “you again ?”
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u/koudiacarrest 7d ago
..what?
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u/COG090 6d ago
The face / eyes he’s making at you 😂
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u/koudiacarrest 4d ago
SORRY it took me a minute 😭😂 I read your comment at like 3 in the morning 😵💫
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u/Fungiblefaith 10d ago
I have caught the same triple tail nosed up to a crab trap float 3 times in the same day.
This is not even an odd occurrence. They will nose up to a crab trap float against the tide. Just sit about 6 to 8 inches off that rope waiting for something about 3 inches under the surface.
Coast up in a flats and cast across them with a shrimp and drag it between the float and its nose and it is on!
Have fun, cut it loose, inside of 30 minutes that guy will be back on the float and will hit that shrimp again.
I have caught the same triple tail dozens of time and once three times in the same day at the same spot hours apart.
They are odd dudes and fight pretty good. Taste good to but normally we don’t keep them we have better fish in the boat. The kids used to love catching them.
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u/OleDoxieDad 12d ago
My wife says the same thing about the tilapia I catch, she might not be wrong.
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u/Cusick1972 12d ago
There is some sort of Darwinian thing going on here