Surprise Redfish Caught Off Cape Cod

An angler fishing salt water for the first time reeled in an extremely rare catch for the waters off Cape Cod. On Aug. 15, while targeting striped bass out of Harwich Port, Mass. with Take A Chance Charters, Camden Stride, of Vermont, hooked and landed a 34-inch, 12.65-pound red drum. It was the first salt water fish the angler has ever caught.

“It’s like a unicorn, here,” said Capt. Sam Crafts, who operates the charter service off the southern shore of Cape Cod. “We were [striped] bass fishing, and I couldn’t believe it. I saw a school of bass in the rip, and now I don’t know if it was a school of bass or a school of redfish, but I knew it wasn’t a bass as soon as I saw that fish.”

Crafts said the group had chartered him to chase bluefin tuna from his 35-fott Duffy Downeast, F/V Taken A Chance, but the tuna fishing was slow and crowded. He decided to show his clients some of the excellent striper fishing the area has experienced this summer.

“We’ve had unbelievable bass fishing this year, best I’ve ever seen it,” said the 30-year-old captain, who has spent most of his life on the water. “The commercial guys already filled their whole quota, which sometimes goes into September or October.”

Upon locating a rip with fish on it, Crafts deployed a spread of lures and began trolling. The redfish ate a Rapala X-Rap Deep, and Stride picked up the rod.

A Rare Red Drum in Massachusetts

“It was his first time fishing on the ocean, and actually it’s the first fish he’s caught in salt water,” Crafts chuckled. “I was freaking out. I told him ‘I’ve been fishing my whole life, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen one.’”

A redfish caught in waters off Cape Cod is rare enough that Massachusetts has no state record for the species.

Crafts had to convince Stride to get a certified weight on his fish. The fishermen wanted to keep the fish to eat, but “they didn’t want to go through the whole process of getting it certified,” Crafts said. “I told them, ‘guys, I’ll probably never see another one of those.’ That fish had some miles on it.” They weighed the fish on certified scales and took measurements; Crafts is not sure if Stride has yet submitted the paperwork required for a state record.

Scientists say record high sea surface temperatures since spring of 2023 have led to an increase in angler encounters with fish straying from what would be considered their normal range. Historically, New Jersey was considered the farthest north red drum roam, and Salt Water Sportsman reported on a big 37-inch redfish caught on a Yo-Zuri Mag Darter from a beach in northern New Jersey this spring.

Interestingly, Crafts said water temperatures are colder right now than they normally would be this time of year. He said the surface temperature was 65 degrees in the rip where the redfish was caught, and that he’s been seeing temperatures in the low 60s, when 70 degrees is what he would expect in late August.

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