[ad_1]
Each redfish is exclusive, and it’s not that uncommon for a Gulf Coast spot-tail to sport a number of further spots. However the leopard redfish that Ryan Hernandez caught late final month on the South Texas Coast falls in a category of its personal.
The fish had so many spots that it regarded extra like a cross between a redfish and a speckled trout—which is what many commenters on social media identified when The Bubba’s South Texas Sportsman shared images of the fish on Fb.
“I believe it’s momma should have been hanging out with a bunch of speckled trout,” one commenter quipped.
Hernandez additionally chimed in and commented that the fish had over 300 spots per facet. He added that they caught the fish in Chook Island Basin, which is positioned within the Higher Laguna Madre not removed from Corpus Christi, Texas.
When you’ve by no means seen or heard of a leopard redfish, you’re not alone. Capt. Danny Alvarez was guiding Hernandez alongside together with his son Eric Alvarez and a few of their prolonged household that day, and he’s been fishing the Laguna Madre for roughly 50 years. He’s caught who-knows-how-many reds throughout that point, and he’s by no means really seen a redfish like this in particular person. The way in which Alvarez tells the story, he was fairly certain the redfish was a speckled trout at first.
“Once I first noticed it, from 15 or 20 yards out, I noticed all of the specks and it regarded like a giant trout,” Alvarez instructed Saltwater Sportsman. “I stated, ‘Man, that’s a superb trout.’ He stored on preventing it, and [the fish] stored on taking line, and as soon as it received nearer I stated, ‘Aw, that ain’t no trout: That’s a redfish.’”
Alvarez added that after they netted the uncommon redfish, everybody on board was mesmerized. As an alternative of the everyday dulled copper hues that almost all anglers affiliate with redfish, Alvarez stated this one had “an actual shiny shade to the pores and skin, like a turquoise shell throughout its prime half. It was lovely.”
After touchdown it, Hernandez determined to maintain the leopard redfish so he might have it mounted. As for the entire variety of spots, Hernandez and one other angler onboard counted roughly 311 spots on only one facet of the fish, in accordance with Saltwater Sportsman. They didn’t even hassle to rely the spots on the opposite facet.
“I’ll most likely by no means see one other one prefer it,” Alvarez stated.
[ad_2]
Source link
