GREG HILDRETH AND THE BIG BULL REDFISH
Catch Them By the Hour
 QUESTION: Tell me about the best day of bull red fishing you’ve ever had.
HILDRETH: My best day was earlier in 2005 when I had four fishermen in a party. In one hour and ten minutes of fishing, we caught and released 25 bull reds. But the best day I’ve ever had of red fishing was when we caught about 38 fish within three hours of fishing.
 QUESTION: How do you manage that many redfish when you’ve got more than one person fishing?
HILDRETH: We put the rods in rodholders. Then when a fish takes the bait, one of my anglers picks up the rod and begins to reel in the fish. We hope the reds go in different directions, but sometimes they do cross lines.
QUESTION: How do you land four redfish at one time?
HILDRETH: I take the first fish that comes in and put a BogaGrip in his mouth. Then, I lift the red out of the water, take the jig out of its mouth and weigh it on the BogaGrip. If the angler wants to have his picture made with the fish, he can have his picture made quickly, and then we release the red from the BogaGrip. The BogaGrip doesn’t damage the fish in any way. As soon as I get that fish released, I’ll put another fish on the BogaGrip and follow the same procedure. If the fisherman doesn’t want to have his picture made, then I’m just  constantly catching and releasing, as my fishermen reel in their redfish.
QUESTION: Once the redfish start rallying, how long does a rally usually last?
HILDRETH: A rally will last about two hours at the most, and then the school will move off. When this happens, usually, another school will move in to where we are.
QUESTION: When did you catch the 25 bull reds in an hour?
 HILDRETH: Those fish were caught the last week of October 2005 with a group of anglers from north Georgia. But every day the weather will permit and I’ve got a party, we go out and catch those big reds. They’re really a lot of fun to catch. If my anglers want to come inshore, we fish for keeper-size reds and speckled trout.
TOMORROW: LANDING THE REDFISH
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