Coastal Alabama Fishing Report - 3/19/2018
- Snoop Bloggy Blog
- Mar 26, 2018
- 11 min read
BREAKING NEWS, just in case you missed it, Spring arrived this week on March 20. However; somebody please tell Ole Man Winter and Sister Spring to hurry up and finish their hot oil wrestling match. Kill the wind and bring us warm days and smooth seas. It's still too early to tell, but it does look like Sister Spring may be finally solidifying her position. Forecast daytime highs over the next 7 days are in the 70's, with nighttime lows in the upper 50's / lower 60's. As disappointing as the weather has been lately, the fish are still biting, if you put the effort into finding them.
This time of year and through the summer, we flip tourists faster than on par with pancakes at Waffle House. I'm sure many of the "said tourists" are pleased with the weather while they were here, considering they escaped their 4th nor'easter during the month of March. It's a crazy thought, but as diehard as we local fishermen are to fish the extreme conditions for the BOG (Battle of the Grubs) tournaments, could you picture and ice fishing tournament in 60 mph plus winds and snow barreling down, just to catch some fish?
This week, in coastal Alabama, the winds were tempestuous at times, but if you sat at the house, I can 100% guarantee, you didn't catch a fish. Strong northwest winds earlier in the week, had inshore guides seeking fishy areas of reduced exposure to the wind and many offshore boats sticking near shore or sitting at the dock. Let's be honest, when the wind is blowing 20 mph plus, it can be miserable regardless of where you are. Misery may be quickly cured though, by catching fish.
Inshore, this week around Mobile, solid numbers of speckled trout were caught in the northern end of Mobile Bay, while others have reported speckled trout and flounder hanging around Dauphin Island. Facebook showed me a picture of a stud trout caught in Little Lagoon this week. If Facebook says it, it must be true, right? In the Orange Beach area, the speckled trout bite has been fair to midland on the reefs early in the a.m. While the trout bite is starting to pick up, the sheepshead bite has tapered off in the past few days. This is probably a result of fishing pressure and the fact they have been feasting for weeks. As epic as the sheepshead bite has been the past few weeks, you are likely watching that fire burn out. With all the pressure on the sheepshead, one of the more successful techniques, has been to drop down to a 10-12lb fluorocarbon leader. using only a split shot, a small kahle hook and a live shrimp.
Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Mexico, seas averaged around 3 foot for the week, not ideal for the easily queazy. If you haven't had an opportunity to go out to catch your one prized triggerfish by now, you probably might have missed your opportunity as the sea forecast over the next 5 days ranges from 3-7 feet . While the triggerfish and vermillion snapper bite has been on fire as of late, most of us are eagerly awaiting more ling (cobia) sightings. There was an increase in the number of sea turtles sunning this week, but no ling accompanying them. Waterdog Charters did catch a 57lb ling in the last week or so. You can view a picture of that beast on their Facebook page. Breaking News Part Deaux, greater amberjack season is slated to reopen May 1 and run through the 31st, unless NMFS and NOAA decides otherwise.
Solid numbers of redfish, pompano and black drum continue to be caught from the beach and pier.
The water temps are heating up and the fishing will only get better. While some species seasons have peaked, the kindling is getting lit for others. If you are planning a vacation to the area and want to take advantage of great fishing, cruise the bay or islands, there are plenty of options for you.
This photo was a shot of the sunrise about 40 miles out in the Gulf near the Nipple
INSHORE REPORT
Orange Beach / Gulf Shores - Wolf Bay - ICW
Tails and Scales Fishing Charters - Captain Taylor Fisher
Instagram: @tail_scalescharters
Cell: 251-550-9301
With his boat in the shop for routine maintenance, Captain Taylor relied on his network of guides in the Orange Beach area for this week's report. Capt. Ralph Young, Fishin' Dixie, and Capt. Taylor had been getting reports of flounder being caught around Pensacola Pass, so they made a trip to target a few flatties. Stiff north winds and rough waters made this an uncomfortable and unsuccessful feat. Since a great fisherman is always able to adapt, they headed to a location off the beach in Perdido and caught sheepshead on most every drop.
According to Capt. Taylor, the speckled trout bite is fast and furious on the reefs early, then picks up a little later in the morning on the grass flats. Most fish are being caught on live shrimp, either free lined or under a popping or slip cork. The redfish and pompano bite is heating up and spanish mackerel are being caught on the reefs.
Captain Taylor has been fishing the Orange Beach / Gulf Shores area from over 10 years, runs his guided fishing trips out of Caribe Marina and always shows his customers a great time.
Eastern Shore - Weeks Bay - Mobile Bay
Bayside Charters - Captain Patrick Hill
Facebook: @baysidecharters
Instagram: @phill04
Website: www.baysidecharterfishing.com
Cell: 251-379-0560
Capt. Patick says, the week started out similar to the last, with another front pushing through the area on Tuesday. This weeks front brought high winds and cooler temperatures. They were able to fish through the rough conditions, basically repeating what they had done successfully the previous week. Capt. Patrick and the crew put together some solid trips, catching plenty of speckled trout, a few flounder and slot redfish. Capt. Patrick focused on the northern end of the bay around Mobile, even after the wind laid down this week, because it had been so productive. This tactic did not disappoint. Over the weekend, they did target some of the oyster reefs on the eastern shore and had great success catching speckled trout. Based on this weeks forecast, it appears warm weather is here for a bit, leading Capt. Patrick to believe the traditional springtime patterns will be a solid choice, should you decide to wet a hook.
Pictured left above was a nice speckled trout caught. Pictured right is a solid bag of speckled trout caught by his crew.
Capt. Patrick typically launches off highway 98 under Fish River Bridge, but will determine launch location based on where the bite is. Capt. Patrick has years of experience guiding and providing a great fishing experience on the water.
Gulf Shores - Mobile Bay - Dauphin Island
Ugly Fishing - Captain Patric Garmeson
Facebook: @ugly.fishing
Instagram: @ugly_fishing
Website: www.uglyfishing.com
Cell: 251-747-1554
Captain Patric, only ran two charters this week and so he was able to spend one of the off days scouting. Monday, he met his group at Weeks Bay, with a plan to fish the eastern shore of Mobile bay. Monday morning conditions were a little too foggy, so he opted to start out in Weeks Bay, instead of making a slow foggy run to Mullet Point, as he originally planned. Turns out, it was a great decision, because their first five casts resulted in speckled trout hookups. The fast and furious actions set the pace for the morning. Live shrimp under popping corks was the primary method they used for speckled trout. Capt. Patric's two customers were catching a fish on nearly every cast using live shrimp. With such an eager bite, Capt. Patric decided to tie on a vudu shrimp. After consecutive productive casts, he swapped the customers over to the artificial. After making the switch, they began to catch more quality fish. After catching at least 50 speckled trout on their first stop, they moved to boat docks nearby and immediately began catching redfish using live, dead and vudu shrimp. The redfish action died off after about an hour. They continued moving throughout weeks bay and caught another 20-30 speckled trout on both live and vudu shrimp.
Tuesday, Capt. Patric decided to fish from the causeway since the wind was forecast to blow 15-25mph out of the west and northwest. The variety of fishing options and the bite from the previous week factored into the decision. Their first stop yielded 8 speckled trout and a few redfish. All fish were caught on popping corks with live shrimp. One of the customers attempted to catch one on topwater lures, but never got a reaction. Once the first stop quit producing, he moved into open water, where he noticed large numbers of mullet jumping. They immediately began catching fish in this area and finished out their limit of really nice 2-3lb speckled trout with a few redfish to round out the sack. The rest of their day, they searched for redfish, finding only rat reds.
On the scouting (fun fishing) day, in the Katrina Cut rocks area of Dauphin island, they caught flounder and sheepshead. They also caught some quality speckled trout in Dauphin Island Bay. Interesting of note was that they caught the flounder using soft plastics but couldn't buy a speckled trout bite on live shrimp. Next week Capt. Patric is booked nearly everyday and will likely fish the eastern shore thanks to forecast stiff east winds.
Pictured above, left, is a nice speckled trout caught on an early limit day. Pictured above, right, is a big redfish a customer caught, captured a photo, tagged and released
Captain Patric Garmeson is very mobile running trips from Dauphin Island to Gulf Shores. Captain Patric has years of experience fishing our local waters and is sure to provide you and your family with a fun-filled, fish catching experience on the water.
Mobile Bay - Dauphin Island - Mississippi Sound
Cold Blooded Fishing - Captain Richard Rutland
Facebook: @coldbloodedfishing
Instagram:@coldbloodedfishing
Cell: 251-459-5077
Captain Richard Rutland said fishing is starting to heat up! The water temperatures are starting crept into the upper 60’s late last week. This started to draw schools of speckled trout into shallow water. They have been targeting their fish over oyster shells around Dauphin Island, all the way up to just south of the Causeway, catching them with topwaters and popping corks. The slot and bull redfish bite has been great too. There have been large schools of bull redfish around the mouth of the bay feeding on massive schools of menhaden. Most of the slot Reds have been stacked up at the drain creeks all along the Mississippi Sound. Sheepshead are also in full swing around just about any structure around Mobile Bay or just outside in the Gulf. Overall, he thinks they are about a week or so away from some full blown Spring time fishing and he can’t wait!!! He says, see you guys out there
Captain Richard Rutland has been fishing the Coastal Alabama for many years and show your family a great time on the water.
Surfside
Shore Thing Fishing - Captain Dusty Hayes
Instagram: @capt.dustin
Cell: 678-897-0167
Captain Dusty Hayes reports a slow bite this week due to the high pressure system that rolled through bringing strong north winds. Starting Friday, the winds switched out of a southernly direction and improved the bite. Plenty of large black drum, upper and over slot redfish and a handful of pompano were caught depending on the areas fished. Whiting have been small in both size and numbers. Capt. Dusty expects the warm weather over the next week to heat things up in the surf.
The Pier Review
Captain David Collins
Captain David says says a few trout, whiting and pompano are being caught at Gulf State Pier, but the mackerel virtually zero. Also, there have been a few ling caught from the beach. He only expects that to pick up over the next few weeks. Capt. David also reports that in the blue water the TOOONA are chewing when you can find clean water.
Quoting another source, known only as Pierpounder " Fishing on the GSPPIER was either hot or cold last week, depending on what day you were there. There were sporadic catches of sheepshead, some large whiting and a few pompano. By the end of the week small spanish mackerel were showing up again. once the water temp rose to near 70 degrees." He is hoping to see more of that as we near the first full moon. If you plan to fish this week, Pierpounder recommends arriving early, stay late and fish hard.
Offshore Report
Orange Beach, Alabama
Reel Kill Fishing Charters - Captain Bryars Bishop
Facebook: @reelkillcharters
Instagram: @reel_kill_charters
Website: www.reelkillcharters.com
Cell: 251-714-6008
Captain Bryars says, even though seas were a bit sporty last week, he was able to run 3 trips and put customers on good fish each time. His creels included triggerfish, white snapper and vermillion snapper (beeliners). He was very encouraged to see the strong white snapper bite, (22 in one trip) in roughly 100ft of water. Capt. Bryars continues to catch large triggerfih (6-9lbers) and greater amberjack fairly near to shore. He is hopeful the amberjack will stay nearby, since the season opens on May 1. The coolest fish of the week was a 20lb gag grouper they caught this past Friday. Unfortunately, the federal season won't open until June 1, so it was released to catch another day. Capt. Bryars and his crew caught over 10 amberjack this week, with some pushing 50lbs, and several red snapper over 20lbs. Capt. Bryars says the big fish are here, but they just need the right season to hurry and open!
Pictured above was Capt. Bryars interesting catch of the week (gag grouper). Pictured below was meat haul consisting of triggerfish, vermillion snapper and white snapper.
Capt. Bryars has years of experience fishing the Alabama Gulf coast and guides out of Caribe Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. His trips always brings in a boat load of fish shows his clients a great time on the water.
Bent Outfitters Fishing - Captain Billy Howell
Facebook: @bentoutfittersfishing
Instagram: @bent_outfitters_fishing
Website: www.bentoutfittersfishing.com
Cell: 601-938-7161
Cooler temperatures and strong winds, limited opportunities to fish offshore and also muddied the water on the eastern side of Mobile Bay and all of Wolf Bay. Our morning trips were welcomed by falling tides, but as the day went on the brown water turned to emerald green. Of the trips run in Orange Beach this week, we found a sporadic morning speckled trout bite, a mediocre redfish chew, and a much slower sheepshead bite. But hey, we did catch a flounder. The diminished sheepshead bite, in my opinion, was due to all the pressure and the fact they have been gorging in the mess hall for the past 2-3 weeks. On Saturday, we caught a few fish on eastern shore reefs, but not in the numbers we had hoped for. The 60.6 degree temperatures we recorded on Saturday, should increase over the next week to ten days.
The highlight of the week was definitely our deep dropping trip. There are various apps or sites fishermen rely on for the sea forecast, including Fishweather, Windfinder, Windy, Bouycast or just the NOAA website, to plan their fishing adventures. Unfortunately, mother nature is strong willed and bipolar so these forecast aren't necessarily accurate more than a couple days out this time of year. Early in the week, the forecast was for 1-2 foot seas on Friday. Since the wind was forecast to pick up around noon, we made the decision to head out at 4 a.m. That decision could not have been a better one. Had we left at daylight, we likely would not have made the 50 mile run. On the cruise out, we rocked a smooth and steady ride at 40mph cranking Chris Stapleton and AC/DC . At daylight, we decided to troll for wahoo, since there had been landing reports over the previous couple weeks. The wind didn't wait until noon to pickup. Pretty much as soon as the sun cleared the horizon, those 1-2's quickly turned into 2-3's, with some 4-5 foot swells, with the signifcant wave period being about 3 seconds. Any experienced fishermen can vouch as to how that immediately forces a tactical change. After trolling for a couple hours and no hookups, we decided to head to our deep drop marks. The waves were coming out of the east, so we set our drift, baited all 5 hooks with whole squid and sent the 5lb weights to the bottom. When the first few drops brought up both snowy and yellow edge grouper, we decided to keep drifting until we were unsuccessful. There were very few drops where we didn't bring up at least one fish. One drop we even brought up three different species. Even when we only brought up one fish, the rest of the hooks were typically bare.
On the trip we caught 20 white snapper, 16 grouper, 3 long tail sea bass, 2 scorpion fish and one golden tile. (Pictured below)
Captain Billy has a few years fishing experience in the Alabama Coastal area and guides trips out of Caribe Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama. Captain Billy has a history of putting clients on fish and showing them a great time.
Summary
If your not wetting a hook right now you are missing out on an opportunity for some fun. Special thanks to all the contributors for this report. We look forward to keeping you informed each week of what's happening on the water.
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