Coastal Alabama Fishing Report - 4/16-23/2018
- Captain Billy Howell
- Apr 23, 2018
- 14 min read
New Sea Life Emerges
As the days get longer and the water temperatures, finally, start warming to 70 degrees and above in our area, there are a few things you come to expect; gulf flounder beginning to move onshore, trout slicks showing up all over the bay as the speckled trout follow schools of bait, the pompano, cobia, king and spanish mackerel running the beach, triple tail migrating to our area, wind lying down and more sea-worthy days. While the water temperatures still aren't ideal yet for all these things to happen, they are slowly reaching that point.
For weeks, the water off the beach and in Perdido Pass has been a beautiful, crystal green, almost like you see on the regular down in the Destin, FL area. That changed this week, as buckets of rain fell to our north the previous weekend. What we got this week in Orange Beach not terrible but much more murky. The water clarity in Mobile Bay had also started to improve, but after Tuesday of this past week, that changed in the blink of an eye. As these fronts move through over the next month, if we can avoid significant rainfall totals to our north, Mobile Bay and the Northern Gulf should begin to return to the beauty of previous weeks.
On Mobile Bay, Early in the week, significant numbers of quality speckled trout were being caught on the flats between the Mobile River and the Industrial Canal, using popping corks with vudu and live shrimp. According to Captain Lee Olander, the fish are starting to show up on oyster beds, shallow water flats in the Dauphin Island and Mississippi Sound areas. Capt. Lee says, even though the bite isn't hot yet, the kindling is getting lit. They are still occasionally catching a sheepshead on the rigs and have had a great time sight casting for redfish on Dixie Bar.
Early in the week, the water on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay looked like chocolate chunk icecream between the muddy water and floating debris, so we decided to run to Gaillard Island. The move paid off as the water was much cleaner. After adjusting to the wafting aroma of brown pelican byproducts, we managed to find a few quality fish. While the bite wasn't hot, when you caught a fish, it was one you could invite to "camp crisco." Inshore and back to our East, the speckled trout bite remained slow and steady, with peak times in the early a.m. on the reefs, around docks and on shallow grass flats.
From the pier and the beach, the pompano bite has been "on fire." If your Facebook news feed wasn't full of pompano pinwheels this week, you might need to follow some new folks. The bite has been consistent around the jetties in Orange Beach and Gulf States Pier, but hottest in the surf between Orange Beach and Fort Morgan. Thankfully, the dirty water did not negatively impact the pompano bite. In other notes, the spanish mackerel bite has been good at sunrise and sunset, sharks have been menacing and the first cobia hit the deck on Gulf States Pier this week.
Offshore, there was one day this past week that would have been optimal for making a long run offshore, but a couple other that were very manageable for shorter runs. The triggerfish, vermillion snapper and amberjack bite continues to be on fire with many fisherman eagerly awaiting May 1, when amberjack season reopens.
Encouraging this week was spotting schools of LY in Orange Beach inside Perdido Pass and around Caribe Marina. This past year the western current caused a decreased concentration of LY. When they did finally show up, it was late summer. While we did catch some large king mackerel last year, our overall numbers were down. The western current also diminished the presence of sargassam grass. This year should be different. In the spirit of the Chinese New Year, I am told this will be the "Year of the Weedline." Sargasm grass is a world all its own. Sargasm grass appears as floating islands drifting aimlessly with the current. To learn why they are worlds of their own, take a minute, scoop some up, place it in a bucket or on the floor of your boat and try to identify each life form that will fall out of it.
If you want to get something in the report, please email us at bentoutfittersfishing@gmail.com. We will be doing weekly drawings for those who read the report, subscribe to our email list and comment on the blog post on the website. This week. we will be giving away another Egret Baits / Fairhope Rattle prize pack. This past weeks' winner was Matt Reed of Mobile, Alabama. He correctly answered the following question. "Which vudu shrimp was featured in the picture of the sponsor's spotlight?" The correct response was cajun pepper with a chartreuse tail.
INSHORE REPORT
Orange Beach / Gulf Shores - Wolf Bay - ICW
Tails and Scales Fishing Charters - Captain Taylor Fisher
Instagram: @tail_scalescharters
Cell: 251-550-9301
Captain Taylor says, the speckled trout bite has been steady. They have been catching their fish on the artifical reefs near Perdido Pass and Ono Island, around docks and on shallow grass flats. Capt. Taylor says, the pompano bite has been solid around the jetties when you can squeeze in with the other boats, and along the old rock wall on the eastern side of Perdido Pass. Capt. Taylor is still working toward his tournament worthy fish for the Pompano Stomp. The competition is hot and heavy though, as several of his local friends and guides spend most of their time fishing in pompano alley.
Over the next few weeks, school will let out, the summer vacationers' will be arriving and looking for some great fishing. Capt. Taylor said he is ready, willing, able and excited about what this summer will bring.
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.
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 Garmeson says, this was a busy week, but not all fishing. First, he is thankful to L&M Marine for putting him in a brand new Blue Wave Pure Bay 2400 this past week. He was busy moving everything from the Triton 240 LTS over to the Blue Wave and prepping his Triton their new owners, his mom and step dad. Capt. Patric says, purchasing a new boat sounds like a joyful experience, but there are alot of things you have to do to get them charter official; purchase a new party boat license, new registration, and simply get acquatinted with the new girl in your life. Capt. Patric said, the first time he dropped her in the water it felt different. All his stuff is in different places that it was on the Triton but he just can't get over how fine the new ride is. When you have a new boat, you have thoughts like, don’t scratch her, yada yada yada. First, he spilled 32oz of fresh hot coffee in the floor of the new rig. Second, he realized he forgot to bring a towel, brush or bucket; basically anything to clean it up. Luckily, he was close enough to idle to his moms and grab the needed supplies from her. (Idle because he is putting the motor through the break-in period). After cleaning up the mess with the coffee, he discovered that the fish box was full of water instead of ice. That's when he just kicked back and remembered, yes, I have a new boat. The water in the fish box was due to a valve being open as he idled up the river. Capt. Patric says, "Remember I’m having to learn all about the new women in my life." After getting the motor through the 3hr, first stage break in, he picked up his clients. After getting skunked fishing between Bon Secour and Fort Morgan, Capt. Patric headed into the Gulf, since the wind laid down. After entering the Gulf, they located a school of about 300 bull redfish, cruising the shallow sand bars, setting up a perfect scenario for sight casting. After the men boated 3 fish each, they were worn out! Capt. Patric went from "zero to hero" in about 3 minutes after using his Breakline Sunglasses to see the school of redfish. Captain Patric says, new boat saga, to be continued...
Pictured above was a triple-up on bull reds on Captain Patric's new boat.
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 – Fort Morgan
Irish Wake Fishing - Captain Jay O’Brien
Facebook: @ IrishWake Fishing
Instagram: @Irish Wake Fishing
Website: www.irishwakefishing.com
Phone: 251-272-4285
Captain JayO says, the flats fishing the past few weeks on the upper end of the Bay had been really incredible, at least up until the middle part of last week. The water quality in the Bay was steadily improving, until we got that shot of dirty water, middle of last week. Schools of bait were gone and the hungry fish had move on. He did manage to find a few fish in clean pockets of water the latter part of the week, but those pockets of clean water were gone by the weekend. Capt. JayO says, when the water cleans up, go back to targeting fish on the flats with live or Vudu shrimp under a popping cork or a mullet imitation like the "Slick Lure."
This past weekend, Capt. JayO fished the Salvation Army, First Bite on Fowl Tournament with his 3 year old daughter. They opted to stay in the Theodore Industrial Canal (TIC), along with almost everyone else fishing the tournament due to stout east winds. They managed to catch some nice speckled trout while fishing ledges with live shrimp and Yum Mud Minnow grubs. His daughter placed 1st in the Youth Division, and their team placed 2nd in the Professional Division. Capt. JayO would like to thank all the organizers of the tournament for the great job they do every year. According to Capt. JayO, they had wonderful prizes!
Captain JayO received solid reports out of the Mississippi Sound over the past weekend and hopes to spend some time over that way next week (weather permitting). Capt. JayO doesn't plan to waste his time waiting for Mobile Bay to clean up.
The long range forecast is showing little rain and higher temperatures, which should also kick off the bite in earnest at the lower end of the Bay and around Dauphin Island. (fingers crossed, it's past time).
Captain JayO is very mobile running trips from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan. Captain JayO 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. Irish Wake Fishing’s motto is Trophies, Groceries and Good Times!
Irish Wake Fishing would also like to thank their sponsors Islamorada Boatworks, Cajun Custom Rods and Smith Optics.
Eastern Mobile Bay - Fort Morgan
Krazy Kjun Inshore Charters - Captain Andrew Carter
Email: andrew@krazykjun.com
Cell: 251-747-1554
Captain Andrew Carter spent his week fishing on both ends of Mobile Bay. Early in the week, before the cold muddy water pushed into Mobile Bay and shut the bite down, he spent time catching quality speckled trout and redfish on the flats between the big river and the Theodore Industrial Canal. The west winds also shut the bite down on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. At the end of the week, Capt. Andrew headed to the south end of the bay to find cleaner water. He was definitely able to find better water and able to trick a few fish into eating live shrimp.
Captain Andrew Carter aka Krazy Kjun has years of experience fishing the waters of Coastal Alabama, is mobile and provides a fun-filled family experience on the water.
Surfside
Shore Thing Fishing - Captain Dusty Hayes
Instagram: @capt.dustin
Cell: 678-897-0167
Captain Dusty Hayes said, this past weeks pompano bite has been, as Dan Patrick puts it, "En Fuego." Everyone from Fort Morgan to Destin has been putting up huge numbers, mostly 1-2lb fish. Capt. Dusty has even heard reports of some 3lb fish and a few over 4lbs. Capt. Dusty and the clients have been steadily catching redfish and black drum in the surf, using anything from sand fleas, to peeled fresh dead shrimp and fishbites."
Pictured above left is a pompano pinwheel put together courtesy of Captain Dusty and his client.
The Pier Review
Captain David Collins
Captain David says, the water temperature is good and the winds have been perfect the past 2 days making fishing on a pier in the Gulf of Mexico, "perfect." South and southeast winds lends good water to the beaches. Capt. Collins fished in Navarre on Saturday and reporte plenty of bonita and huge pompano. He caught two king mackerel on the sunrise bite, (19 and 26 lbs). To destroy the pompano, they used set rigs and sand fleas. Jigs were taking more casts to produce the same amount of fish. It was a special day for Capt. Collins, because he got to spend the day teaching first-timers a little bit about our Pier life. He said they had a blast and I can't doubt it. Again, Capt. Collins says, "don't be stingy, take someone fishing and Fish On."
Pictured below was the 40lb cobia put on the deck at Gulf States Pier this week.
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
Since the cobia fishing has been so horrid this year, Captain Bryars relying on a solid bottom fishing bite. His customers this week brought in a nice haul of vermillion snapper, limits of white snapper and trigger fish, a few almaco jacks and two really nice scamp. Capt. Bryars says he is excited about the announcement of the 51 day, for-hire red snapper season, that opens June 1 and closes at midnight on July 21, 2018.
Pictured above was a nice haul from one of Captain Bryars trips this past week. The customer is holding up a gorgeous scamp in one hand and a nice triggerfish in the other.
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
Every week has its highlights, and for us it was no different. The Northwest winds on Monday made for chocolate milk on the Eastern Shore leaving us with a decision to make Tuesday morning. Given the light easterly breeze, we decided to head toward the middle of the bay to look for cleaner water and trout slicks. We ended up at Gaillard Island where we found company in small numbers. Among the few boats that were there, most of them caught at least a few 16-20 inch trout. We didn't have that long to fish, so we headed in with just enough for dinner.
Our mid-week plans for a deep dropping trip, quickly changed to a bottom fishing trip about 30 miles closer to shore. The customer had already booked their condo and couldn't move their trip to the day before so we made it work. Honestly, when you know it's going to be a rough day on the water, you kind of dread putting people in those conditions, because you don't want people to be miserable. Not only did these guys prepare them self well for the seas, but they had enough food and beer to last for days, had we somehow become stranded. As we headed out, the Orange Beach Bouy was reading 2.5's and the wind and seas were steadily picking up. After an hour or so, we reached our first fishing destination. For about the next 2 hours, we sat there catching magnum beeliners and a remora here and there. As the sun pitched higher in the sky, the wind laid down a little turning the top chop into ,manageable waves, 4-5 seconds apart. We moved on to our next stop, which was a natural bottom. Within a half hour, we had limits of triggerfish and had caught several other species including lane snapper, white snapper and more vermillion. Even though we didn't get to go deep dropping, the guys had more fun that they had expected, given the conditions.
On Saturday, we had strong east winds that limited where we could fish, but still hit the water with a dad and his two daughters. We stayed out of the wind best we could, fishing the eastern shore reefs and found a pretty steady speckled trout bite. Previously, the twins had never caught anything besides croakers and catfish. At the conclusion of the trip, I asked the girls if they had a good time. One of the twins responded, "Yes," and continued, "we really didn't think we were going to catch anything."
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.
Local News
It was reported that the Salvation Army, First Bite on Fowl had a great turnout and some great fish caught. We will include more in the report once we have the tournament summary.
Local Tournaments
The Tourne' Tournament will be held on May 26, 2018. Rick Tourne' and his family suddenly lost his wife, Lori, a few weeks back, leaving one of our fishing family devastated. They are selling tickets for the event and also working on gaining sponsors to help raise money for the event. It's an inshore tournament and more information can be found by clicking the link above.
Guardians of the Thin Blue Line are hosting their inaugural "Hookin' for the Thin Blue Line" to raise money to buy much-needed equipment for local Law Enforcement Officers. For sponsorship info or team entry registration, contact Lilly at 251-402-4933 or send an email to: guardianangelstbl@gmail.com You can also find more information by clicking on the link above.
For the 2nd year in a row, The Rowe family will host the Elaine Rowe Memorial, Kid's Day Out tournament at Dauphin Island. Last year was a tremendous success with over 200 kids participating. The Rowe family says, "Join us for the 2nd Annual-Elaine Rowe-Kids Day Out Tournament. We will have raffle prizes, food, drinks, and more! Get those babies outdoors for a fun filled day!" More informaion can be found by clicking on the image above.
Upcoming Events
Locally started fishing group nearing 8000 members, Saltwater Finaddicts is hosting Finaddicts at the Grounds Drawdown on May 19, in Mobile. Every ticket purchase will get you food, drinks, in the drawing for prizes and "just an all out good time"! Ticket sales will be capped at 500. The Well Born Band will be providing the tunes. 15% of every ticket purchased will be donated to the Sgt. Foster L. Harrington Detachment, Marine Corps League. For those unfamiliar with the organization, it’s a local 100% non-profit for veterans. They provide Uber rides to doctor appointments, child care, and cater to various other veteran needs. Justin Lee Fadalla recommends contacting him promptly if you’re interested in a booth or sponsoring the event. He can be contacted at 251-623-3240.
Coastal Culinary Corner
This weeks' culinary treat comes to you courtesy of Matthew Isbell of Bama Beach Bum Fishing. Matthew spends most of his fishing days from the beach and has been killing the pompano. This week, he shares with us a delightful way to prepare it. Give Bama Beach Bum Fishing a follow on facebook and youtube by clicking the hyperlinks. Enjoy the recipe and their great content and as always "#staybummy."
Lemon Parsley Pompano
Ingredients:
8 Pompano Filets (4-6oz size)
1/2 TBSP - Salt
1/2 TBSP - Pepper
1/2 TBSP - Lemon Pepper Seasoning
1/4 Cup - Flour
4 TBSP - Butter
2 - Lemons
Parsley Flakes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions:
Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and lemon pepper seasoning. Cover filets lightly with flour mixture. Lightly coat pan with extra virgin olive oil and turn stove to medium high heat. Cook filets until flour coating is golden brown. Remove filets from pan and reduce heat to low-medium. Add butter and squeeze in juice from lemons. Once butter is melted, add parsley flakes to lemon butter sauce. Place filets back into pan for a couple minutes with sauce. After moving filets to the plate, drizzle the lemon butter parsley sauce over filets!
Sponsor Spotlight
In this weeks' sponsor spotlight, we highlight a new product from Fairhope Rattle. Not only is Fairhope Rattle made by local home-grown talent, it is made by people who hold a deep passion for speckled trout and redfishing. Captain Lyons Bousson Jr. and the crew spend countless hours in their shop making these top quality, fish producing rigs for anglers locally, and across the region. In speaking with Captain Lyons Sr., the quality time they spend together making the corks is worth far more than any sales could ever be.
The newest product from Fairhope Rattle is the Mobile Bay Rig. Many anglers prefer slip corks to hold baits at a certain level in the water column and for fishing deeper waters in the summer. The Mobile Bay Rig is the perfect solution for that. Unique to their packaging, is a diagram of the proper way to rig a slip cork. Follow Fairhope Rattle on Facebook and to order, call 251-229-7586.
Summary
The weather for the next 15 days looks fantastic with marked improvement over previous weeks. The temperatures are nearing the tipping point to make our fishing fantastic. Sea worthy days should continue to grow in number and more boats will hit the water. 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. 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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