Coastal Alabama Fishing Report - 5/21/2018
- Captain Billy Howell
- May 21, 2018
- 14 min read
Just Fish!
Early morning sunrises, nervous bait, rippling the top of the water with an occasional thunk from the predators underneath, give way to scorching heat as the day goes on. Convection builds ominous clouds, the thunder rolls. Couple that with fierce lightning and a rapid intense pounding of raindrops to cool things off. Oh, btw, don't forget about another occasional phenomenon, the water spout, like the one captured in the photo this past weekend at Dauphin Island. Then suddenly, things go back to normal. If this sounds familiar, you may live in Coastal Alabama. Both the weather and the fishing have heated up the past few weeks, and that couldn't make most of us happier; though it does have me considering installing misters on the boat.
Has the warm dry weather spoiled you over the past month? I know it has me. Unfortunately, one can never take the good without the bad, so fast forward to the 15 day forecast. The good, we get a reprieve in temperatures over the next couple weeks, with forecast highs dipping into the low 80’s. The bad, rain chances for the next week and beyond are at least 50% almost every day, and 80% this weekend, threatening to put a damper on our Memorial Day weekend parade! Hopefully, we will experience a repeat of this past weekend, where they were calling for 80% chance of rain and got very little. The seas should be manageable at least for the next several days.
Meanwhile in fishing news, the inshore bite continues to be on fire from the Mississippi Sound to Perdido Key, with reports of more big speckled trout being caught than you could shake a stick at. Top water plugs and jerk baits early morning in shallow flats, Fairhope Rattle corks with live / vudu shrimp, free-lined shrimp and live croakers have been go-to ways to get a big girls attention. Bull Reds are still being caught on Dixey Bar with some managing to find their way to angler's hooks, midway up Mobile Bay.
Captain Lyons Bousson, Jr of Fairhope Charters and Fairhope Rattle had a group earlier this week that got their rattle on!
Offshore, if you are looking to catch a yellowfin or maybe a bluefin tuna, word is, you need to hit “the Hub.” If you are still looking to get your first reef donkey of the season or your last fill of triggerfish for the year, you have about 10 days to make it happen.
Never fear, tournament season is here. The Orange Beach Billfish Classic (OBBC) offshore tournament and the Christ the King Inshore Classic tournaments were held this past weekend and did not disappoint. The prize winning 740.6 lb Blue Marlin was brought in by Done Deal and landed by Katie Gonsoulin. Full results can be found on Orange Beach Billfish Classic’s Facebook page. Results of the Christ the King Inshore Classic had not been posted at the time of this report. Once again, this coming Friday, the big boats will head out of Perdido Pass and race to their hunting grounds, while inshore enthusiasts have an opportunity to help a local family in need by fishing the Tourne tournament.
We realize saltwater doesn't flow through all local anglers veins, so we are adding in a new report this week. The Mobile Delta report will be provided courtesy of Dip McMillan with Dippi Outdoors. Dip'is excited to share his knowledge and experience in the Mobile Delta and hopes you can learn something to catch more fish in the area.
These reports require a collaborative effort from all the contributors, so please click their link and follow their social media accounts. Also, subscribe on our website at www.bentoutfittersfishing.com to receive these reports as they come out. Please leave comments at the bottom of the blog after reading and let us know if you find the information interesting and helpful. If you would like to get local fishing news or a tournament announcement in the blog, email bentoutfittersfishing@gmail.com
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, he spent the week fishing reefs and flats, finding most of the speckled trout over grass beds this week. In one trip this week, they caught 6 speckled trout over 22 inches using top water plugs, jerk baits and free-lining live shrimp. Capt. Taylor says the speckled trout are o plenty in the dock lights in Orange Beach right now.
In the picture below, Capt. Taylor's crew caught a smorgasbord variety and left with some nice filets. Captain Taylor is looking forward to a busy fishing season as Memorial Day approaches and many families will visit the Gulf Coast.
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 - Mobile Bay
Bayside Charters - Captain Patrick Hill
Facebook: @baysidecharters
Instagram: @phill04
Website: www.baysidecharterfishing.com
Cell: 251-379-0560
Captain Patrick Hill says, "Over the past couple weeks, the fishing in our area has been about as good as it gets. Although we have seen some record breaking heat for the first part of May, the weather has been very good overall, and in turn made the fishing great as well. There have been plenty of trout, really, all over the bay from one end to the other. Fish have been on reefs to deeper offshore structure and everywhere in between. The red fish bite has been great as well, lately. We had several 25 plus fish days over the past couple weeks. Also, got a chance to fish the Christ the King Inshore Classic this past Saturday, where we ended up getting 2nd place trout and 2nd place flounder. It’s a great tournament with a bunch of awesome people involved and always a good time."
Capt. Patrick's Clients found out first hand what it meant to "get their rattle on."
Captain Patrick Hill is very mobile running trips from Mobile to Gulf Shores. Captain Patrick 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
Eastern Shore - 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 says, "This was the first full week that we experienced full blown summer pattern for the fish we targeted. This means that fish like speckled trout will have shown up in big numbers around open deep structure, gulf beaches, and shallow flats. Monday and Tuesday, we fished out of Dauphin Island. Monday's group was a family from Missouri who loves to catch fish, but more importantly; loves to compete against one another for who can catch the most fish or biggest fish. Our most productive fishing was around the gas rigs in the lower bay where we used both free-lined and slip cork methods to land some really nice speckled trout, spanish mackerel and over slot redfish.
We later moved into the Gulf and targeted bull reds on Dixey Bar but only managed to entice a big ole black drum and some more spanish mackerel. Tuesday was an interesting day. I teamed up with fellow captains George Harrison, Harrison's Inshore Fishing and Joey Lapeyrouse, Underdog Fishing Charters, for a 3 boat trip out of Dauphin Island. Well, we normally like to leave the dock by 5:45 a.m.this time of year. However; we were unable to leave until 10:15. I took my group straight to the rigs in hopes of landing a few fish on the rigs. The rigs didn't dissapoint. Our first seven casts resulted in 6 really nice speckled trout and this near every cast action continued for about an hour. The highlight of this trip was when one of my guests landed an incredible 7 pound plus/minus speckled trout(pictured below). The only fish we landed other that speckled trout were white trout.
Wednesday and Thursday, we left out of the Bayou La Batre area. Our goal each day was to target speckled trout, white trout and redfish on shallow flats. We used topwater and popping corks rigged with live and vudu shrimp to target our fish. Each day resulted in landing speckled trout that were active early in the morning. Then, we stumbled on sight casting to some triple tail each day. None of which were legal, but all were worthy of placing a tag in and releasing to track the migration of these strange pelagic species.
Since conditions were good throughout the entire bay system, we decided to leave from Mobile Bay on Friday and Saturday. Both days started out hot and heavy on Mobile River, with Saturday being the best bite. Friday, our efforts were going unnoticed until we began fishing some piers along the western shore south of Dog River. Once we located a school of speckled trout, we stopped the boat and caught some great speckled trout on nearly every cast for about 20 minutes. Also, mixed in were a few rat reds and puppy drum.
The upcoming week, we plan to finish out the new blue wave by hanging twin 8 foot power poles off the back. They will certainly come in handy when shallow water fishing. Fishing should remain good throughout the entire bay system and the Gulf fishing should be on fire."
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 wind this past week was a bit challenging, but the fishing was good! I ran most of my trips out of the Mississippi Sound, fishing from West Fowl River to Grand Bay and the lower end of the Bay. I found fish at just about every stop just like the week before. Some days, it took weeding through the shorts again, but other days were full of keepers and even some larger trout up to 5 lbs that my clients released. Live shrimp and Vudu's under popping corks and slip corks did the trick. I was also able to find some fish on the flats of Mobile Bay between the TIC and Fowl River one day as well. There were some fish at Middle Bay Lighthouse and Gaillard Island to be had too. These fish were caught with Vudu shrimp and live shrimp under popping corks, Slick Lures, Rapala Skitter Walkers and shrimp on slip corks.The fishing in the TIC and Mobile River were slower this week than in the past few weeks.The lower end of the Bay has been on fire from the Shoals, to Peavy Cut to the Rigs. Live shrimp, mullet imitations like The Slick Lure and grubs like the Yum Mud Minnow produced here. The Tripletail fishing continues to be exceptional this year so far. Hopefully, that trend will continue, as we were able to spot and land quite a few this past week from the 2nd station of our boat along the Eastern Shore and Mississippi Sound. The fishing is as good as I have seen it in a while. "
"Get out there and take advantage of it or hire your favorite captain to take you out!"
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.
Mobile Delta
Dippi Outdoors - Dip McMillan
Email: alkeenmcmillan87@gmail.com
Phone: 251-747-9261
Dip says, "I fished the Upper Delta on Tensaw Lake this weekend. The crappie bite was good mid morning. I was trolling in 6-10 ft of water only fishing 4 ft deep on my spider rig. I was trolling with 6-7 poles at a time, using minnows and jigs, they wanted minnows for sure Saturday. I ended the trip around lunch time with 18 quality crappies, all of them wer 10 inches or better. My best one was 15 inches. I came back this morning with a different strategy, with the water temp being in the 80s. I figured the crappies will be holding structure in 5-6 ft of water. I was absolutely right, I went north on Tensaw Lake this morning and fished a narrow creek.It was loaded with structure and the crappie bite was on fire. I was trolling in 5-6 ft of water, and only fishing 3-4 ft deep, the blue and chartreuse paddle and curly tail jig with a pink jig head were on fire this morning. The bite was so fast at times I could only troll with 5-6 poles. Just before lunch, the action slowed down, but I managed to bring home 25 quality crappies. The crappies are definitely stacked on structure right now, and with the water still muddy in some areas, dark jigs with chartreuse will give you a higher success rate right now. I'm ready to get back after them this coming week."
Thank you Dip for that outstanding report! Below are a few pictures Dip is sharing with you to help you get your jig on! Reach out to Dip to go have some fun in the delta catching some crappies!
Surfside
Shore Thing Fishing - Captain Dusty Hayes
Instagram: @capt.dustin
Cell: 678-897-0167
Captain Dusty says, "Surf fishing has been a blast this week with tons of ladyfish! There are tons of them and they are a blast to catch. The pompano are still around with multiple reports of people still catching daily limits in our area. Whiting have been showing back up as well! These guys are great eats and will got for small tackle and pieces of fresh peeled shrimp. Lures such as Tsunami glass minnow jigs and Unfair Rip-n-Slash will catch you a variety early in the mornings and provide lots of action!"
Captain Dusty Hayes has been guiding visitors to fish catching experiences in the surf for several years now and is a great young man. Click on his link above for more information on how to book a trip with him.
The Pier Review
Captain David Collins
Captain David says, "All of the piers have been producing chicken dolphin, kings and plenty of spanish. If you have live bait and patience, you can catch some stud speckled trout at Gulf State Pier aka Sharkville."
If you have never experienced fishing from a pier during fishing season, head down to Gulf State Pier in Gulf Shores this summer. It might create your newest addiction.
Keep up with the latest Gulf State Pier information at GSPierfishing.com.
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, "we fished a couple days this week. 4 hour charters have been very productive for us here lately. The king and spanish mackerel are thick and we have been able to get on them good, especially first thing in the mornings. I had an 8 hour charter this past Saturday and the bite was fairly slow for us. We did, however; manage to get a limit of triggerfish and a pretty good haul of beeliners. Counting down the days to snapper season. They're hungry and we're ready to bring 'em in!"
Pictured above was a nice haul from one of the trolling trips Captain Bryars ran this past week.
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 and he 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
Once again, this past week was spent, vicariously living through Facebook photos posted by fellow captains and angling buddies, as I found myself landlocked in Orlando. I didn't even get to see Mickey Mouse. It didn't take long to make a splash once I got back home though. For us, we just make the most of the time we do have. On Saturday in Orange Beach, we spent a few hours trolling between 1 and 10 miles off the beach with a strong incoming tide.
What we found 3-4 miles off the beach and back to the west of Perdido Pass, were schools of bait and bonita so thick you could have walked across them. You didn't even have to look at the water to find the bait, because droves of seagulls were circling and diving to fill their belly. Every time we dropped lines in the water, we caught fish. We trolled pink, silver, chartreuse and green, 3 1/4 drone spoons on a size 2 Sea Striker planer, landing bonita and king mackerel until our arms nearly fell off. Unfortunately for us, The spanish mackerel bite was non-existent. I contribute that somewhat to the dirty water. Overall it was a great day to be on the water!
Red Snapper season is less than two weeks away and we are ready to put some big ones on the deck!
Pictured above was the first of several king mackerel we caught while trolling a 3 1/4 pink drone spoon.
Pictured above was a double on Bonita we caught using a spanish mackerel tree.
Captain Billy has been fishing the coastal waters of Alabama for several years now and provides a fun-filled, family fishing experience for your family. Captain Billy runs his offshore trips from Caribe Marina in Orange Beach and inshore trips pretty much any where from the eastern shore of Mobile Bay to Orange Beach.
Upcoming Tournaments
Below you will find a mostly complete list of upcoming tournaments put together and posted by Saltwater Finaddicts . Give it a look over and make your tournament plans today.
The Tourne' Tournament will be held on May 26, 2018 to honor the memory of Lori Tourne' You can click the link above to secure your spot in this inshore tourney to support a great cause.
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.
Coastal Culinary Corner
Well, we have approached the months that don't have an R in them so technically you aren't supposed to eat Oyster's, or at least that's what they say. In this weeks culinary corner, we feature an Oyster recipe from EatAlabamaSeafood.Com
Orange and Blue Oyster Poppers
Ingredients (Oysters)
36 Gulf Oysters
12 OZ Crystal Hot Sauce
4 TBSP Honey
12 OZ Clarified Butter
2 cups Seasoned Flower
Ingredients (Sauce)
8 OZ Bleu Cheese
12 OZ Mayonaise
2 OZ Sour Cream
2 OZ Buttermilk
1 OZ Distilled White Vinegar
1 1/2 OZ Salad Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
4 Sprigs Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
Instructions:
Mis Crystal Hot sauce and honey in a blender until combined. Heat butter to 140 degrees. Slowly add butter to hot sauce and honey mixture. Blend until Combined.
Place skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough cooking oil to the pan fry the oysters. Drain excess liquid off the oysters and dredge in seasoned flour. Fry oysters until golden brown and crispy. Remove from oil. Place on a paper towel to rid excess grease.
Toss Oysters in sauce until coated.
For the bleu cheese dipping sauce, combine the bleu cheese, mayonaise, sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, salad oil, salt and pepper, then sprinkle with parsley.
Sponsor Spotlight
This weeks sponsor spotlight features Ocean Tamer Marine Bean Bags. The Company, they are "true leaders in marine seating and custom canvas products. Ocean-Tamer Marine Grade Bean Bags are a product of Custom Marine Canvas, Inc; a company that has custom designed and manufactured high quality marine seating and upholstery products for over 30 years. In business since 1978, Custom Marine Canvas, Inc has been featured on Ship Shape TV and is as known for high quality marine canvas and upholstery products as they are for their devoted customer service practices."
Ocean-Tamer Marine Grade Bean Bags are portable, lightweight, and more versatile than any other marine seating product on the market. Choose from 3 sizes, 4 different styles, and an extensive selection of colors! Even opt to personalize your bean bag with a family name, favorite sports team, fishing team or anything else you can think of!
Matter of fact, we have 4 of them on our boat for those long rides tuna fishing or deep dropping. We even had them customized for our business. You won't find a better ride on the market! They are top notch and don't hold water!
If you place an order online, use code Bentfish to receive a 10% discount at checkout.
Weekly Giveaway
This week, we will give away a Bent Outfitters Fishing UPF 50, long sleeve, Performance Shirt, a hat and a Matrix Shad sampler pack. Read all the way through the report to find out how to win!
Correctly identify the manufacturer of the reel pictured below to get in this weeks drawing. Good luck!
Summary
Regardless of the forecasts, the avid anglers and boating enthusiasts will find a way to get their fix. Just a friendly reminder; have all your safety gear up to date, be safe and courteous and but most of all keep those rods bent!
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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