Coastal Fishing Connections - Alabama Report - 6/18/2018
- Captain Billy Howell
- Jun 25, 2018
- 17 min read
First Tuesday Shark Night At GS Pier A Bust
If you were one of 100's of people who showed up at Gulf State Pier in Gulf Shores this past Tuesday to see a sharkfest and stuck around from 8 p.m. - midnight, you were probably disappointed. Most impressive was the crowd of people that showed up anticipating that tons of sharks would be caught based on the amount that currently reside around the pier. Pictured below and courtesy of an observer that posted on GS Pier Rats Facebook Page are hundreds waiting in line to observe.
This limited shark fishing experiment was approved initially for two Tuesday nights, (June 19th and June 26th). Registration was online and first come first serve to the first 10 people that applied. As you will read later in Captain David Collins report, the efforts were for naught.
I'm still trying to understand the reason for the times that were set. I'm curious if it has more to do with safety because of the number of people that are typically on the pier in the early morning and late afternoon hours or what. Regardless, most people feel the hours set for shark fishing have set the program up for failure. Shark feeding times peak during the first couple hours of the morning (as witnessed by the number of fish that come in with half bodies or heads) and the last hours before sunset. Only time will tell if the program will be a success, if they will tweak it or if they will continue it at all, but it's PAST time to kill some sharks. Who knows, maybe word got out in the shark community that they were about to be targeted, because there were at least 4 whole king mackerel landed one morning at the pier this week.
Inshore in Orange Beach, the speckled trout bite has been nonexistent to nil unless you want to make the run to Big Lagoon or just fish dock lights at night time. Many inshore fishermen in Orange Beach have had to opt for a run to the Intracoasal Waterway to fill their limits of redfish and entertain clients catching black drum. From the eastern shores of Mobile Bay to the Mississippi Sound though, the bite has still been solid with lots of speckled trout being caught fishing schools of pogies and mullet using Fairhope Rattle corks with vudu and live shrimp, live finger mullet, live pogies and live croakers. Tripletail are also being caught, though my Facebook Newsfeed is not blowing up as it typically does this time of year.
Offshore, after Monday, we had outstanding seas, limited storms and a manageable current until IT began on Thursday. A sustained 20 plus mph southwest wind built the seas from 2-3 foot on Thursday to 4-5 foot Friday, just in time for the 3-day weekend opening of red snapper fishing. Starting next weekend though, anglers will have consecutive days from June 30 - July 8 to go catch those red rascals. As we left the pass on Friday, numerous smaller boats and big charter boats turned around and headed back in after making it to the farewell buoy with people already turning green. With red snapper season only open on the weekends for recreational anglers and state water charter boats, weekdays on the gulf are like being in a dessert where you think you see a boat miles away and by the time you get closer it turns out to be a mirage versus the weekends that look like Best Buy on Black Friday. Nonetheless, the red snapper fishing continues to be great with an occasional black snapper, nice kings and an occasional ling onboard on a 5 hour trip.
While the rain hasn't been a nuisance this week, the humidty was horrific earlier in the week but not unexpected for our area. For the next couple weeks, temperatures are forecast to remain in the upper 80's during the daytime with night time lows in the mid to upper 70's. We are likely to work our way back into the daily pop up storms as rain chances creep back into the 20-40% chance nearly every day. The wind blew all weekend but is supposed to lay down by Monday giving us a few nice days to get on the water over the next week. The seas should fall from their 2-4's back down to less than a foot early in the week should the current forecast hold.
These reports require a collaborative effort from all the contributors, so please click their link and follow their social media accounts. Look for the column header that says weekly drawing, email coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com your answer to the question to get in the drawing held on Facebook live on Friday nights @coastalfishingconnections. 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 coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com
INSHORE REPORT
Orange Beach / Perdido Key / 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 fishing in the Orange Beach area has slowed down unless you head towards Perdido Key / Pensacola in the mornings or fish the dock lights at night time. Early in the week, we had a youth group from Texas that we took fishing in the Intracoastal Waterway. They spent their time hammering the puppy drum.
The rest of the week was more of the same with us being able to catch limits of redfish, some mangrove snapper and a few speckled trout under the lights. We are looking forward to that night bite, so come on down and fish with us!
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.
Orange Beach / Perdido Key / Gulf Shores - Wolf Bay - ICW
Liquid Force Charters - Captain Dusty Hayes
Facebook: @liquidforceinshorecharters
Instagram: @capt.dustin
Cell: 678-897-0167
Captain Dusty says, "the night time bite has been on fire! We have been catching limits of redfish and a few speckled trout under the dock lights." Capt. Dusty was also part of a 3 boat youth group trip run out Caribe Marina in Orange Beach early in the week. He put his party on the redfish and a monster 34 inch black drum.
Captain Dusty has been offering guided fishing trips for several years in Coastal Alabama out of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores and is sure to offer a great time on the water and catch fish!
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, "Summer has arrived! Water temps ranging from 83-90F depending on time of day and location seem to be affecting the fishing. Some fish are loving the heat and some seem to becoming a little more temperamental. Monday through Sunday all fishing trips were originally planned as “inshore” fishing trips. Since I like catching speckled trout I tend to begin most fishing days targeting them. We fished as deep as 22’ deep at the south end of the bay and as deep as 30’ in Mobile River. Both areas we located a few fish but never found a big hungry school of fish. On the flip side we also targeted speckled trout in water as shallow as 18” and caught a few in these areas as well using popping corks and topwater lures. At some point every day I decided “grinding it out” for speckled trout seemed futile and I would switch gears based on my current location.
On Monday our switch toward redfish fell short and we ended our day with only a handful of keeper speckled trout and a dozen or more short fish we threw back.
Tuesday we started out on a hot bite and found ourselves catching more short trout than keepers so we moved up to the Mobile River and landed some nice trout and one bull red. We circled back and ended where we started and picked up another dozen speckled trout.
Wednesday, I opted to stay south and we were met with very light tides and very few bites on our first couple stops. We finally found a little water movement and some active fish. Speckled trout, white trout and some really nice Spanish Mackerel were caught on live shrimp.
The fishing in the bay seemed to be dying off so we shifted our efforts out in the gulf where my 9 year old angler for the day landed his largest fish ever a hefty king mackerel and his grandfather followed it up with a 24# red snapper that was released to fight another day.
Thursday, I took a maintenance day and took my wife fishing in the delta and caught a couple of Redfish on our short trip. Friday, Was a trip with the WWIA “Wounded Warriors In Action”. This is a very special event. Captain Kyle Mitternight and I team up to take a group of Purple Heart recipients on an all expenses paid fishing trip. We found a big school of bull redfish and gave these guys the time of his life. Such an honor to donate my time to take this group out. Please check out the group and what they do. Saturday, I had truck issues I had to address and worked on my old Silverado to get her purring again.
Sunday, I had a stiff West/Southwest wind and was forced to hug the western shore of Mobile Bay. We used popping corks and live and dead shrimp to land speckled trout, white trout, ground mullet, black drum and red fish. Nothing to write home about but the group caught a bunch of fish.
The upcoming week I am personally booked everyday and will likely adjust my plan everyday based on wind direction and my findings from one day to the next. Don’t stay in any one location for too long without a quality bite and grind 'em till you find 'em, because you never know when it’s about to get ugly.
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 bite has gotten a little tougher the last 10-14 days. We are still managing to put together decent boxes of fish but it’s requiring covering a lot of ground and capitalizing when you get the bites. Live shrimp and Vudu's under popping corks, as well as slip corks continue to be the ticket in most areas.
We are still concentrating on the wrecks, artificial reefs and rigs from the middle part of the bay all the way to the lower end of the Bay on through the Mississippi Sound. There are also still some fish early in morning on the shallow flats and along the Gulf beaches. The fish were caught with Vudu shrimp and live shrimp under popping corks, Slick Lures, Rapala Skitter Walkers, Yum Mud Minnows, live shrimp on slip corks and free lined croakers.
The Tripletail bite continues to be good when the weather is right. We have landed several fish and have been seeing quite a few other fish.The fishing in our area continues to be good. Get out there and take advantage of it or hire your favorite captain to take you out!
The fishing in our area continues to be outstanding. 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 was back on the Upper Delta this past week, June 18th and 19th on Tensaw Lake. The crappie bite was awesome both days. On Monday, I ended the trip with 25 slabs, all of them were quality fish, I caught a majority of them on artificial.
Tuesday morning was a trip to remember, I was fishing in the same area but the action was fast. I couldn't keep up with 8 poles while trolling on my spider rig, I had a limit in a few hours. The willow flies are back out and they are thick. For the bream fishermen this is the time to bring out the fly bugs. I watched a few guys this week catch a ton of bulls on their fly rod.
Also, the Dippi Outdoors Crappie Tournament yesterday was a success. The kids' division was awesome and had some great giveaways." Pictured above is Dip with one of the happy young anglers in his tournament.
Thank you Dip for that outstanding report! If you like to crappie fish and want to to the where and how, contact Dip to go have some fun in the delta catching some crappies!
Surfside
Orange Beach - Gulf Shores – Fort Morgan
Bama Beach Bum Fishing - Matthew Isbell
Facebook: @bamabeachbumfishing
Instagram: @bamabeachbum_fishing
Cell: 334-391-5913
Bama Beach Bums' Matt Isbell says, "The water had started to get a better color midday on Sunday and it looks like we will have a lighter West wind and some North wind days this upcoming week calming the surf back to a more manageable range.
Tidal changes look better this week as well which will hopefully increase the chances of a bite as well as move out some of the June grass and seaweed that we have been dealing with.
Matthew Isbell is the one and only, Bama Beach bum and has been guiding visitors to fish catching experiences in the surf. Not only does he offer guided surf fishing trips, but he also does a lot of instructional videos to help people catch more fish in the surf. His Youtube channel currently has over 2800 subscribers. Click on his link above for more information on how to book a trip with him.
The Pier Review
Captain David Collins
Captain Collins says, "Last week was the first week of a "shark season" on the Gulf shores pier. They awarded fishermen a permit to catch and kill a legal shark on the pier. The hours set by Montgomery are 8pm to midnight, one night a week. So far no sharks have been killed. The nuisance sharks are day feeders anyway. Maybe the state will rethink it. There are still Kings, Jacks , Spanish & Reds being caught . The red runs have been pretty good this year.
And NOW, the Tarpon are there and eating bait , there have already been a few caught and released, its summer time, drink plenty of water and keep casting. Keep it wet and wiggling , you never know what you will catch , its the Gulf of Mexico after all
For the link to more information about the sharkfishing at the pier, click the link Gulf State Pier Shark Fishing.
Keep up with the latest Gulf State Pier information at GSPierfishing.com. or on Gulf Shores Pier Rats.
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, "It's been a great week of snapper fishing for us. With the month of June coming to an end, we are still bringing in good snapper.
The bite will get a little finicky with the full moon coming up this week. I Still have a few morning and afternoon trips available in July to go out and catch 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 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
Captain Billy says, "Our week started out on a gorgeous Father's Day morning with local news personality, Greg Peterson, channel 15 WPMI and his family on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, chasing speckled trout and redfish. Greg and his wife Julia also own Trattoria Pizza and Italian restaurant in Spanish Fort, AL and will soon be opening one at OWA in Foley. Greg and his two son's had fun ribbing each other about who was catching the most fish or the biggest fish but overall seemed to have a great time just being on the water together. We caught speckled trout and redfish while fishing some docks and Middle Bay Lighthouse.
On Monday morning, we had a 3 boat trip with a youth group from Dripping Springs Texas with dinner, $100 and bragging rights on the line. This group trip would not have been possible without Captain Taylor Fisher, Tails&Scales Charters or Captain Dusty Hayes, Liquid Force Inshore Fishing. These 10-14 year olds had a blast catching ANY fish that bit including white trout, croakers, pinfish, catfish, puppy drum, redfish and the one the took home the money, a 34 inch black drum. These kids had a blast and caught plenty of fish for dinner.
The next couple days we were offshore chasing those red wildebeest, I mean the elusive red snapper. I had a cancellation for the Tuesday morning trip, so I called my Wednesday afternoon group and asked if they wanted to slide into that spot. Great choice for them to do so. The Gulf was in calm down mode Tuesday morning and was smoother than a babies butt on the way in. The fishing was outstanding as well. Our biggest fish that morning was red snapper caught on a flat line with a duster rig. Tyler may have caught the biggest but Mama caught the most.
The next day we had part of the youth group again and these boys knew how to fish. They caught red snapper, king mackerel and a monster shark, pictured below.
Over Wednesday night the winds picked up out of the southwest and we had a tough head sea. We traveled about 28 miles southwest to fish some public areas so we would have a smoother ride coming in. The fishing was a little difficult because the current was going southeast and the waves were going toward the northwest. We still managed to put together limits of red snapper and made it back to shore safely.
Thursday morning was more of the same, seas had built to 2-3 foot and made things a little bit wet heading into them but smooth like surfing for the ride in. Friday was a different story though, I had let my parties know the day before that it was going to be super rough on Friday and even gave them the option of cancelling. They were all in and we proceeded to fish the roughest water I had ever headed out in by choice. Thankfully, I have this fishing face mask that a friend lets me borrow. I looked like Darth Vadar with my black rain jacket and mask behind the helm as we sliced up the seas. For our morning trip, the crew was from my hometown and had been looking forward to fishing for MONTHS. I didn't want to disappoint. Due to the conditions, we stayed about 7 miles offshore and only fished 3 at a time due to the waves and the current. It took us 3 hours but we hammered out a limit of nice red snapper including 3 that went over 10 lbs using a variety of cigar minnows, spanish sardines, dead pogies and live LY. The LY caught 2 of the 3 larger fish.
For the afternoon trip, we had a fearless party of 6 that were ready to catch some red snapper. My friend and deck hand for the day Jake Markris, Fairhope Fishing Company, had caught about 2-3 dozen live LY in between the morning and afternoon trip. Once again the journey out was miserable with everyone who wasn't sitting backwards in a bean bag in the floor getting soaked to my 7 mile location. We fishing 3 anglers out of the starboard side of the boat while Jake hooked a live bait up and dropped it off the port side corner. One of their party hooked into a fish, dove into the structure but got hung. It only took about 5 minutes to figure that out though, SMH. As all lines were being reeled up to get out of his way and Jake reeled up the live LY, a 20 plus pound red snapper followed the live one up all the way to the top. Not sure if he is the same one, but about 15 minutes later, we landed our biggest red snapper of the season at 22 lbs. After struggling to catch additional fish to make a box, we decided to run out about 6 miles further south. Once there we followed the same pattern, 3 lines out of the starboard and a live one off the port. Every live bait but one was SMOKED by an amberjack withing seconds of it getting down. We landed all 5 amberjack and most of them were legal size. I beleive those boys got all they could handle with them though.
After the beating we took Friday, I decided to cancel one Saturday trip and move the morning to the afternoon. Based on what my morning guys told me, it was a good decision. Once again, we had a family from close to my hometown come fish with me again and while seas were not perfect by any means, we headed out and brought back a nice box of fish. While the boy caught the biggest red snapper, the lady angler on the boat caught the biggest fish and is pictured below.
Keep those lines tight and rods bent!"
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.
Coastal Culinary Corner
When Summer Gulf of Mexico fishing season officially kicks off, literal tons of red snapper hit the dock every year. Throughout these reports, we've featured different ways you could eat red snapper. Making ceviche is a great way to cook your fish without baking, grilling, frying or smoking. It's a chemical cooking using lime or lemon juice. This week, Jake Markris shares his special red snapper ceviche recipe. You can also use other types of fish for this recipe as well, but gulf fish are preferred. Once you try it, you will be addicted for life!
Red Snapper Cevicehe
Ingredients
Small batch - 2 medium size filets or large batch - 3-6 medium size filets
fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 - TBSP of Salt
pepper - to taste
olive oil - to taste
Vegetables (look at options below)
Limes
Preparation:
1. Trim all red off the filet and run finger around edges to remove any bones
2. Dice the fish into small pieces and place into a bowl with cold lemon juice - fresh squeezed (concentrate may be used but fresh is better). Be sure juice covers all the meat.
2. Shake about a tablespoon of salt over the fish and lightly mix the fish to good coverage of salt over the meat
3. Place fish in refrigerator to chill while chopping vegetables
4. Finely chop desired vegetables. I like to use ribbed jalapenos, banana peppers, sweet onion, purple onion, cilantro, tomatoes and avacado. Note: If you pre-chop vegetables chop the tomatoes and avacado last and add when mixing all together
5. After about 30 minutes, take fish out, drain lemon juice. The fish will have turned a little white from the citric acid. This means it has started to cook the meat.
6. Place fish and vegetables in a large mixing bowl or serving bowl and mix thoroughly adding more salt if desired, pepper and olive oil to taste.
7. Squeeze a couple limes over the finished product
8. Serve with saltines or tortilla chips
Sponsor Spotlight
This weeks sponsor is Dip McMillian and Dippi Outdoors. Dip is a really special young man. Read his bio here to learn more about the Mobile Delta crappie slaying legend. "My name is Alkeen (Dip) Mcmillian. I am 31 years old and been living here in Loxley AL, since I was born. I work for the Baldwin County School Board. The outdoors is my passion, I really enjoy being on the water locating some crappies. Ever since my first trip with a good friend of mine about 8 years ago, it has been in my blood. I really enjoy taking people and watching them pull in those slabs. Seeing the smile on their face is priceless."
Weekly Giveaway
This weeks prize pack is courtesy of Dip McMillian includes Strike King crappie jigs, sickle hooks, some of Dips' handmade jigs, a Dippi Outdoors Shirt and a crappie ultra light rod-n-reel combo. Thank you Dip for going all in here!
Congratulations to Ricky Strickland and Chris Hood who each won a hat from Captain JayO and Irish Wake Fishing Reach out to Captain JayO to coordinate prize pickup. What species of fish are featured in the group picture of Bama Beach Bum Fishing's portion of the report?
Submit your answer via email to coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com
Like and Follow the 2 new social media accounts set up for the weekly report to get an extra entry into the drawing.
Facebook: @coastalfishingconnections
Instagram: @coastal_fishing_connections
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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