Coastal Fishing Connections - Alabama Report - 7/1/2018
- Captain Billy Howell
- Jul 2, 2018
- 14 min read
Liddell versus Silva (Round 2)
Once again there was a great crowd for shark night at the GS Pier, including Fox 10 News. This time there were body blows and drop kicks and by the end of Round 2, the land based sharks made a mark finally landing the 70 1/2 inch, 130# Spinner Shark around 10:28 p.m. When I first started watching the Facebook live feed, there was a ferocious battle going on in the Ocatgon with 5 anglers hooked up. One of 5 was a tarpon that put on quite a show for onlookers. Another shark had been brought all the way to the edge of the pier and even after a long battle, showed enough resilience to tangle the main line between two gaffs, break off and swim off into the darkness. Pictured below is the one shark that was landed.
Shark night has brought new found excitement to night time fishing at the pier as hundreds of people show up with their popcorn and their beer. Announced late in the week was that Alabama State Parks was expanding shark fishing in July to 15 anglers and to every Sunday and Tuesday night during the month, starting at 7 p.m. running through 7 a.m. During this time the Octagon will be closed to all but the ones taking the main stage to fight the fish. It was very encouraging to see how quickly the state mad minor modifications to the program to help make it more successful. If it's broadcast on FB live again this week, I will also be sitting around with my drink and snacks like a kid waiting on Christmas.
Inshore in Orange Beach, the nightime is the right time! Night time dock light fishing in Orange Beach has really heated up for redfish and speckled trout. Afternoon showers cool the air in Orange Beach making night time dock light fishing a cooler and more productive experience. To catch specked trout during the day time, you will likely have to run to east or west and have some live croakers ready to free line or carolina rig. If you are just looking for some action, there are plenty of blue fish, lady fish and increasing numbers of jack crevalle. Black drum and redfish are still being caught along the ICW but not quite in the numbers from the week prior.
Over toward the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, the redfish and black drum bite has been solid with most of the speckled trout being caught middle to south in the bay under slip corks around the rigs. The early morning topwater bite has basically been shutting down as soon as the sun rises and hits the water. Over on the western side,
From the pier and the surf, a wide variety of fish have been caught this week from tarpon to jack crevalle with tons of good eating fish in between, i.e., speckled trout, redfish, pompano, king mackerel, spanish mackerel and even blue fish. Yes I said blue fish. When prepared right, they are fantastic eats. Matter of fact, we will address that in this weeks culinary corner.
Offshore, our week actually consisted of mostly good seas (with the exception of Friday) dodge-able thunder poppers and an excellent big fish bite. There were more 20 lb red snapper killed this week than I've seen in a single week ever. The current was a tough to deal with this week, but nothing a quick change to 10-12 ounce weights wouldn't resolve and the full moon made the bite a little finicky and sporadic.
This week we will be on the back side of the full moon and strong tides. The forecast temperatures are mild with a side of hot, a little saucy in the early mornings and afternoons with popup showers. These are all the ingredients that make summer time fishing on the gulf coast interesting to manage. With the exception of the Tuesday, the offshore seas are forecast to be in the 1-2 foot range this week, just in time for the June 30 - July 8th's, consecutive day red snapper season. Get out there, keep those lines tight and rods bent!
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 had a good week fishing dock lights at night time with a few morning and afternoon trips in between. He reported a pretty decent black drum and redfish bite but much slower than it had been in previous weeks. The speckled trout bite has been fairly slow unless you go east or west but there are still plenty of other species to be caught using carolina rigged bull minnows and live shrimp.
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, "Inshore fishing was good this week with lots of slot redfish and mangrove snapper. Perdido Pass was a hot spot for both species using bull minnows.
We caught plenty of schooling ladyfish and spanish both inshore and nearshore on bucktail jigs and small spoons. A lot of deeper docks will hold fish as well that can be caught using live shrimp or bull minnows."
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, "Sunday through Saturday fishing was as up and down like a roller coaster. Each passing day provided a new challenge or opportunity. Sunday, we had a stiff West wind that kept us snug against the western shore of Mobile Bay casting live and dead shrimp around dock pilings and oyster reefs. My guests landed redfish, speckled trout and puppy drum.
Monday we fished for speckled trout and any other hungry fish around the lower mobile bay. We fished bay rigs and east end jetties to provide the earlier action. We then made an equipment and strategy switch. We loaded the boat with some live pogies I cast netted and we headed into the gulf. We headed straight for a gas rig near Fort Morgan and we landed king mackerel, Spanish mackerel and a jack. This was a lot of fun sharing this kind of action with the guys from Chattanooga.
Tuesday, we headed straight to the rigs with livewell full of pogies and we landed king mackerel, jacks, Spanish mackerel, and some really nice red snapper.
Wednesday, I took a group of regular locals out. We launched in Bayou La Batre and fished the west end of Dauphin island, Katrina cut, Airport runway all with moderate to minimal success. Then we made a move to Grand Bay where we found one of those every cast kind of speckled trout bites. We rounded out our day by landing a keeper triple tail on the way in to the ramp.
Thursday, was windy windy and rainy and we found ourselves trapped in weeks bay and fish river area. After a few quick bites we struggled the rest of the day. Once the wind laid down a bit we could go out in Mobile Bay where we found a nice triple tail.
More wind on Friday! Up to 23mph. We found refuge in the three rivers area catching a ton of small speckled trout and white trout with some nice redfish mixed in. The wind laid a bit and we picked up some real hammer speckled trout to round out a nice box of fish.
On Saturday we went straight to the rigs in the bay and we found a really good speckled trout bite using slip corks set at 17’ using live shrimp.
Sunday was a show and tell fishing trip with a local fishing husband and wife duo. They wanted an education on areas to target specks and reds this time of year. We started out landing speckled trout on topwater and then switched to other lures. Searched high and low for reds but feel short in that search. We landed nice speckled trout at the gas rigs and put the nail in the coffin with a sight casted triple tail.
Thanks for reading. Cast and move cast and move and when you catch one then it’s “getting time”
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 is still tougher than it should be, but we are still catching fish and the quality has been outstanding. We are still having to cover a lot of ground to put together decent boxes of fish. Capitalizing on the bites you get has become extremely important. 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 nearshore snapper fishing has also been outstanding. Live or dead pogeys have been doing it for us."
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, "This week was a tough bite for the crappies. I started out on Monday back on Tensaw Lake. I fished from daylight til lunch time and only had fourteen nice ones and I could only catch them on a hundred yard stretch. They were definitely holding structure tight.
I went again Saturday back on Tensaw Lake and it was slow. I trolled on a group of small ones and didn't catch a keeper crappie. I trolled at different depths using minnows and jigs and still couldn't find them at all. This morning I stayed around Cliffs Landing and fished a few creeks nearby and struggled,finally found a few small ones in 5-6 feet of water on structure.
This upcoming week, I will be riding banks and looking for under water structure, if you not getting hung up on a piece of structure during this time of year, most of the time you will not catch a crappie. The pictures above are from my Monday morning trip."
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, "If you want to get a little more active and moving, there are plenty of opportunities right now for redfish, flounder, trout, and bluefish! I like to keep it simple with a Carolina Rigged live shrimp or bull minnow. Live shrimp are tougher to keep the bait stealers away, so sometimes a bull minnow can be more effective.
If you are more interested in artificials, jerk baits such as mirrodines will help you cover a lot of water. Early mornings and late afternoon evenings can be productive with topwater plugs like Heddon Spooks if the wind and surf cooperate.
The beaches will be crowded this week so getting an early start in the mornings will be crucial."
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, "GS Pier; Kings, Kings, Kings...and plenty of spanish. These afternoon storms have produced a great mackerel bite. There are still the random jack and redfish runs most every day. The big trout are still there to be had. Also, last week, they finally killed the first shark. It was definitely one of the mackerel eaters, 70" spinner. GOOD JOB!
If you don't fish, now would be a great time to start. It's on FIRE everywhere the water has salt in it right now. Tight Lines!"
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 was a good week of fishing for us. We had to work a little harder than usual for the snapper due to the full moon but we managed to run 10 trips this week and had a limit each and every trip.
We had a 10 hour trip this past Saturday and caught some small mahi along with or snappers.
Special fish of the week was the 50 lb cobia that Rich from Missouri hooked up on and is pictured below.
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, "This week was a fantastic one for us as we had a couple groups who had never been fishing on the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, we hosted Rance and Amy from Mississippi. Amy referred to herself only as "Delta Girl." She had never been saltwater fishing and her man hooked her up on the trip of a lifetime. After hooking up several fish for her and letting her reel them in, she went solo and hooked into some great fish including a monster red snapper that ended up pulling the hook and a shark. Bonus fish of the day was about a 6-7 lb mangrove snapper. Anna tells us she has found a new hobby and will be back!
Later in the week we hosted a group from Georgia, Tennessee and some locals. Our Tennessee party of 5 planned their trip for their travel home day and we didn't disappoint. Seas were a little bit sporty that morning, but we were able to hammer out a nice limit of red snapper while reef fishing, then a bonus king mackerel and bonita while trolling drone spoons. Our biggest red snapper of the morning was 15 lbs and caught on a dead spanish sardine and is pictured below.
We also hosted a group of local business owners, Joe Brown, Portside Advertising and Scott Hunter, Hunter Security, over the weekend on a day that started out a little bumpy, lots of current and partly cloudy skies. For the first time this year, it took hard work just to catch 12 legal fish. We hit over 6 spots during this 6 hour trip but one spot produced more quality fish than any other, including 2 fish in the 18-20 lb range. Our biggest red snapper of the morning came on a live LY on a sow rig and the 2nd largest came on a dead spanish sardine rigged the same way. It is always great hosting locals and I look forward to hosting more in the future.
Our upcoming week is very light with my parent's 50th wedding celebration, 4th of July family reunion and my daughter's 17th birthday on the horizon but we look forward to riding the wave of red snapper season over the next 3 weekends. If you haven't made plans to get your red on yet, plan it today as we have a few openings left in our calendar.
Until then, 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
Summer time brings many different species of fish to our waters, some that are just fun catching and some that are fantastic eats. Believe it or not, blue fish is one of those unsuspecting fantastic eating fish. Don't take my word for it, click HERE to read Lauren Collins blog and read the comments from those people who have tried it. Apparently, the vinegar in the red wine vinegar neutralizes the oiliness of the bluefish. Can't wait to try this recipe.
Caramelized Blue Fish
Ingredients
Blue Fish Filets' - 1 LB
Red Wine Vinegar - 1 Bottl
Preparation:
In a deep dish, arrange the bluefish in and pour the vinegar over the fish. Let it marinate for 30 minutes (and no longer!).
Set the broiler to high and arrange a baking sheet with tin foil. Arrange the fish filets on the baking pan and broil on the second to top rack for 10 minutes, letting it caramelize. Watch carefully - the fish can easily burn.
After 10 minutes, set the oven to 350 and move the fish to the bottom rack, cooking for another 10 minutes.
The fish should be caramelized at this point and ready to eat. Serve immediately or store fish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one day.
Sponsor Spotlight
This weeks prize pack will be courtesy of Daiwa and Joe East, the local rep. We have already highlighted daiwa in an earlier report this year and will now have an awesome prize pack to boot. From the BG 2500's we use for inshore speckled trout and redfish to the offshore Saltiga and Saltist lever drag and spinning combo's, Daiwa has something for every angler. We have been using the Daiwa rod and reels on our charters for over 2 years now and have been very pleased with their ease of use, durability and ability to boat big fish.
We use the Saltiga lever drag reel for vertical jigging, free-lining and just bottom fishing for big red snapper. We just added a Saltist 80 spinning reel to our repertoire and have boated 4 red snapper over 20 lbs with it in 2 weeks and 5 amberjack over 40 lbs.
If you are looking for inshore or offshore reels, Daiwa has something that will meet your needs. If you are interested in learning more about Daiwa reels, email Joe East at jeast36532@aol.com
Weekly Giveaway
In this weeks giveaway, Joe East donated an awesome prize pack valued at over $ 160.00. This weeks prize pack consists of a Daiwa 24 can soft side cooler ($ 49.95), 2 ea. 150 yard spools of 40# dark green J-Braid (19,95 ea), HUK mesh back performance shirt ($49.95), Daiwa "D-vec" hat ($14.95). Prize pack pictured below.
Congratulations to last weeks winner, Corey Stockman! Since we are a day behind with the drawing, we will update the blog once we have the drawing tomorrow night.
This week's question. What type shark was the only one landed at GS Pier this past Tuesday night?
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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