Coastal Fishing Connections - Alabama Report - 8/20/2018
- Captain Billy Howell
- Aug 20, 2018
- 15 min read
Essentials of Kayak Fishing - Part 2 - Rigging!
Last week Scott Kennedy talked about his passion for fishing and the outdoors, the key factors in choosing a fishing kayak and the importance of choosing the right paddle. This week, Scott talks about rigging. Every kayak fisherman has their own preferences for rigging and the gear they prefer. Scott shares his in this weeks blog for those of you interested in taking up a new sport. If you kayak fish, we would love to see pictures of your rig! Submit them for a chance to be featured on our Instagram and Facebook page.
Take it away Scott!
"Rigging a kayak to meet your needs is a critical part of being successful while out on the water. After spending countless hours on my kayak, I’ve found a few things that can be added to help it reach its full potential. The first thing I make sure to put on any new kayak is a good anchor trolley system. This is a small diameter rope that runs the length of the kayak on its side. The trolley system allows you to quickly change the direction your bow is pointed without having to untie then retie your anchor line. This will allow you to fight a fish without having to worry about getting tangled up in the anchor.
The next thing I need is a rod holder in front of my seat within arms reach. With deck space being very limited, having an easily accessible place to set your rod while dealing with a freshly caught fish will help reduce the chance of dropping an expensive piece of gear overboard.
One last piece of equipment that I put on my kayaks is a camera mount. I use the RailBlaza camera boom 600. This allows me to record my catches and take pictures hand free. Having a mount that allows you adjust the camera in multiple angles with ease while using one hand is ideal.
For a depth finder, I use a lowrance Elite 5. I mostly use it to find the troughs that run through flats and creeks and to check the water temperature. It also helps me find bait balls offshore once the sun comes up and pushes them down deeper. For a measuring board, I use the Yakgear folding fish stik. This is a 36 inch measuring board that folds down into three 12 inch sections that way it can be easily stored without taking up too much space. It also floats which is a big bonus while on a kayak, because it is very easy to drop things overboard.
Rigging a kayak may seem like a daunting task, but in the end it can be one of the most rewarding parts of kayak fishing. Hopefully keeping these three things in mind while rigging your next kayak will help you out while on your next fishing trip."
Thank you Scott for sharing with us. Please email follow up questions for Scott to Coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com
News, Notes and More!
Tickets are on sale for the Saltwater Finaddicts Inshore tournament that will be held August 24-25. Information for where to get tickets is listed in the flyer below. In addition to the regular categories, in partnership with CCA Alabama to collect live undersized flounder to help with the flounder rebuilding breeding stock.
Rather than dog days, this week will be a somewhat cooler with highs around the mid 80's and nighttime lows in the lower 70's and the back side of all the rain that soaked us this past weekend. This week the we will have great tides, peaking during the early morning hours then falling the rest of the day. Winds will remain out of the southwest for the next couple days then switch more west then northeast then back to the southeast into the weekend. Seas should remain around 2 foot this week.
For information on what's biting, what to use and other tips to catch more fish, check out the guide reports in each weeks report. We cover Orange Beach to the Mississippi Sound. Be sure and check out MeMe's kitchen below for a great new recipe.
Until next time, 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 your answer to coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com to get in the drawing held on Facebook live on Sunday nights @coastalfishingconnections at 8 p.m.
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.
MeMe's Coastal Delights by Melinda Ellis
"Hey Guys! I’m super excited to be able to share some of my recipes and cooking ideas with you! I love cooking and trying new things. I’m just a simple girl and don’t claim to be anything more than that.
A couple things to always remember when reading my recipes….
#1. When I say butter, I mean REAL butter and don’t be stingy with it.
#2. Seasonings are always a recommendation…so follow YOUR taste buds on that.
#3. The recipe below will be about as fancy as I get…I like to cook good, simple food that makes you do a happy dance while you’re eating it!"
Grilled Snapper with Cajun Cream Sauce
Cajun Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
A dash of olive oil
1 quart of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of instant potato flakes
16 oz of crawfish tails or crabmeat (the sauce is great without either of these, but WAY better with ‘em!)
2 tablespoons of Tony’s seasoning (more if you want a real kick)
Salt/Pepper to taste preference
Instructions:
In a medium size sauce pot, simmer on low heat the butter, olive oil and minced garlic for 5 minutes.
Turn up heat to med/hi heat, Add 1 qt of heavy whipping cream, salt/pepper, and Tony’s. Stir often while bringing to a slow boil. DO NOT leave unattended, it’ll boil up on ya’ before you know it! Once it reaches a boil, turn down heat to a slow simmer. Let simmer on low for about 30 minutes, stirring often. Cream will begin to thicken. Add instant potato flakes, a little at the time and stir until mixed well, this will help thicken the sauce and add a little additional flavor. Add crawfish tails or crabmeat.
Continue to simmer, stirring often, for another 20-30 minutes. This sauce gets better with simmer time and will just continue to add flavor!
Grilled Snapper
Ingredients:
Snapper filets on the “half-shell”
Or
Boneless/skinless Filets
Butter
Salt/Pepper/Complete Seasoning
Instructions:
Prep and prepare your grill to med/hi heat.
If you’re grilling on the half shell, place your filets skin side down, drizzle with butter and sprinkle with seasonings.
If you’re grilling boneless/skinless filets, place filets on a sheet of aluminum foil and fold up edges. (what I like to call an aluminum foil “boat”) Throw in a couple tablespoons of butter and sprinkle with seasonings.
It really depends on your grill and/or coals as to how long it takes to cook…I prefer a low/medium heat so it gets more flavor. Don’t worry about the time it takes to cook, but more the look of the fish…you want the “meat” to be white, firm and flakey.
Once your fish is done, serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or veggies…..drench it all in cream sauce….add a chunk of French bread and enjoy!"
Sponsor Spotlight
In case you haven't noticed, we have great contributors each week that are passionate about fishing and helping people catch more fish in the Coastal Alabama waters. This week, one of our contributors is the sponsor for the giveaway. The Bama Beach Bum himself, Matt Isbell, has quickly gained a huge following due to sharing his passion for fishing through instructional YouTube videos and including us all in his every day life vlogs. Matt is always putting himself out there.
Here's a little more about Matt from his new website. "I grew up bass and crappie fishing in a town called Wetumpka, in Central Alabama. I moved to the gulf coast in my early twenties and began my saltwater fishing journey. Saltwater fishing catapulted my fishing addiction with the variety of species to catch and eat! My primary focus is to bring you along with me on my journey to continue to discover new techniques and tactics to catch, conserve, cook, and consume the resources available to me living on the gulf coast.
If you would like information on booking a guided beach fishing trip in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, or Fort Morgan, Alabama, please click on "Book Your Trip" above. Thanks again for stopping by and remember...stay bummy!"
Weekly Giveaway
This week, Matt rolled out his apparel to the masses with his "It's a Pomp" UPF 50 Long Sleeve Solar Performance Shirts. You can check him and his apparel out at his website, www.staybummy.com
Read below and get in the drawing for this weeks' giveaway!
In what small town in Alabama did Matt Isbell grow up?
Congratulations to Doris Kizziah, winner of the Bent Outfitters Fishing T-shirt and visor.
Submit your answer via email to coastalfishingconnections@gmail.com
Like and Follow the 2 new social media accounts set up for the weekly report and share our report to get an extra entry into the drawing.
Facebook: @coastalfishingconnections
Instagram: @coastal_fishing_connections
And NOW to the Reports...
Mobile Delta
Dippi Outdoors - Dip McMillian
Email: alkeenmcmillan87@gmail.com
Phone: 251-747-9261
Dip shares his slab catching experience with you guys in this weeks' report! "Me and my buddy fished the Upper Tensaw Saturday morning. We started out crappie fishing south of Hubbards Landing, but the bite was slow. We managed to catch one keeper, but had to leave due to a bad storm.
After the storm blew over, I decided to head north on Tensaw Lake, and troll at all depths with minnows. I finally found a consistent bite in 5ft of water, and it lasted until we were out of minnows."
Thank you Dip for that outstanding report! If you like to freshwater 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
Matt said, "It was a tough week due to a neap tide and storms coming in off the Gulf many mornings. The storms shut me down a few times so I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked. The whiting bite was the most consistent, aside from hardhead catfish! Hardheads have taken over the surf zone in full force and are difficult to get around many days.
The most effective way to slow them down is take off the natural baits if you are using pompano rigs or carolina rigs and switch to just Fishbites. I had the most success slowing them down and giving the whiting time to find my bait by leaving the fresh dead shrimp off the hook. We have three different species of whiting along the Alabama Gulf Coast: gulf kingfish, southern kingfish, and northern kingfish. We caught mostly southern kingfish with fewer gulf kingfish mixed in. They all taste great!
I did have a couple trips this week that we caught a couple nice keeper pompano, but they are just loners and not schooled up. I wouldn’t plan on pompano being a target this week. Since I didn’t get out as much, I know that there have been some flounder starting to show up in the surf from other angler’s reports as well as still some slot redfish. These species are much more spread out and I wouldn’t expect to catch a bunch of either on your trip to the beach. I would plan on targeting whiting on your trip with the hopes of maybe coming across a redfish or possibly a flounder if you have some live bait available.
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, "It was a tough week to pier fish. These fronts that push in throughout the day tend to trigger good chew downs normally, but the water temperature isn't cooperating. All of the fresh water pouring out of the rivers usually keep the waters the water dirty and the fish pushed out. West winds are the devil...that's old news though. Patience will be the key. Use these days to save gas money, tie leaders and re-spool your reels. The season grows near and it's about to get G-R-E-A-T! Worst case scenario, you go fishing. That's never a bad thing.
Y'all keep casting. That's the secret after all.
Keep up with the latest Gulf State Pier information at GSPierfishing.com. or on Alabama Pier Rats.
Offshore Report
Orange Beach, Alabama
Bent Outfitters Fishing - Captain Billy Howell
Facebook: @bentoutfittersfishing
Instagram: @bent_outfitters_fishing
Website: www.bentoutfittersfishing.com
Cell: 601-938-7161
"From an early age, fishing has been a passion and provided me a way to spend time with my daughters in the outdoors. Both of my daughters really seem to enjoy their time on the water and definitely enjoy that feeling when the rod is bent, and the unknown of what they will be bringing up from the murky depths. This year is sentimental for me as our only daughter left living at home is a senior at Fairhope High School. Mallory has always had a nack for fishing, winning the speckled trout category at the FHS Pirate Classic a couple years ago. Had we known all she needed to win master angler, we would have put a little more time in chasing that elusive redfish.
This past Tuesday was the last opportunity of the summer before school started to get out on the water. Since triggerfish was closing soon, we decided to go target triggerfish and vermillion snapper. At the end of the day, she had caught about 8 vermillion and the biggest triggerfish of the day. All in all, between KO, Ethan, and the two Jeffs' we had put together a nice box of fish.
On Saturday, we were back on the water but inshore. Due to the honking winds and storms in the area, we decided to focus in the rivers on the Eastern Shore and Weeks Bay. During the first couple hours, the bite was pretty slow as the tide was nearing high tide and the water wasn't moving at all. We did manage to catch an 18 inch flounder with a shrimp carolina rigged. About 7:50, heavy rains hit the area and we sought refuge under a boat dock on Magnolia River. Once the rain lightened up, we started fishing docks and grass lines with Fairhope Rattle Corks. We encountered a redfish bite that was "en fuego" and only diminshed once we ran out of live shrimp. By that time the trip was over.
Interesting of note, I had to do a water rescue for Barbie on this trip. The customer's daughter, Jolee, who was almost 3 years old brought her barbie rod to do some fishing. Near the end of the trip I was casting her line out and the rod slipped out of my hands and sunk to the bottom. Slipping over the side, I retrieved it off the bottom just in time to see the cork go under and hand off the rod to her to reel in her first redfish.
Elsewhere offshore, Big boats continue to hammer the amberjack, vermillion snapper and grouper and a buddy of mine Captain Randy Reid, has had a couple great trips offshore the past couple weekends.
INSHORE REPORT
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 got to take a little R&R and go on a cruise this week for his birthday so Happy Birthday Captain! Hope it was a blast. He had an outstanding offshore trip this week before heading out on vacation. Looking forward to your report next week!
Captain Dusty offers guided fishing trips in Coastal Alabama out of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores and is sure to offer a great time on the water and catch fish!
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 got a little fishing in this week before his trip to Yukon country for his birthday! Happy Birthday Captain! "The trout bite continues to be spotty. Ironically enough, we have still been having better midday bites then early morning bites again this past week. Capitalizing on the bites you get continues to be important. Live shrimp and Vudu's under popping corks as well as slip corks continue to be the ticket in most areas.
We have still been 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. These 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 was slow around Dauphin Island and Mobile Bay this past week. We had heard of some good reports out of Mississippi so on a recent off day we decided to go exploring and fish over between Pascagoula to Gulfport. We were in for a pleasant treat upon finding the fishing was better then what we had been finding closer to home.
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 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 has some great advice for locating redfish in this weeks Ugly Minute!
"Find the baby skip jack and find the redfish. This was a pattern I stumbled on last August with my Dad and Brother. Yes, if you catch small 10”-16” skip jack aka ladyfish it is very likely you are near some hungry redfish. Well, this pattern reared it’s ugly head again last Saturday and continued this entire week. Find the skip jack, that’s stupid and aggravating but it worked.
So, I don’t have x-ray vision or some sort of special skip jack seeking sonar but what I do have is live shrimp and if skip jack are around they will find a live shrimp faster than a rattlesnake strike. We fished areas from Fort Morgan all the way to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta this week. And everywhere we caught or saw the little skip jack jumping and flipping out of the water we caught redfish. Now, there is a trick to it. We were successful catching reds near the skip jack by doing 1 of 3 things. First option is to fan cast the area with a popping cork and live, dead or vudu shrimp. The dead shrimp actually seem to be a little bit of a deterrent for the skip jack yet the reds will typically not hesitate. The vudu can be the best option sometimes. Sometimes the reds will eat the vudu just like live shrimp and sometimes they won’t touch it so try it first to save your bait. Second option is to switch over to jigs, crank baits, swimbaits or other redfish ready lures. Third option is to have 2”-4” live pogies or shad. Use them either on freeline or under a cork.
In addition to redfish we were successful at landing some really nice Spanish mackerel and speckled trout around the gas rigs at the lower end of the bay. We would actually try to avoid the giant 2+# skipjack around the rigs because one high flying 2# skip jack can successfully tangle 4 lines in 1 second flat. So do not follow the find the skip jack find the reds concept around the rigs because a 2#r will eat anything that moves and you can’t get around them. That is all I have to report from this week.
Next week I’m making a trip to Jacksonville for a couple days then back in Mobile Bay to locate speckled trout, Redfish and hopefully some triple tail and maybe just maybe a legal cobia or five :-) A couple of things to think about on your next trip. Are you paying attention to the details? Are you only going to areas that you have caught fish before? Get out of your comfort zone a little bit and go to some brand new areas and be prepared to zero but you never know when a hero will show.
Over the next 6-8 weeks my schedule will be lighter than the heart of the summer, so if you want to slip out for a few hours, half day or a whole day I have some flexibility in my schedule to make it happen. Bull reds should be showing up in a big way along with cobia in the gulf and triple tail throughout the bay not to mention the slot reds and speckled trout will be around. Do me a favor and go subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Facebook and Instagram."
Have a great week and best of luck on your next fishing trip. Remember, if it’s good bad or ugly it’s better than cleaning the garage."
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.
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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