Coastal Fishing Connections Newsletter - 9/3/2018
- Coastal Fishing Connections
- Sep 3, 2018
- 9 min read
When the tropics speak...we listen!
It was just about a month ago we passed the 13 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive natural weather disasters on record. It always seems the tropics start firing on all cylinders during those last few months of the hurricane season and now, here we are. Tropical Storm Gordon, projected to possibly strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane prior to landfall, is bearing down on the Gulf Coast and is moving at a rapid pace, almost as fast paced as those heading out to buy gas, bottled water and bread.
As rapidly as the storm is moving, the main concerns will be sustained winds that are known to knock down limbs and power lines, tornadoes to the eastern side of the eye wall, locally heavy rain and storm surge ranging from 1-5 feet. Luckily the storm should be arriving at the bottom of low tide.
While Gordon is far from a major hurricane, it will certainly be an inconvenience. Baldwin and Mobile County schools have already planning for early release and multiple events have been cancelled tomorrow evening. Tropical Storm / Hurricane Gordon should give us an opportunity to run through our hurricane preparedness drill. Below is a repost from an article from southern living that talks about what you should have on hand for your hurricane survival kit. Click the link to go to the article.
Finally, a first-aid kit should be one of your first preparedness purchases. You’ll want to make sure to stock it well. We like these guidelines from the American Red Cross. Find more information at the FEMA site. And please stay safe." www.southernliving.com
The best thing you can do is to not worry, but BE PREPARED! We do live on the Gulf Coast after all. Unwelcome guests are bound crash the party every now and again.
News, Notes and More!
ACFA is slated to hold their monthly meeting this coming Thursday, September 6th at Moe's Original Barbecue starting at 6:30 p.m.
For information on what's biting, what to use and other tips to catch more fish, check out the guide reports each week. We cover Orange Beach to the Mississippi Sound. Be sure and check out MeMe's kitchen below for a great new recipe.
This week, RAIN, RAIN, WIND, RAIN with a little sunshine in between and highs in the mid 80's. Seas will be treacherous for a couple days this week, so pay attention to the marine forecasts. Things should calm down by the weekend and allow most everyone to get back to doing what they love.
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
This weeks' recipe is simple and easy and it’s one of my family’s favorites! It’s also my standard “boat food." If I’m going fishing for more than an hour or two, I usually whip this up and have it in my cooler with a couple plastic forks for a quick snack between hauling in fish. ;)
But, I will say I’ve had a few folks tell me this isn’t “appropriate” boat food but I just say ...they don’t have to eat it!
Shrimp Pasta Salad
Ingredients
1 box elbow pasta
1-3 lbs of shrimp (the more the better, if you’ve got a good check this week then pile ‘em on!)
2 cups Mayonnaise
1/2 cup regular mustard
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1 cup dill relish
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook pasta
Either boil or sauté shrimp (I prefer to sauté so I can flavor them good)
Mix all ingredients together and serve chilled.
Sponsor Spotlight
This week we are featuring Fly Creek Marina in Fairhope. Family owned for over 25 years, Fly Creek Marina holds one of the best sunset views on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. Recently, the marina has undergone a massive face lift that includes: raising the dock behind the dry dock storage by 9 feet, a new long dock with wash hoses along where all the boats get launched, and a brand new fish cleaning station. Fly Creek Marina has both wet slips and dry dock storage and will be installing a few boat lifts in the upcoming months..
Marina Manager, Jeannie Paradise has championed all the updates and is super excited. Couple these updates with outstanding long term employees and Panini Pete's Sunset Pointe restaurant and Fly Creek Marina is poised to be the PREMIER marina in Fairhope!
Weekly Giveaway
This week, we will be giving away a $ 25.00 Academy gift card.
Read below and get in the drawing for this weeks' giveaway!
What are 2 key ingredients of MeMe's coastal delight this week?
Congratulations to Ricky Strickland for winning 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.
And NOW to this weeks Reports...
Mobile Delta
Dippi Outdoors - Dip McMillian
Email: alkeenmcmillan87@gmail.com
Phone: 251-747-9261
Dip says, "It was another slow weekend in the Tensaw Delta. The conditions have been brutal with the high winds! The spider rigging technique is the way I catch the majority of my crappie, and with high wind you can't get your minnow or jig at the exact depth the fish are staging. The brutal wind didn't stop the bream bite on the fly rod. I found a long creek and was definitely block by the wind. The action was good all morning until I left around 11:00
Thank you Dip for that Delta report. Hopefully we can get rid of some of this wind in September. 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 stayed busy on the beach this week despite the rough conditions and had this to say. "The slot redfish have been pretty fired up in the surf the last few days. Rough surf conditions over the past week have seemed to make the bite pretty good. A few black drum have been mixed in with them, but that bite has died down compared to previous weeks.
Depending on what area I was fishing, I got into some very large schools of ladyfish similar to what you see more of in the early summer months and are a lot of fun on light tackle! Whiting seemed to be shy with the rougher surf conditions. I didn't see near the numbers we have in previous weeks.
This upcoming week we do have a tropical system, Gordon, coming close by. I'm not sure exactly how this will affect our area at this point, but we should see some pretty rough surf with large swells and strong rip currents regardless.
This is going to make surf fishing difficult or nearly impossible for a few days and also will reshape the contours of our beaches. If you have some holes that you've been fishing lately, be prepared for those areas to look a lot different once this storm has passed. Some new scouting will need to be done to find areas that are conducive to holding fish.
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, "Gulf Shores Pier was pretty slow this week. Tuesday and Wednesday offered a pretty good spanish mackerel bite but yielded no kings. The trout have still been holding in the lights.
The Gulf blender (TS Gordon), will put a damper on the fishing this week. They SAY, to be a good fisherman, you need patience, sometimes more than others. It's still okay to go fishing.
My biggest pier king to date came out of very muddy water. Keep casting and stay ready!"
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
In speaking with other captains, the grouper and amberjack bite continue to be consistent, the tuna bite is heating up with more pockets of blue water showing up. The spanish and king mackerel have been biting.
This tropical system will definitely have an impact on the fishing this week so hopefully we can get back out there toward the end of the week to give you a more detailed report.
Inshore, we fished the big river early in the week and found a mediocre redfish and mangrove snapper bite. In other areas up north, the redfish bite was on fire. Find the schools of mullet and pogies and you will be poised for a nice surprise.
INSHORE REPORT
Orange Beach / Perdido Key / Gulf Shores - Wolf Bay - ICW
The mangrove snapper bite is still solid around docks and concrete structures and more redfish are being caught each week. It won't be long until that fall trout bite will be on fire.
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 said between getting caught up from being on vacation the week prior and the weather conditions this week, he wasn't able get his trips in but from reports, the speckled trout bite was still sporadic. Like the rest of us, he should be back on the water this week after the storm and have a more detailed report next week!
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 joined us this week on Coastal Fishing Connections live Sunday night broadcast for a quick catch up. Capt. Patric's Big Ugly was in the shop last week having some scheduled service work completed to get ready for the fall onslaught.
During our conversation, Capt. Patric talked about his focus redfishing the past couple weeks around shallow grass lines. Over the previous couple weeks he had caught tons of redfish using popping corks with live shrimp / vudu shrimp and Yum mud minnows. While fishing some of those same areas this past week, he found the fish had moved on so he had to as well. Capt. Patric did mention catching a few quality speckled trout in Weeks Bay.
According to Capt. Patric, get those weedless gold spoons ready to toss into grass lines to find those redfish over the next few weeks because it's about to get HOT! Highlight of the week for Capt. Patric was a 74 year young angler battling a jack crevalle for an hour.
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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