hat a month! And really a big one for yours truly. First, ole Tricky Dick had another birthday, and that ain’t bad as it sure beats the alternative! My good friend, retired General Rich Moss, and I celebrated our birthdays together again with family and friends at the “Boss Moss” home on the front beach, for the 8th annual year. And it was party time! Then, I experienced another major milestone as “the love of my life”, my awesome wife, Jacky, and I celebrated our 60th Wedding AnniversaryAlabama Gulf Coast EditionJul 1st, 2014
July is here, and Coastal Anglers love this month. Hopefully, the rains will stay away. The salinity of the bays and bayous will rise. Yes it will be hot! For coastal anglers trading rain and wind for heat is a fine trade.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJul 1st, 2014
Well the weather has really warmed up and so has the fishing around Dauphin Island. After all the recent rain, the water has cleared up and the trout bite is finally getting back to normal in the usual summer time spots in Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay and the Gulf side of Sand, Pelican and Dauphin Island and over around Fort Morgan. We have been catching them with slip corks around the gas rigs in the Bay and around any deep water structure,10 to 15 feet deep, suspending the live shrimp in the lower portion of the water column. Also, we have been catching trout by free lining live croakers and pogies, around the Islands lately. We have also been catching trout and reds on popping cork rigs in the more shallow areas, fishing a live shrimp about 18 inches below the popping cork. This pattern should continue for the coming months. The tripletail have started to shown up and the white trout are always here. All in all, the summertime fishing pattern is on.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJul 1st, 2014
June was a very good month for fishing the Alabama Gulf Coast. Red snapper season has come and gone quickly. July brings the opening of gag grouper season. With a long closure, I would expect some nice gag grouper to be caught. Gag grouper is expected to close on the Fall. Remember, red grouper, scamp grouper, vermillion snapper, white snapper, king mackerel and wahoo can be caught and kept in July. Most of these fish are caught offshore so you will need to plan on a full day of fishing. Deep drop fishing has been producing some nice fish including snowy grouper, yellowedge grouper, long tail seabass, blue line tilefish and golden tilefish. Offshore trolling for wahoo, mahi mahi, marlin and tuna should improve in July if we have some pretty water move in closer. The tuna bite on the offshore rigs has been great one day and slow the next. July should be better for fishing the offshore rigs.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJul 1st, 2014
July already here and the fishing is getting as hot as the weather outside. The bay is finally starting to clean up from all the rain and the fish are stacking up in their usually places. The gas rigs on the lower end of the bay are holding nice numbers of specks. Slip corks fished with live shrimp are doing the trick. You can also fish live croakers free-lined and find some hungry big trout around the same rigs. The three reefs placed by the CCA towards the West End of Dauphin Island are already holding good numbers of trout. The Dixie Bar has been giving up some nice bull reds lately. Again, live croakers or cracked crabs, drug along the bottom are working the best. You can also troll the Mann Stretch 25's, asAlabama Gulf Coast EditionJul 1st, 2014
Warmer days are here so get up early and get out on the bite. Suspending baits like the MirrOlure 17mr and 14mr have been my trout baits lately. Fish them with patience letting them sit for a few seconds letting the fish react. Top water baits are still producing early and late in the day for trout and reds. I like using the top dog jr. and mini skitter walk. Pick your colors to the clarity of the water you are fishing and what give you confidence. Confidence in a lure does more for catching fish for me than anything other. Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJun 2nd, 2014
May and early June is usually the best fishing for Specs and Reds on Mobile Bay until the fall. This year is off to a late start. Water temps are in the low 70's and the water is pretty dirty from the rains in April. April fishing has been a bust along the eastern shore and, all of the bay, for that matter. The monsoon like rain at the end of April shut down May fishing in the Bay.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJun 1st, 2014
Well, summer is here and the cool nights and days are gone. We are in the full summer fishing pattern now. As the day warms, Speckled trout can be found in deeper water around structure, such as the Mobile Bay gas rigs and reefs and wrecks in Mississippi Sound. I use a slip cork rig when fishing around this type structure. Fish with the bait suspended off the bottom 2 to 3 feet, or in the lower third of the water column. Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJun 1st, 2014
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, at its April meeting and under the hammer of the Federal Courts, declared the ridiculous recreational season for red snapper to be eleven days. As reported last month in this column, the Council had no choice. The recreational quota had been exceeded for the sixth time in seven years.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJun 1st, 2014
"June" it’s a grand word. It not only means the season of picnics and backyard barbecues has arrived, but it also signifies a perfect month of fishing. Last month, the fishing was improving all along the shores and bayous. To the dismay of many Coastal Anglers, we got hit with 3 days of torrential rains, which turned salt water bays into mud holes. By the time this magazine goes to press, the waters should be cleared and salinity rising.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJun 1st, 2014
