As the weather and water gets colder look for deep holes that the fish will congregate in. Fish become lethargic as the water temperatures drop. I like to fish a Saltwater Assassin die dapper on a 1⁄4 oz. jig head, a mirrOlure soft dine, or a sinking corky. Fish slow and low bouncing your lure off the bottom. During these cold days also look for flats near drop offs that will heat up quicker during a sunny day. Fish these flats in the afternoon where fish will come to feed. I am catching a lot of reds cruising close to the bank looking to eat.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJan 1st, 2014
Happy New Year everyone!!! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope the first resolution everyone made was to go fishing more this year! I know it's one of mine. With the start of the new year, hopefully the weather will start to cooperate and everyone can get out and start catching some fish!! The fall fishing kinda got hit hard with the incoming cold fronts and muddy water from up north. The winter patterns are finally starting to shape up and the fish are wanting to eat. The deep water patterns on slow bouncing or the "do nothing drift" are starting to work. The Mobile river is starting to hold fish in the deep water basins Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJan 1st, 2014
The Gulf of Mexico is an extraordinary place, but despite the growing number of people who live, work and play on the Gulf Coast, we know very little about the Gulf in its entirety. Its wonders are bountiful, and its resources provide the people who live along its shores a unique way of life. Ocean Conservancy has worked in the Gulf region for over two decades, with a primary focus on managing our fisheries sustainably. However, on April 20, 2010, the focus of our work took on a new direction. With the explosion of Deepwater Horizon, it became evident that this large marine ecosystem was in danger and would need extensive restoration to recover from this devastating disaster. However, the Gulf was no stranger to degradation prior to the oil disaster. Land loss, overfishing and polluted stormwater runoff are just a few of the factors that have hindered the productivity of the Gulf ecosystem for decades.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJan 1st, 2014
Offshore fishing should be good through the winter. I would recommend fishing 100 feet and deeper in the cold months. You can still catch amberjack, vermillion snapper, white snapper, triggerfish, scamp and red grouper through the winter. Always try cut squid and whole squid. Live bait is good when you can find it. Watch the weather forecast and find you a nice day between cold fronts. Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJan 1st, 2014
HAPPY NEW YEAR ! With Christmas behind us, we can start planning for the new year and hopefully warmer temps soon which leads to good fishing, wishful thinking I know, but hey it beats dreading winter. With lower air and water temps the trout will still be in the deeper tidal rivers that dump into the Bay and Sound. If you can find live shrimp, by all means get some before you leave the dock, if not the good ole shrimp and minnow imitations will work well fished on a 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jig head. Fish deep from 8 to 12 feet and even deeper in the holes where the water temperatures and salinity are constant; AND remember present the baits SLOW, SLOW , SLOW and keep the jig head in contact with the bottom as much as possible. Alabama Gulf Coast EditionJan 1st, 2014
Combine four charter boats, at least four hundred gallons of diesel fuel, eight hundred pounds of ice, many boxes of bait, snacks, drinks, four captains, four mates, 20 volunteer deck hands, and at least fifty hamburger lunches with almost forty kids all battling pediatric cancer and you have the fixings of a great day of fun.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionDec 1st, 2013
December brings a definitive chill to the water and air which signals the onset of true winter weather along the beaches of coastal Alabama. The two sides of that coin are the warm, windy and often wet days that precede the periodic cold fronts and the colder, dryer, clearer days that follow the fronts. If there are enough days between the weather systems, we are provided with a day (or two) of pleasantly mild and often sunny weather to pursue the fish which remain in our waters even as they cool well into the lower 60s.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionDec 1st, 2013
Thanksgiving is behind us and cooler days and nights prevail. We had some epic trips in November and things should progress into December before the really cold months of January and February make fishing more difficult. With the colder air and water temperatures, the speckled trout will move into the deeper parts of the rivers that feed into Mobile Bay, Fowl River Bay, Grand Bay, Portersville Bay and others. When its colder the trout will hold up in the deeper holes of these rivers like Fowl River, Dog River, Little River and Bayou La Batre. The deeper holes are often found where the river makes a hard bend; Fish a carolina rig or slip cork rig deep and on the ledges around these holes with a live shrimp or imitation shrimp if you can get them, if not use a VuDu shrimp; I have found that the new VuDu shrimp are one of, if not the best, soft plastic shrimp imitation baits ever made. I love the natural, cajun pepper, gold and brown shrimp varieties. For redfish try the same tactic, although you can use a dead shrimp too fished on the bottom, or smaller finger mullet, mud minnows or Alabama Gulf Coast EditionDec 1st, 2013
November was well above average with a red hot fish bite. The bull redfish are here and here in numbers. Our best trip in November was a charter with two of our boats fishing side by side with one group. We caught and released over 50 bull redfish weighing between 17 and 30 pounds on a 4 hour charter. Some were caught by trolling and some were caught by casting curly tail jigs on light spinning tackle. This fishing for bull redfish should be great in December and through early Spring. We should also continue to catch some big king mackerel along with Spanish mackerel though late fall and early winter. Remember, a 4 hour charter is all you need to target winter redfish.Alabama Gulf Coast EditionDec 1st, 2013
