Dauphin Island Bull Reds

Because my work has been keeping me in Mobile, Alabama, I've missed fishing the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, so this afternoon, I decided to take a drive and check out the Dauphin Island bull reds that some of the locals have been talking about.

Dauphin Island, Al is a barrier island situated directly across from Gulf Shores, Alabama.   

Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores guard the entrance to Mobile Bay.

During the fall months, some nice bull redfish can be caught along the shores of both areas and in particular the jetties at Fort Gaines, which is why I decided to wet a line this afternoon.

The air temperature was in the low 70s and there appeared to be an outgoing tide when I drove into a parking spot at the end of the road at Fort Gaines.

The only rod I had with me today was a 7' river rod with 8 pound fluorocarbon line.  Not what I needed to tackle a bull redfish!  

I planned on fishing the farthermost jetty but it was already occupied with a for or five fishermen so I didn't want to intrude.  Instead,  I walked down the beach to a rocky outcrop and started fan casting with a 1/4 oz. jighead and a chartreuse Strike King paddle tail bait.

The water was a bit rough and dirty close to shore so I spent a lot of time bouncing the jig across the bottom without any response.

As I was fishing, I noted that the guys on the long jetty were catching fish on their 8' to 10' rods.  These guys came prepared.

After  about a half an hour of casting, I finally hooked into a fish that took off like a "bat out of hell".  It came close to spooling me before breaking off the jig.

As I was reeling in my limp line, I saw one of the guys on the jetty hooking up with something decent.  At first I thought it was a redfish, but it turned out to be a hefty sail catfish.  The short video below shows the catch.

Almost immediately after he landed the Sail Cat and got back to his spot on the jetty, he hooked into another fish which turned out to be a nice bull redfish that looked to be at least 25 pounds.

At this point I stopped fishing to take some pics and another video of the catches.

After he caught the second fish, I tied on another jig and started fan casting but I never got another hit, so when the guys on the jetty hooked into another fish, I decided to walk over to take a pic or two of his catch before heading back.

The second fish was a bit larger than the first red and looked to be about 30 pounds.  Definitely candidates for a decent fish fry!

Although these two reds would be illegal to harvest in east central Florida; Alabama regulations allow harvesting one fish per day over the slot, with a three fish limit.

Both of the bull reds were caught on chunks of cut mullet for bait.

As I left the jetty, I made a mental note to pick up some mullet for bait and a heftier outfit for my next trip to the jetties.

Till next time, Tight Lines.