Spanish Macs Off The Pier

Haven't been on the water much since I've been back to Mobile, but this afternoon I decided to wet a line and try for some Spanish Macs, "white trout", or redfish off the Dauphin Island jetties.

I left my apartment around noon and the weather was great.  There was no wind and the air temperature was 80 degrees when I crossed the bridge going to the island.

The tide looked like it was low but still moving and although I didn't bother to pick up any live bait, I decided to use DOA Shrimp and some Kastmaster spoons that I had stashed in my center console.

I checked out the beach and as usual for a Sunday afternoon, it was loaded with people enjoying the water. 

There was nobody fishing off the jetties which led me to believe that the bite, if any, was off.

I took a bunch of pics before pulling up to the fishing pier where a lone angler was sitting on one of the benches dunking live shrimp under a Cajun Thunder type float.

I picked up a light rod along with a couple of lures and headed out to talk to the gent.

He told me he was fishing for spotted trout which, according to him, come in close to the rocks during low tide periods.

He also said he hadn't had a bite since he started fishing, so consider the source.

Anyway, although there was a lot of boating activity in the area, I started blind casting a small Kastmaster spoon around the rocks and as far out as I could reach.

These little spoons are heavy enough to get some distance on a cast and have an enticing wiggle on the retrieve if you fish them correctly.

After several dozen casts a school of fish came by and much to my surprise, I hooked up to a Spanish mackerel.

I was going to release the fish but I decided to keep it for dinner instead.

I kept casting the lure around hoping for another mackerel to fill me up but instead picked up a "white trout" that I might have snagged.

I kept that fish just to see what it tasted like and kept on casting.

After wearing out my casting arm, I told my fishing buddy I had enough for one day and headed to the truck with my dinner.

When I got back, I cleaned both fish and had a taste of what a fish dinner should be like.  I didn't have enough to fill me up, so I pan fried some shrimp that I defrosted which did the trick.

Till next time,
Tight Lines

Next time I get out, I will definitely keep more than two fish

Fishing The Right Bait

Fishing the right bait has a lot to do with what you catch and this Sunday proved the point, again.

I decided to take a ride down to Dauphin Island this afternoon to wet a line and check out the bite in the area.

When got down to Jamison's bait shop, I picked up a bag of ice and some freshly netted shrimp for bait.

The tide was almost at flood and although I planned to fish the jetties around the Fort past the Mobile Ferry, I wound up fishing around the bridge just past the bait shop.

When I pulled into a dirt road that led to the bridge, there were several other vehicles parked at the spot, so I naturally assumed that the bite had to be on.

I intended to fish under the bridge but a few anglers were already there and I didn't feel like encroaching on their territory, so I grabbed a spot near some pilings where a flock of Pelicans were enjoying the afternoon sun,

I skewered on a shrimp and had bites almost immediately when the bait hit the bottom.

I started catching small sail cats and progressed to catching some nice "brown mullet" aka Whiting; all of which I released.

I was hoping to pick up a redfish or two but all I could entice this afternoon were more whiting and catfish.

I got bored catching fish on almost every cast so I decided to move on to another spot.   As I moved to my truck, I spotted a guy with a nice stringer of fish so I decided to see what they were.

When I got up to where the stringer was tethered on a rock, I took a short video of three nice redfish that somebody had caught.

As I was getting ready to leave, the fisherman who caught the fish introduced himself and we started chatting about fishing spots, conditions, and baits.

Terry was sharing his knowledge of the area with me and we had a nice conversation about catching baitfish and using them for reds.

The fish he had on the stringer were caught on live fingerling mullet under the bridge in the deepest area.

Terry said that you could avoid the rocks by casting in a specific location underneath the middle of the bridge and usually during an incoming tide, you could hit redfish after redfish at that spot.

Terry also said that live finger mullet on a sliding sinker rig was by far the best bait for this area.

I took some pics of him and the fish he caught and told him I would post them on my site, so here we go..

As I was preparing to leave, Terry said he had a freezer full of fish and didn't feel like cleaning his catch so he offered them to me if I wanted them.

At first I hesitated, but decided I liked fresh redfish better than trying the jetties with some shrimp for bait.

I loaded up the reds into my cooler, packed up my rods, and headed back to my apartment to clean some redfish for dinner.

Next time I hit the area, I'll be fishing with live mullet.

Till then,
Tight Lines

Fishing A Full Tide

Fishing Dauphin Island can be productive if you hit the tide right but this afternoon the tide was full and the only thing biting were sail cats and hard heads.

I hit Jamison's bait shop to pick up a couple pounds of freshly caught shrimp before heading to Dauphin Island.

The guys at the bait shop said that black drum and redfish were hitting a moving tide at the nearest bridge but be prepared to lose a lot of tackle.

I knew from past trips that about half the time I was trying to fish around the bridge, I was wasting re-tying terminal tackle but I decided to give it a try anyway.

When I got to a spot at the bridge, I pulled out a spinning rod with an Okuma bait runner reel spooled with 12 pound Cajun Red line.

There were a couple of anglers in boats who were fishing the grassy shoreline with live shrimp under floats who seemed to be catching fish, so I baited up with a fresh dead shrimp and flipped out a cast toward the deeper water in the channel.

The last time I fished this area, I caught a ton of small croaker and one nice redfish.  Today was a different story.

As soon as my bait hit the bottom I had a good hit and missed the fish. 

I put on a new bait and cast to the same spot with the same results. 

Finally, after losing a few baits I got the hang of it and landed a small Gaf Topsail catfish.

The sailcat was almost too small to eat the 4/0 Owner hook but I unhooked the little guy and continued fishing.

I spent about an hour at the spot and caught at least a dozen sail cats and hardheads from 6 inches to about a foot and a half before calling it a day and moving on.

While I was fishing, a couple of friendly feral cats came by to watch me fish, so I gave them some shrimp which they seemed to really enjoy.

As I left the area, I gave them a few more to keep them happy.

I drove down to the jetties at Fort Morgan to see if anyone was fishing and to my surprise, nobody was on the rocks.

I stopped to ask an angler who was packing up to go and was told that until the tide turned, it was "pretty much a waste of time and bait" to fish.

I took some pics of the area and the oil rigs offshore before heading back.

On the way, I pulled up to the short fishing pier where some people were sitting with cane poles and shrimp fishing for "white trout".   We call them sand trout in our area.

Anyway, they were catching fish but I was in the market for larger game and since it was late, I decided to head back to Mobile.

Next time I fish the area, I'll check the tide tables.  Something I don't bother with in the wildlife refuge.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Saturday On Dauphin Island

I finally broke down and decided to get my Alabama out of state fishing license renewed so I could legally wet a line on Dauphin Island.

The weather was decent but there was a stiff wind blowing which made fishing on the Island pretty iffy.

I drove down to the bait shop and picked up a mullet and a couple pounds of fresh shrimp for bait.  

The lady at the bait shop said that a few fishermen were catching big black drum at the bridge on the incoming tide, so I decided to give it a shot before driving all the way to the end of Dauphin Island past the Mobile Ferry to fish.

I parked and walked to the spot she suggested to fish and baited up one of my long surf rods with shrimp.

She warned me about the rocks and suggested heavy tackle and since I was using my Penn outfit spooled with 20 pound Cajun Red mono, I felt well prepared.

The tide was rushing in under the bridge from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pelicans were having a ball feeding on the crabs and baitfish that was being pushed through the relatively small opening.

I took a couple of short videos of them feeding before tossing out my baits.

A couple of groups of anglers on the other side of the bridge seemed to be spending all of their time re-rigging,,. At least I didn't see anybody catching anything.

I had  bites almost every cast but they turned out to be catfish of all sizes.

I had to re-tie new sliding sinker rigs three times before I finally got fed up enough to leave the area.  Fishing in the fast current with 2 oz. egg sinkers is fun to a point, but when you get snagged on almost every cast; it gets old fast.

On the way out a couple of locals were coming in to fish and asked me what I caught.  I told them "only cats" and bitched about the snags a bit before asking them what they expected to catch.

They told me that they usually pick up croaker, drum, redfish, "white trout" and catfish in that area and occasionally sheepshead under the bridge.

I wished them well and headed down to the end of the island.

The waves along the causeway were breaking over the road in a couple of places and the water was pretty dirty.   Not a good formula for catching fish.

I got to the fishing pier and watched the crew boat head out to the closest oil rig to resupply the workers and after a seagull took a dump on my shirt I decided I had enough fun for one day.

 

The trip back to the apartment was uneventful but since I still had almost all my bait left, I made a mental not to go fishing tomorrow when the weather was supposed to be more favorable.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Dauphin Island Jetty Fishing In December

Dauphin Island jetty fishing in December is supposed to be good for bull redfish, so I decided to hit the rocks Sunday afternoon to see if the reports were as purported.

I started late and didn't bother checking the tide until I has halfway there.  As luck would have it, the tide was slack and just beginning to run out into the Gulf.

I planned to fish the pier at the parking lot near the boat launch, but when I got there, I was disappointed to see that the pier was closed to fishing.

Apparently the hurricane did it's work on the wooden pier and caused just enough damage to make it unsafe for fishermen.

I drove past the pier to the parking area for the beach and easily found a space.  Winter time in the Gulf makes for easy parking!

It was quickly becoming evident that the fishing was going to be slow.  No one was fishing off of any of the jetties.

Since I made the 15 mile drive to the rocks, I decided to at least wet a line give it a try anyway.  

I brought a 9' rod that was loaded with 20 pound Cajun Red line and about 4 feet of 30 pound fluorocarbon  leader.   I had a 4 oz. barrel sinker above the swivel and a 4/0 Owner hook snelled to the business end.

I brought along a couple large frozen mullet for bait and was going to buy some fresh mullet at the local bait shop, but when I learned that the tide was against me, I opted for using frozen mullet instead.

I trudged to the end of the longest jetty, cut of a chunk of mullet steak, tossed it as far as I could into the deepest area, and started taking pics of the surroundings.

There was a lot of boating activity and more beach goers than I expected but I was the only one fishing from the rocks.

I kept losing baits so I down sized my offering and started catching smaller fish.

As the tide started to go out, I managed to catch 6 whiting, three croaker, and one small sail cat.

The last croaker I landed was only about 5 inches long so I hooked it in the lip and tossed it out in hopes of catching a big redfish.

I's like to report that I landed a bull red but I didn't.   I spent the next 45 minutes or so drowning the croaker without another bite and because the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping, I decided to pack it in and head back to Tillman's Corner.

Although I didn't slay the local fishery, it was good to get out and enjoy the winter afternoon at Dauphin Island.

I hope you enjoy the pics and short video.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Dauphin Island Redfish

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to head over to Dauphin Island in Mobile, Al. to see if the redfish were biting.

I loaded up a surf rod that I had the foresight to bring along with me from Titusville, a 7 foot river rod that I keep tipped with a jig and grub combo, and a couple of bags of cut mullet I had in the freezer from my last trip.

The half hour drive to the jetties went quickly but when I got to the area, there were no parking spaces anywhere.  I made a couple of rounds around the parking area hoping to snag a space, but after the third trip, I gave up.

The fishing pier and all of the jetties had people fishing from them and the beach was as crowded as I have ever seen it, so I opted to fish at the first bridge going onto the island instead.

I pulled into the road adjacent to the small canal, unloaded the rods and bait cooler from the truck, and started walking underneath the bridge to find a spot.

As I walked over to the barrier, a couple of guys who had just finished fishing were loading their fish into the truck.

They had caught several nice redfish in the slot to 25 pound category, and a couple of nice black drum.  When I asked them what they caught the redfish on, they told me they had been using live "bull minnows" and were fishing on the incoming tide just off the bank.

I took a few pics of their catch below, and headed to where they were fishing.

They told me that the bite had slowed down because of the tide change, but since I was already here, I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I baited up with a large chunk of mullet, pitched out the bait to an eddy at a deep hole and waited for a bite.

I was using a three way swivel with a two foot length of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader on a 5/0 Owner hook, and a 3 oz. bank sinker to hold bottom. 

I lost several baits to fish, and two rigs with 3 oz. bank sinkers to the rocks, before I finally hooked into a nice redfish.  

The red grabbed a whole mullet head that I had baited up with and took off like a freight train.  I had 60 pound Power Pro braid on my surf rod and it still put up a great battle before I finally landed it.

I put the red into the cooler for dinner, baited up with another mullet head, and tried for a second fish.

I was fishing on the last part of the outgoing tide, and was lucky I had any bites at all. 

As I waited for something to happen, another fishermen that had been fishing under the bridge was leaving because the bite had stopped. 

He had a couple of black drum and several sheepshead that he caught around the bridge pilings and said that he lost two redfish along the pilings in the same area.

Like almost everyone else I saw fishing today, he was using live shrimp for bait.

I was going to ask him for a pic, but he was on his way out and I didn't want to bother him.

He told me that if you don't fish the tides in this area, you are wasting your time, and after another hour or so without a single bite, I had to agree with him.

I loaded my redfish into the truck and headed for home and a well deserved fish dinner.

Nothing like blackened redfish!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Black Point Sea Trout

The Black Point area is an overlooked fishery for sea trout, redfish and some nice ladyfish during certain times of the year.

Michael, a subscriber of this site emailed me this pic of a nice gator sea trout that his friend Matt caught earlier this spring.

He didn't say what he caught the fish on, only that it was quickly released to fight another day.

However, after taking a closer look at the picture, it looks like a long soft bait hanging out of the fish's mouth.

Although I have been fishing a bit in Mobile, Al. the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Central Florida in particular still produces more huge redfish, black drum, and "gator" spotted sea trout than  anywhere I've been privileged to fish, especially when it comes to sight fishing.

The video below was taken under one of the bridges going to Dauphin Island, an area just west of Mobile.

The black drum was estimated at 40 to 50 pounds and was caught on an incoming tide on half a blue crab.

When I fished the area where the guy caught the drum, I managed to hook a couple of fish on a Berkly Rattlin Jig but both broke off around the rocks.

The people on the opposite bank were wading and pitching freshly netted finger mullet but from what I could see while I was fishing the area, they weren't doing all that well.

Like the beaches at Playalinda, the tides in the Mobile Bay area dictate the best times to fish.

Apparently, I wasn't there at the right time!

Till next time, Tight Lines.