Heading down next week and was wondering what should be running. I will be staying gulf side, near the Rookery.
Printable View
Heading down next week and was wondering what should be running. I will be staying gulf side, near the Rookery.
reds, whiting, pompano, Spanish, ladyfish.
Also, what is everyone's thought on fresh vs frozen shrimp?
Live shrimp>fresh dead shrimp>frozen shrimp
I have used fresh dead and frozen in years past. Just wanted to get the advice of more seasoned anglers, in hopes of a more productive trip this year.
Mav72 (made me think you were a Mavericks fan). I've used all of the above fishing gulf side and caught things on all of them. I use gulp shrimp a lot as well, when I don't have the time to get bait. We drive down from Dallas with the two little ones (6 and 2) and my ability to disappear for 30 minutes to go find bait doesn't always go over well. Those are the times I break out the Gulp! another member on the forum that fishes a lot down there suggested floating (hollow) gulp shrimp. I will be giving that a try this year as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by mav72
Frozen shrimp are excellent for catching catfish and stingrays.
Stick to live and freshly dead for anything else.
No, my first car was a '72 maverick
This is good advice. I never target rays and hardhead catfish, so I'll never use frozen shrimp. I'll also never use frozen squid, for the same reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattb
I got some shrimp that a "fresh" shrimp place called "fresh dead". They were dead, but not fresh. Ewwww!!! No better than frozen, IMO!
REAL Fresh dead shrimp are shrimp that the bait shop will cull from the tank because the shrimp appears to be lifeless. They'll sell them for a cheaper price than live shrimp because of the elemental difference between the two states of being. Fresh-dead should be only hours old at most. Otherwise, go live. I think that J & M has them live for under 4 bucks a dozen. The price likely increases with warm weather because it's more difficult to keep them alive.
I peel my fresh dead shrimp when fishing for pompano and whiting. The fish seem to find the bait faster. I also use relatively small hooks. Whiting are notorious nibblers and they'll leverage the bait against a too-big hook and steal your bait every time!
Keep us posted on your success and post up some pics of your catch! I will be down a week from Friday staying just east of you and will do the same. There is some great info on this site if you read through the old posts. The regulars on here are some of the most helpful guys I've ran into on a forum of this type. Good luck!Quote:
Originally Posted by mav72
I'll be down next week as well, staying close to ft morgan.
Where is the best place to get fresh/live bait shrimp? Are the bluefish active there yet?
Live shrimp from the marina near mile 2, by tacky jacks 2.
For fresh shrimp (and all other seafood) go to the fresh market back towards gulf shores.
thanks man I appreciate that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattb
Is this the place near the gas station and near the dollar store? If so, we've purchased seafood there every visit and it's always been great. Even bought some pompano jigs there that one of the kids working the counter made.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattb
I will try to post some pics if I catch anything worth photographing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cm7727
Yes, that is the one.Quote:
Originally Posted by mforbesiii
Several ladyfish and croakers and no catfish. Thanks for the advice about the shrimp. Also went to J and M this morning. They were very helpful, too. Good first day.
Glad to hear it. Ladyfish are a blast to catch!
any catches at fort morgan?
I did not go to the fort, just in front of the house I am staying in.
how were you fishing the shrimp? i'll be there in a week (we stay off beach shore drive) and I am curious to see what is working this time of year.Quote:
Originally Posted by mav72
I am using a double hook pompano rig with a 2 or 3 oz weight on a barrel swivel above the rig.
For pompano I would suggest tying your own rigs. Tie a weight at the bottom then tie two dropper loops. I have better luck with no swivels, beads, etc. I hear little floats above the hooks work, but never tried them.
Hey Mav72, just checking to see how today and yesterday were for you. Did things pick up any?
Kinda slow. Croakers and whiting yesterday. Only croakers today. Found out afterwards that a good size shark swam by while I was in the water. Saw it's tail breaking topwater, down the beach, after someone pointed it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cm7727
Quote:
Originally Posted by mav72
Well hopefully the fishing will pick up for you tomorrow. Thanks again for all of your updates. I'm sure all the others heading down soon appreciate it as well.
You must be pretty close to me. Father in law and I were fishing and somebody yelled shark, next thing I knew whole section of beach had cleared and we were watching it cruise by. Just saw dorsal and tail fin but it had to be a big one because he wasn't that close to shore. Then we were joined in our fishing by two small sharks catching waves and chasing down blue runnersQuote:
Originally Posted by mav72
Where are you guys staying on fort morgan rd? And what time of day was it? Went to the fort today between 1030 to 230 I missed 1 bite but my brother caught a nice bull red. Ill try to post a pic when I can figure it out. We were the only one out there the whole time except for all the boaters, which we we didnt see catch much either. It was slow. But a fish that makes your drag screams always makes your day/week. We caught it on a live mullet.
We are less than a mile west of Morgantown.Quote:
Originally Posted by FishHook85
I fished from 7 til 8:30 with some artificial bait and couldn't even get a bite. Ran down to the Pines and got some shrimp. Back in the water around 9 or 9:30. Fished until 12:30 or 1.Quote:
Originally Posted by pokenfish
Ok then you are close. We are in the same neighborhood.
Nice thread you've started here.
We're headed down, for the first time, in October; and we'll be staying on the gulf side down by Navy Cove Harbor.
I'll be dragging a Boston Whaler Dauntless rigged for inshore and offshore. We fish the NC coast and will be rigged for live bait and soft plastics, along with trolling gear.
Anyone have suggestions for species hunting either in the bay or offshore (looking no further than 10 miles out)?
In october you should have no problems catching reds drifting on the gulf side of the fort. Also you go out to the rigs and drift past them for kings using fresh dead or live bait. If you are catch nothing but sharks move along to the next one until you get some.
Not much happened on my section of beach yesterday. I only brought in one fish, a catfish. Hopefully things will be better today.
Have you moved around and tried different depths at all?
Yeah, I move up and down the beach when I can. I also try to throw some close and some farther out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattb
Well, I hope it gets better. Keep putting in the time and the fish will come.
Hello all, We'll be coming down in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to get there. We will be staying at Fort Morgan again and I was wondering about the bar running along the beach. The last couple of years we couldn't get across it and it made fishing tough. How is it this year? Thanks
I have a place at the six mile marker, its still there at about 20 to 30 yrds out. High tide no problem low tide tough but doable. If its really low put your pole holder on the bar or cast from the bar.
We usually have to walk out on the bar to get it across but that gets kind of tiring after a while....