Fort Morgan surf fishing

Looking out off my balcony yesterday I could see a few fishermen standing waist deep casting line. I could see schools of bait fish going crazy around them, this was like 3 pm or a lil sooner. I grab my fishing gear and headed down. When I arrived one of the guys was fighting something huge. I thought he was doing very well considering he was using what looked like a zebco 202 reel. Ten minutes later he had the fish on the sandbar and could identified it being a large Redfish.While attempting to bring the fish closer into shore the Red broke free. After casting a few times with a spoon I put a Gulf Rig on baited with sand fleas and landed a 30" Red very nice fight and the seaweed didn't help. Luckily I had help getting the fish in. This morning we landed 5 Black drum 22-23"off the beach. Right now looks like the water is laying down like it did yesterday so I might just get back out soon.

NICE fish Tg!

Those Gulf Rigs amaze me the fish they can catch at times.
Good bait sure makes a positive difference ;-)

Thanks Pier, yeah those rigs are amazing. I do change them out frequently. I regretfully found out they do weaken with heavy fishing in the saltwater, but for just about a $1 a rig it's fine with me.I gonna post a pic of my biggest red caught using the rig teamed up with strong circle hooks and 50lb Power Pro and an 8ft. Power Stick rod. It's nearly 6 am I gonna go fish now.Attachment 4083

TexasGuy. Those are great pics!! I can't wait to be down there. I'll be leaving in 3weeks

Texasguy: Very nice pic. Can you please share more details about where, and how you caught that great memory? Specifically, heres some questions:
What area were you fishing? Shore/boat? Channel, or surf? Bay side or gulf side? Address?
What bait? If sandfleas, where did you get them? If you found them yourself, how did you get them out of the sand? I've tried but no success!
What "rig" are you referring to?

Thanks big time for the info.
Don in Colleyville, TX

Texasguy - are you referring to this "rig"? Also, what type/size hook, and weight?

http://www.boonebait.com/images/gulfRigsSubCat.jpg

Yes DFW that's pretty much the same rig I'm using and rig with #4 or #5 circle hooks with a 1 oz pyramid weight fishing with sand fleas most of the time. If currents are strong or if I use live croakers I use heavier weight. Sand fleas have been my choice for bait lately. I used croaker this morning and caught 2 small Black Tip sharks. I catch my sand fleas by just digging with my fingertips in the sand where the wave breaks on the beach, pretty much where the water recedes back to. I fish mainly just in the 1st cut before the 1st sandbar not far, maybe 10-12 yards out unless it's a lower tide then go out into deeper water. I fish near the end at Ft. Morgan between the condos where their's not a lot of people or swimmers.

That rig is very similar to one that I tie which is called "The Morticians Rig" The secret to it's fish catching success is that it allows the droppers to slide up and down the rigs main leader about 4" while allowing them to rotate 360 degrees around it. I tie mine with Flourocarbon and the only hardware is a swivel for tying to my main line, I use a loop for the weight. Easy to tie and effective for almost anything.

I agree with you about the fluorocarbon. I only just learned about floro 2 yrs. ago on this here forum. Using fluorocarbon for leaders really increased my catch rate. I am not using a swivel for main line/leader, just a double uni, or for whiting, the surgeon knot. There are better knots, but they require better skills than I seem to have in me. I tie the weight on with a palomar knot, which is probably better than my hook knots. So it goes.

My wife and I landed 5 Reds this morning using sand fleas in the 1st cut in 3 1/2 ft. water off the beach.

I tried the beach at the end of mobile street with shrimp this morning and no such luck. Do the catfish and lady fish hit the sand fleas too? Seems like that's all I am catching with shrimp. I looked for some sand fleas but didn't see any in the wash.

I like the signs of the Reds in the surf, my wife and I will be down in about a week, and are looking forward to some surf fishing. Goes to show that you don't need to cast farther, but just find where they are biting!!!

Tilimil, never caught lady fish on sand flea, but do catch catfish occasionally. A guy and and his son fishing 50 yards from us this morning was using fresh shrimp catching whiting and lady fish, but no catfish and neither did we and that's a first. Yesterday evening before the storms moved in I landed a nice speck 17" on a minnow from the surf.

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Originally Posted by tilimil

I tried the beach at the end of mobile street with shrimp this morning and no such luck. Do the catfish and lady fish hit the sand fleas too? Seems like that's all I am catching with shrimp. I looked for some sand fleas but didn't see any in the wash.

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Were the shrimp fresh, never frozen? You should have had better luck out there at Mobile St. Whiting are near shore.

The ones I used this morning were frozen ones from j&m. I did catch one whiting on them this am.

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Originally Posted by tilimil

The ones I used this morning were frozen ones from j&m. I did catch one whiting on them this am.

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Fresh Market on Ft. Morgan Rd. has fresh shrimp, for bait or supper! Fresh is very important, and we peel them, use 1/2" pieces.

Fishing has been very good in the surf especially in early morning between 6 am till 7:30, we landed 5 Reds again.. back to back mornings. All between 17 1/2 - 22 1/2 Today they where caught just up on the 1st sandbar in 2 ft. water.

Three Reds in the cooler looking for three more, but may be difficult lots of people playing in the water now. Water is pretty clear, little wave action. I'll give it 30 more min. and head in and try later this evening. Yesterday around 5pm I landed a good size Black Drum.

Looks like great fishing! Glad you got into them!

Texas guy, two questions. Why are you aerating the sand fleas? Also, what's the difference between a gulf jig and a pompano jig?

It just helps keep the fleas alive longer cause finding them at times can be difficult. I just use a small baby bubbler cost around $5. 1 or 2 AA bat. last 20 hrs. Gulf Rig doesn't have floats or hooks compared to the Pompano rig. Strong circle hooks baited with the fleas have been the trick.My wife and I caught 6 Reds this morning in the surf all in about 30 min. time.

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Originally Posted by Texasguy

It just helps keep the fleas alive longer cause finding them at times can be difficult. I just use a small baby bubbler cost around $5. 1 or 2 AA bat. last 20 hrs. Gulf Rig doesn't have floats or hooks compared to the Pompano rig. Strong circle hooks baited with the fleas have been the trick.My wife and I caught 6 Reds this morning in the surf all in about 30 min. time.

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Thats awesome yall are catching fish. I hope me and my wife can do the same in a couple weeks. Did yall need a flea rake to catch fleas or just your hands?

Just by hands.. it's hit or miss finding them here at Ft. Morgan. A rake comes in handy when you find a colony of them exposed by a wave

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Originally Posted by Texasguy

It just helps keep the fleas alive longer cause finding them at times can be difficult. I just use a small baby bubbler cost around $5. 1 or 2 AA bat. last 20 hrs. Gulf Rig doesn't have floats or hooks compared to the Pompano rig. Strong circle hooks baited with the fleas have been the trick.My wife and I caught 6 Reds this morning in the surf all in about 30 min. time.

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Bowed up in the shade! Gotta luv it:-)
Y'all have a nice looking stretch of beach there!

Thanks for the reports!!!

Great reports... No... Fantastic reports!
You two are nailing the slot Reds, man what good eats they are.
Keep it up.

Thanks, Did try surf fishing again this evening, but the seaweed is very thick here now. Two catfish and a ton of seaweed so i will try again in the morning. Can't complain we needed the wind shift for the oxygen levels.

Today's fishing at least to me was poor,unless you like catching hard head cats.The seaweed and jellyfish have departed, but the water is very very murky. Hopefully the water will clear soon and the fishing to pick back up.

I know most of the info here applies more to the area towards Ft. Morgan but I will be staying about 3/4 of a mile down west beach next week where most of the condos are concentrated. I plan to fish with my son out in front of the condo in the mornings and at night when the beach is less occupied. I have done this for the past 4 yrs or so and we have only caught rays. Probably because we have used giant chunks of cut bait and heaved our lines out as far as possible. Do you think the small pieces of shrimp or fish bites will with a dropper rig will better our chances? Is it too populated in this area. We usually fish the pier also and always catch something so we are never totally skunked. We like to catch anything edible. Doesn't have to be huge. Time to get out of Texas, its going to be 105 degrees next week.

Okay I guess I will be going home to 105 heat next week.
Yeah I would stay away from the cut bait, and use what you had mentioned, but only fresh is best. Sand Fleas work great too. I would try fishing with a line close to the beach and one out further and see where the best bite is and adjust. Early mornings till 8:30 has been prime.

Yeah I think we will try our luck at catching some sand fleas when we are swimming during the day. The other problem is we were always using frozen/rotten shrimp from Walmart. We will buy fresh shrimp this trip. Probably will help on the pier also.

Yesterday at Ft. Morgan surf was really muddy with thick seaweed. I didn't really feel like fishing, but haven't been in a few days so I went at close to noon. Glad I did I ended up landing a large Black drum and 2 Bull reds. Made it back to the surf this morning around 7:30ish water calm and clear seaweed was very light at first but was drifting back in. Landed 4 Reds though, all on sand fleas the last two days.My friend casted into a school of a Bull Red frenzy and one stripped his line, but it was fun. Oh gotta tell you this,while wading waist deep a 5ft. Shark swim 3ft from me. Glad he not taste my leg. Yeah I got outta there.

Fishing was a little tough for me, so far I'm shut out. My wife landed 3 nice Reds and a Black drum. I'm getting ready to head back out shortly and give it another shot. The Water Is very clear and there's not much seaweed or jellyfish.

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Originally Posted by Texasguy

Fishing was a little tough for me, so far I'm shut out. My wife landed 3 nice Reds and a Black drum. I'm getting ready to head back out shortly and give it another shot. The Water Is very clear and there's not much seaweed or jellyfish.

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My sweet and lovely

My sweet and lovely wife out catches me too, Tex, and she never tells me what's her secret.

Great teamwork there TG.
Lemme guess, she catches and YOU clean ? ;-)

Thanks the reports and pics!
Glad to see it cleared up so fast this week!

Thanks, heading back to Dallas,TX now, can't wait to get back to Ft. Morgan. This was the 2nd trip to the beach this year and the fishing has always been excellent. Yeah cleaning the fish, bagging them and then cleaning up the mess it causes is a chore. When I get home reel maintenance begans. Good fishing to everyone who reads these posts.

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Originally Posted by Texasguy

Thanks, heading back to Dallas,TX now, can't wait to get back to Ft. Morgan. This was the 2nd trip to the beach this year and the fishing has always been excellent. Yeah cleaning the fish, bagging them and then cleaning up the mess it causes is a chore. When I get home reel maintenance begans. Good fishing to everyone who reads these posts.

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Have a safe trip back Thanks for the reports it was fun reading them.

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Originally Posted by Texasguy

Thanks, heading back to Dallas,TX now, can't wait to get back to Ft. Morgan. This was the 2nd trip to the beach this year and the fishing has always been excellent. Yeah cleaning the fish, bagging them and then cleaning up the mess it causes is a chore. When I get home reel maintenance begans. Good fishing to everyone who reads these posts.

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Thank you for the reports, enjoyed them a lot. Be safe getting home.

Thanks for the reports enjoyed reading them. Have a safe trip home. I'll be fishing the same area you were in come October. Hope the fish are still there at that time of year.