08-29-2011, 04:10 PM
Forty to seventy-pound amberjacks are coming to the docks every day on Alabama's Gulf Coast, and limits of flounder also are being landed daily on the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama. "To catch the really-big amberjacks, we're fishing with live baits like pinfish, ruby-lipped grunts and any-other type of live bait we can catch." says Captain Dick Cappar of the charter boat "Traveler" (www.travelerfishingcharters.com, 251-747-1886, 251-583-6367). "Amberjacks out of Orange Beach, Ala., are loaded-up on the natural bottom as well as on the army tanks, Liberty ships, barges and boats that have been sunk to make artificial reefs. I pulled-up on one spot in mid-August where before we started fishing, 60 to 70 amberjacks came up in the water right behind the boat. Although we put out our live baits, those big jacks wouldn't eat the live bait.
"Then we started jigging with cobia jigs that have 3-ounce jig heads and a yellow or a chartreuse long grub tail on their backs. Those baits got the amberjacks fired-up, and we started catching some every time we dropped our jigs. We worked the jigs up quickly by reeling and pumping the rods and then let the jigs freefall for about 10 feet before we engaged our reels. Most of our strikes occurred when the jigs were freefalling. Many of the amberjacks we caught with this technique were less than 30-inches long, the legal size to keep. However, these fish bit readily. Then we moved to another spot, started fishing live bait and began catching much-bigger amberjacks, weighing around 40 to 50 pounds. We learned that oftentimes you could catch the most amberjacks by fishing cobia jigs, but that you took the bigger jacks when fishing big, live bait. In a tournament last weekend, the biggest amberjack brought-in weighed 75 pounds. So, whether you're catching and releasing amberjacks or fishing for monster jacks, you'll find plenty of amberjacks to be caught during the rest of August, as well as throughout the fall and the winter here at Orange Beach."
Cappar, a member of the Orange Beach Fishing Association (OBFA), says, "Amberjacks are only a small portion of the catch at Orange Beach now through the winter months. Every day boats are bringing-in good catches of vermilion snapper, lane snapper, white snapper, scamp grouper, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna and wahoo."
Gulf State Park Pier:
Anglers at the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Ala., are loading their coolers. According to Pete Aguon of Robertsdale, Ala., who fishes daily on the pier, "The flounder fishing has been unbelievable. We had one fisherman this week who caught his limit of 10 flounder in less than 1-1/2-hours. We're also seeing good limits of flounder every day, since the flat fish have moved in close to the pier. Anglers are catching flounder around the pier pilings and in open water along the middle section of the pier. Bull minnows seem to be the preferred bait for flounder, but live shrimp also will produce. A few anglers are fishing grubs right off the bottom. Our run of big fall king mackerel should start any day now. Too, as the weather cools-down more, more large schools of big bull redfish will begin to move-in close to the pier where we can catch them. We had a great spawn of pompanos this year, and in the next couple of months, those fish will be keeper size. Plenty of the smaller-sized Spanish mackerel are being caught along with numbers of whiting and ground mullet and a few speckled trout. Within the next week or so, fishing on the Gulf State Park Pier should be the very best we've had all year long."
To learn more about fishing the Gulf State Park Pier, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call 251-948-7275. For a great place to go fishing, to wiggle your toes in sugar-white beach sand and to swim in the beautiful, clean water of the Gulf of Mexico, come-on down to Alabama's Gulf Coast. The Orange Beach Fishing Association (www.obfishingassn.com) will be glad to find you and your family a captain and a boat that fits your needs. The good news is that you don't have to leave your wife and children at home when you visit Alabama's Gulf Coast. There's plenty to do and see. For accommodation and restaurant recommendations, contact Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism at 800-745-SAND, or visit www.orangebeach.com. To learn more about fishing, click on the "What's Biting" section.
"Then we started jigging with cobia jigs that have 3-ounce jig heads and a yellow or a chartreuse long grub tail on their backs. Those baits got the amberjacks fired-up, and we started catching some every time we dropped our jigs. We worked the jigs up quickly by reeling and pumping the rods and then let the jigs freefall for about 10 feet before we engaged our reels. Most of our strikes occurred when the jigs were freefalling. Many of the amberjacks we caught with this technique were less than 30-inches long, the legal size to keep. However, these fish bit readily. Then we moved to another spot, started fishing live bait and began catching much-bigger amberjacks, weighing around 40 to 50 pounds. We learned that oftentimes you could catch the most amberjacks by fishing cobia jigs, but that you took the bigger jacks when fishing big, live bait. In a tournament last weekend, the biggest amberjack brought-in weighed 75 pounds. So, whether you're catching and releasing amberjacks or fishing for monster jacks, you'll find plenty of amberjacks to be caught during the rest of August, as well as throughout the fall and the winter here at Orange Beach."
Cappar, a member of the Orange Beach Fishing Association (OBFA), says, "Amberjacks are only a small portion of the catch at Orange Beach now through the winter months. Every day boats are bringing-in good catches of vermilion snapper, lane snapper, white snapper, scamp grouper, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna and wahoo."
Gulf State Park Pier:
Anglers at the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Ala., are loading their coolers. According to Pete Aguon of Robertsdale, Ala., who fishes daily on the pier, "The flounder fishing has been unbelievable. We had one fisherman this week who caught his limit of 10 flounder in less than 1-1/2-hours. We're also seeing good limits of flounder every day, since the flat fish have moved in close to the pier. Anglers are catching flounder around the pier pilings and in open water along the middle section of the pier. Bull minnows seem to be the preferred bait for flounder, but live shrimp also will produce. A few anglers are fishing grubs right off the bottom. Our run of big fall king mackerel should start any day now. Too, as the weather cools-down more, more large schools of big bull redfish will begin to move-in close to the pier where we can catch them. We had a great spawn of pompanos this year, and in the next couple of months, those fish will be keeper size. Plenty of the smaller-sized Spanish mackerel are being caught along with numbers of whiting and ground mullet and a few speckled trout. Within the next week or so, fishing on the Gulf State Park Pier should be the very best we've had all year long."
To learn more about fishing the Gulf State Park Pier, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call 251-948-7275. For a great place to go fishing, to wiggle your toes in sugar-white beach sand and to swim in the beautiful, clean water of the Gulf of Mexico, come-on down to Alabama's Gulf Coast. The Orange Beach Fishing Association (www.obfishingassn.com) will be glad to find you and your family a captain and a boat that fits your needs. The good news is that you don't have to leave your wife and children at home when you visit Alabama's Gulf Coast. There's plenty to do and see. For accommodation and restaurant recommendations, contact Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism at 800-745-SAND, or visit www.orangebeach.com. To learn more about fishing, click on the "What's Biting" section.