10-29-2010, 09:11 PM
Shaped like a torpedo with a breakaway speed of a thoroughbred and having the never-give-up attitude of a heavyweight boxing champion, the amberjack is one of the fiercest fighting fish in the Gulf of Mexico. When you hook-up with an amberjack, you know you have a big fish on the line. About 30-seconds later, when you're sweating, your muscles are aching, and your legs are quivering, you know you have-on a monster-sized amberjack. Then, you may look to your left and your right to see who's standing next to you, so you can hand-off the rod. More than a few young, strong fishermen have been whipped on the sides of boats by big amberjacks this fall on Alabama's Gulf Coast. This year, at Orange Beach, Alabama, charter boats are bringing-in some of the biggest amberjacks ever caught there.
"The average amberjacks we're catching right now on our 12-, 18- and 24-hour trips will weigh 30- to 60-pounds or more," says Captain Johnny Greene of the charter boat "Intimidator," docked at Orange Beach Marina in Orange Beach, Ala. "On a recent trip, we left Orange Beach Marina at 10:00 pm, drove through the night and got well offshore. By daylight, we were catching amberjacks weighing 30- to 68-pounds each. We caught some nice-sized scamp that weighed on average of 8 to 12 pounds and red snapper weighing an average of 12 to 15 pounds. This special fall weekend red snapper season for the Gulf of Mexico that ends 12:01 am on November 22 has been highly productive. If this season is any indication of the type of fishing we'll have during the spring and the summer of next year in 2011, fishermen better book their charters early. I've never seen bigger fish and more of them than we're catching at Orange Beach right now."
The shut-down of fishing during the spring and the summer of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico because of last spring's BP oil spill seems to have really helped improve the fishery. Not only are there more fish on the more than 5,000 artificial reefs off Alabama's Gulf Coast than ever previously, but the fish are bigger than anyone can remember seeing in recent history. Even 4-hour trips are bringing-in limits of 8- to 12-pound snapper, giant triggerfish and 2- to 4-pound vermilion snapper. The grouper have started showing-up offshore with gag grouper that will weigh 20- to 40-pounds each, and plenty of scamp grouper being brought-in to the dock every weekend. On the front beaches at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, the big bull redfish are beginning to school. Reports of seeing acres of redfish are coming in from charter-boat captains and anglers on the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Fall always has been an productive time to fish the Gulf of Mexico, and with the special fall weekend red snapper season, most anglers are trying to get-in one more offshore fishing trip before Thanksgiving and the beginning of gun-deer season. Plenty of boats are available as well as numbers of big amberjacks, stop-sign-sized red snapper and triggerfish as big as garbage-can lids. To catch some delicious-tasting and fun-catching red snapper to take home and eat, as well as monster amberjacks and large numbers of triggerfish, plan a fishing trip to Alabama's Gulf Coast this fall.
To fish with Captain Johnny Greene on the "Intimidator," visit www.fishorangebeach.com/, or call 251-747-2872, or email him at intimidatorcharters@yahoo.com. You can learn more about other attractions available in Gulf Shores by calling Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism at 800-745-SAND (7263), or by visiting www.orangebeach.com/fishing, where you also can get the weekly "What's Biting?" fishing report. To have your catch cooked at a local restaurant, go to http://www.gulfshores.com/dining-nightlife/restaurants/ and check the box that says, "Will cook your catch."
Media Contact
Kim Chapman (800) 745-7263 or kchapman@GulfShores.com
"The average amberjacks we're catching right now on our 12-, 18- and 24-hour trips will weigh 30- to 60-pounds or more," says Captain Johnny Greene of the charter boat "Intimidator," docked at Orange Beach Marina in Orange Beach, Ala. "On a recent trip, we left Orange Beach Marina at 10:00 pm, drove through the night and got well offshore. By daylight, we were catching amberjacks weighing 30- to 68-pounds each. We caught some nice-sized scamp that weighed on average of 8 to 12 pounds and red snapper weighing an average of 12 to 15 pounds. This special fall weekend red snapper season for the Gulf of Mexico that ends 12:01 am on November 22 has been highly productive. If this season is any indication of the type of fishing we'll have during the spring and the summer of next year in 2011, fishermen better book their charters early. I've never seen bigger fish and more of them than we're catching at Orange Beach right now."
The shut-down of fishing during the spring and the summer of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico because of last spring's BP oil spill seems to have really helped improve the fishery. Not only are there more fish on the more than 5,000 artificial reefs off Alabama's Gulf Coast than ever previously, but the fish are bigger than anyone can remember seeing in recent history. Even 4-hour trips are bringing-in limits of 8- to 12-pound snapper, giant triggerfish and 2- to 4-pound vermilion snapper. The grouper have started showing-up offshore with gag grouper that will weigh 20- to 40-pounds each, and plenty of scamp grouper being brought-in to the dock every weekend. On the front beaches at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, the big bull redfish are beginning to school. Reports of seeing acres of redfish are coming in from charter-boat captains and anglers on the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Fall always has been an productive time to fish the Gulf of Mexico, and with the special fall weekend red snapper season, most anglers are trying to get-in one more offshore fishing trip before Thanksgiving and the beginning of gun-deer season. Plenty of boats are available as well as numbers of big amberjacks, stop-sign-sized red snapper and triggerfish as big as garbage-can lids. To catch some delicious-tasting and fun-catching red snapper to take home and eat, as well as monster amberjacks and large numbers of triggerfish, plan a fishing trip to Alabama's Gulf Coast this fall.
To fish with Captain Johnny Greene on the "Intimidator," visit www.fishorangebeach.com/, or call 251-747-2872, or email him at intimidatorcharters@yahoo.com. You can learn more about other attractions available in Gulf Shores by calling Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism at 800-745-SAND (7263), or by visiting www.orangebeach.com/fishing, where you also can get the weekly "What's Biting?" fishing report. To have your catch cooked at a local restaurant, go to http://www.gulfshores.com/dining-nightlife/restaurants/ and check the box that says, "Will cook your catch."
Media Contact
Kim Chapman (800) 745-7263 or kchapman@GulfShores.com