Mobile Bay fishing

Following. I fished Big Lake back home since I grew up on Moss Lake but now that I live in Alabama getting a boat and heading down to Mobile is on my bucket list, and now that my adopted son wants to go fishing...I want to share that with him.

I'm also interested in good guides there.

I have looked at some maps. I was planning on trying the reefs in the south of the bay. So that was plan A. Plan B not so sure really. Ill look into dauphin island to. Just wasn't real sure what to expect.

Any rec's on live shrimp or plastics/etc for that time of year?

We are staying around the fairhope area. Where is the best place to launch if I’m fishing south end and dauphin? I Don’t mind a boat ride but just wondering if there is a better spot to launch if I’m on the south end.

For a guide, Patric Garmeson with Ugly Fishing
Live croakers or shrimp and slip corks on the rigs at south end of the bay. There are two launches south of Fairhope. You could also drive to Fort Morgan and launch.

Use the launch at fish River just be careful running through the bay

Launch

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You will buy your live shrimp at fishermen’s discount, or whatever they call Scott’s old place on the causeway.

Patric is the best fisherman on the bay, period, but he is very popular so book now if you can. Tell him Mikes lawyer buddy said he was the best .

Mike Dorgan grew up on Mobile Bay in that area and is super nice and will tell you whatever you want to know. Dorgans go 100s year back ther.

Richard Rutledge is over in Dauphin Island and great guy, if you want to fish that area and he will teach you too. Tell him I said Hello.

Bobby Abescutto is very good too but he is a little bit touchy about spots etc and really fishes Mississippi/alabama border area hard which is long run for you.

I will give you Baits colors as it gets closer but for now get these:

mirror lure MR-51 TC. Texas chicken
Glass minnow MIrror lure TC Blue/silver
Little fat pogy like mirrordines lure TC, blue silver

Some good top water plugs. patric likes those heddon one knockers, blue silver or blue gold I think. Bobby likes skitter pops I think, similar colors, I forgot what Richard likes maybe Bomber Lures Badonk-A-Donk Topwater Fishing Lures, or mirrorlures. The colors are basically same gold or silver with dark top from black to blue unless texas chicken.

Get some very good Balsa wood slip corks a bunch of them as well as 1/2 to 1/4 inch good torpedo weights to put under them, that gold flouracarbon is the best here too. Those new rattle corks are great too. I have killed with the LSU colored one but it’s not adjustable.

Plastics. I have 100s of colors and it changes all the time whatever they are running out of at academy, dicks or bass pro just buy. But that said there the ones that seem to repeat. In no specific order.

Shrimp/penny color with red or char tail
Purple with char tail
White solid and with char tail
White and chartreuse gulp solid powerbaits
Opening right plain and with chart tail
Chart with red tail
Chicken on a chain
Avocado with red specks plain and with chart tail
New penny plain and with chart tail
(I am sure I forgot some)
They will tell you what’s hot on the podcast

I buy mostly H&H cockahoes and I will add my own scent with the gel. Garlic, licorice, shrimp, pogy, gulp juice, inshore etc. I just play around until I get what works.

DOA etc are deadly of course.

The scented stuff works too, Curly tails too but yes they bite them off.

Mobile bay will typically give you a few good fish on top water right at Dawn for about 30 minutes then look for birds, top water action until 9 or so depending on tides etc.

The public reefs are ok, I would try the eastern shore docks first, particularly at night. Less crowded you will end up with same amount of keepers lose less bait.

Use actual tide data not the charts but when water stops moving or his slack use that dead time to move. I have tried all the forecast compared to actual results. Wells worked best to me when adjusted for weather but he quit last year, I use 4 or 5 forecasting tools and when they are all great then you are typically good. But you want clean moving water typically. Learn the birds, they had an episode on the podcast this year and they talked about the different birds and what they really liked for 30 minutes. (Hint it’s the big gulls)

Of course, if any of the guides particularly Patric says to do something else, etc go with that, they do this shite every day.

That am bite is nice around DI, at shoals, CC1 and 2, Mississippi Sound etc, that’s where to absolutely use TC colors, but you need to be there at dawn and that’s a long run in the dark for you, when you can really do as well on the eastern shore with any knowledge.

They guys at the bait shops will help you too. They will generally not give you spots but areas to hit.

Also, trout move around in schools in big oval or circular patterns almost always. If you see a bunch of boats together catching fish try to visualize the school where it is going, they can’t turn on a dime so it will be a circular or oval pattern so you don’t have to be on top of them. Watch them, boat one gets bites then boat two etc when means school is swimming that way, if 5 ten minutes later pattern repeats I know that school has a 5 or 10 minute pattern so you just need to be in it. If the back boat gets first bite next then they are circling back etc, probably in a canal or deep ravine etc. often all you need to be in on the end etc. they move around they aren’t like bream all huddled together on a structure, although they will hang on shallow rigs feeding on smaller bait. Watch the water and birds and
Think circles or ovals.They are following the bait, shrimp, pogies, glass minnows, small croakers etc. Mobile bay isn’t really a spot fishing place to me, as even the charter guys will tell you, I limited here yesterday and you can’t get a bite. It’s a move to spot after spot place. None of the charter guys will spend more than 15-20 minutes on any spot if it’s not being productive.

They are so much better because they know the water and have 100s of spots

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I would try the eastern shore docks first, particularly at night. Less crowded you will end up with same amount of keepers lose less bait.

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As a "Fairhopean" I second this. Just make sure the winds are calm. Also, June is a great time for Jubilees on the eastern shore. Google it, it's absolutely incredible. It only happens in really 2 places in the world

Southern Salt on YouTube is an excellent reference source.