I’ve been blessed to write about the great outdoors on the Alabama Gulf Coast for over 30 years and have enjoyed fishing for just about every species available in inshore waters and the vast Gulf of Mexico. Here are a few of my most memorable fishing stories on Alabama Beaches.
One of the most memorable Gulf trips was with Capt. George Pfeiffer on the Emerald Spirit a few years ago on a red snapper trip. After catching a few fish at several spots, Pfeiffer took us to his honey hole with specific instructions.
“Don’t drop down any baits until I tell you,” Pfeiffer said. “Not one, or you’ll mess up what I’m about to show you.”
The deckhands then started tossing handfuls of bait into the water. As the bait slowly descended into the water, a flash of red grabbed the chunk of bait and disappeared. In short order, the surface of the Gulf is boiling with a big red snapper chowing down on this unexpected treat. It was a sight to behold. After the show, Pfeiffer finally said, “Drop ‘em down,” and just about every angler was quickly hooked up. We finished our limit in short order and were headed back to the dock.
Of course, there’s always the one that got away, or at least was in the baits and didn’t get hooked. We were trolling for Billfish when it was my time in the chair. I hooked into a fish and started reeling it in. What was on the end of my line was a vast 40-pound barracuda. As the boat slowed to let me reel in the fish, a giant blue marlin flashed through the baits but quickly turned away because the baits weren’t going at the correct speed. I didn’t get a chance at another billfish for the rest of the trip.
On one inshore trip, Capt. Bobby Abruscato to Dixey Bar, the bull redfish were so thick that you couldn’t cast a lure into the water without a hook-up. It got so wild that one of my buddies removed the hooks from his crankbait so he wouldn’t have to unhook the fish once he got it to the boat, but it didn’t turn out the way he had planned. The bull red wouldn’t let go of the lure and eventually broke the line and swam away with the lure.
Another inshore trip yielded the best speckled trout from, believe it or not, Little Lagoon. Fishing a live shrimp with just a split shot, I felt a tap and set the hook. Big redfish, or so I thought. I went around and around the boat fighting the fish on a 10-pound monofilament line, trying not to put too much pressure on the tackle. After a protracted fight, the fish finally tired and came to the surface. It was a 6-9 trout.
While almost every adventure in coastal waters and the Gulf can be memorable, those are just a few that stand out. Don’t hesitate to head to the beautiful Alabama Beaches and plan a fishing trip soon to start making memories.
