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Folks heading out into Mobile Bay or Mississippi Sound over the Fourth of July weekend should find lots of school-size speckled trout on flats with shell-lined bottom early in the day and deep-water structure such as the platforms in the lower bay or wrecks in the sound once the day heats up. (Courtesy Andrew Carter/Krazy Kajun Outfitters)
Scattered.
That's the word for fishermen for the Fourth of July weekend and beyond.
The weather outlook calls for varying chances of scattered early to mid-afternoon thunderstorms through the next week.
Fishermen report that there are scattered areas where speckled trout, redfish, flounder and bass are biting, but the action is inconsistent primarily because of the effects of the summer heat.
Wayne Miller said bass fishing is probably one activity that has benefited from the short bursts of rain that all every afternoon north of I-10.
The localized precipitation has cooled water temperatures in the heads of mid-Mobile-Tensaw Delta lakes and smaller creeks. That combined with strong incoming tides have spurred a pretty consistent early morning topwater bite.
Miller is catching a better grade of bass in the mornings by throwing bigger surface baits such as the Zara Spook.
If the surface bite slacks off, Miller has been throwing Bandit 200 Series crankbaits in shad, black/white splatterback and chartreuse splatterback.
Once the sun gets up, Miller said anyone wanting to catch bass at any time of the day over the holiday weekend would be wise to target wood cover in the main rivers with a Texas-rigged plastic worm.
June bug, tequila sunrise, watermelon and grape are good colors to use. The key is to really slow down the presentation to thoroughly work each piece of wood.
The biggest issue that bass fishermen will likely have to deal with over the weekend is a noticeable increase in boat traffic. Miller said, however, that the muddy water stirred up by wave action closer to the bank will tend to congregate bass on the end of logs and treetops out in deeper water.
Miller noted that the bite has been better on the falling tide, but storms have made it tough to get out in the afternoon to take advantage of it.
Inshore guide Richard Rutland said folks fishing in Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound out of Bayou La Batre and around Dauphin Island should be able to find speckled trout willing to bite, but many of them are under the 14-inch minimum size limit.
Fishermen should look for diving birds and oil slicks to find schools of feeding trout.
To find a more consistent legal-fish bite, Rutland said he fished out of Fowl River this week and targeted deeper water around Middle Bay Lighthouse and the rocks lining Gaillard Island's shores.
Most of the fish Rutland's crews caught in the upper bay were in the 18-inch range.
Once the morning trout bite slacks off, Rutland said he's found some or he best fishing for tripletail that he's ever seen in the Mississippi Sound.
Most of the fish are still in the 4- to 8-pound range, though July is when the double-digit weight fish start moving in.
Fishing on the Coastal Conservation Reefs has slowed down, too, but mostly because the bullies of the reefs-- blacktip and bull shark -- have taken over.
Inshore guide Andrew Carter said he is still having consistent success on trout while fishing live shrimp under slip corks around the platforms in lower Mobile Bay.
When the wind allows, Carter said he's been catching quality specks along the Sand Island Spit beach and in the deeper holes along the spit's east end bar system.
Live croaker are the baits of choice out on the spit, he said.
Unfortunately, Carter said the fishing has slowed down on the manmade reefs along the Eastern Shore.
Carter also reported seeing more blackfish moving up into Mobile Bay. They like to hang around wooden channel pilings and can often be found under floating logs and other debris in the bay.
I also heard that loads of king mackerel and Spanish mackerel are working just outside the second sandbar off the beach and over the R. Vernon Minton east and west reef zones within 3 miles of the beach.