The Winter Classic 2026 | Speckled Trout Tournament Recap from Mobile Bay

View tournament results on Fishing Chaos

🏆 The Winter Classic 2026

January 24–25 | Mobile, Alabama
Weigh-In Hosted Jointly by Classic Tournaments LLC and Saltwater Finaddicts

The Winter Classic has never been about comfort or certainty. It’s a tournament built on preparation, discipline, and decisions that don’t fully reveal themselves until the final fish hits the scale. In 2026, that reality was amplified by changing weather, a new flight system, and margins so thin that nothing felt settled until the very end.

With 24 registered teams — the most ever — on the water, the field was stacked with past champions and perennial contenders. The format once again stretched pressure from first light to final weigh-in, and the Winter Classic played out exactly as intended.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Day One Results – Winter Classic 2026 Speckled Trout Tournament

Saturday introduced a significant change for 2026: staggered dock departures, known as flights. Teams were released one minute apart beginning at 5:00 a.m. The rule was designed to improve safety and organization, but it immediately added strategic complexity before the first cast ever hit the water.

Weather added another layer.

Saturday featured light to moderate easterly winds and generally pleasant conditions, but in winter tournaments, even “good” weather is an active variable. East winds can reposition water and bait, making some historically productive areas less consistent while opening others. In the Winter Classic, weather is the great equalizer — capable of making entire areas unfishable while quietly turning overlooked water into the right decision at the right time.

Despite early departures, no lines were allowed in the water until 6:00 a.m. With a 6:47 a.m. sunrise, many teams spent nearly an hour with trolling motors deployed, positioning and waiting in total darkness. Several anglers later reported catching fish shortly after the clock struck six, a narrow window that rewarded preparation and clean execution.

Saturday also carried a pressure unique to two-day events: every decision had to account for Sunday.

Where a team fished on Saturday mattered not only for the weight they brought in, but for whether that water would still be available — and fishable — the next day. Teams fortunate enough to fish the same area both days are rare, and even luckier if that area continues to produce. Many anglers are forced to abandon water entirely on Sunday due to changing conditions.

Flights complicated those calculations further. Anglers had to decide whether a team leaving ahead of them might reach a preferred first spot, whether a longer run was worth the risk, or whether a closer area might offer more consistency across both days. In practice, this appeared to spread anglers out, reducing boat racing to high-value areas and rewarding decision-making over speed.

In a tournament built on long-standing relationships, some of those decisions extended beyond strategy alone. Quiet gentleman’s agreements existed in certain cases — informal understandings rooted in trust, history, and respect — reinforcing that the Winter Classic isn’t just about rules on paper, but about how anglers conduct themselves on the water.

AweSkeet, made up of Jonas Alexander and Clay Dean, didn’t leave the dock until 5:16 a.m., scheduled as the 17th team out. Despite the later start and evolving conditions, they capitalized early. When Saturday’s weigh-in concluded at Ralph & Kacoo’s, AweSkeet sat atop the leaderboard with a 16.86-pound bag, earning the Day One lead and the Saturday Heavy Bag award sponsored by Z-Man Fishing Products and Release Over 20.

It was a familiar position for a team that has fished the Winter Classic every year — often flashing strong Day One performances only to see momentum fade on Sunday.

Behind them, defending champions J&J Show (Jamie Stevens and James Montalvo) checked in 14.43 pounds. GnR, also known as Another Slick in the Wall, with Will Gunnells and Noel Riley, followed closely with 13.68 pounds.

The leaderboard remained compressed. UglyWood (Patric Garmeson and Trevor Wood), Barker Brothers (Noah Barker and Kaleb Barker), and Trout Slapper’Z (Taylor Morrow and Jared Donnelly) all hovered within ounces of one another, keeping nearly the entire field in contention for Sunday.

Early Saturday morning also produced one of the fastest paydays of the weekend. At 6:32 a.m., just 32 minutes into the tournament, GnR entered a 31.50-inch redfish into the CPR Redfish category, effectively locking up the payout before most teams had settled into their first area.

By the end of Saturday, 20 of the 24 teams brought fish to the scales, reinforcing just how open the tournament still was. With forecasts calling for deteriorating conditions, no position felt safe. The Winter Classic has seen 16-pound Day One bags followed by five-pound Sundays, and light Saturdays turn into 20-pound rebounds when timing and conditions finally align.

Weather Conditions and Strategy on Day One

Sunday’s flights were inverted from Saturday — last on Day One went first, and the Saturday leader weighed last.

The day began warm and breezy, but conditions escalated quickly as a strong southerly flow built through the morning. Sustained winds pushed past 15 knots, and around 11:00 a.m., a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area. Many anglers later reported that their largest fish of the tournament were caught just before — or during — the rain, a brief window that rewarded teams already in position.

Once the storm passed, winds swung sharply out of the north and temperatures dropped, compressing bite windows and forcing real-time adjustments.

Approaches varied. Some teams focused on securing five fish as quickly as possible, then looking for upgrades. Others committed entirely to big-fish water and big-fish tactics, even if it meant grinding all day for fewer bites. Many anglers paid close attention to keeping fish alive, prioritizing clean execution over marginal gains, especially with live-fish bonuses in play.

Each live speckled trout brought to the scale earned a 0.25-pound bonus, up to 1.25 pounds per day. Hearing “Five Alive” at the weigh station wasn’t just exciting — it meant meaningful weight added to the leaderboard.

By Sunday afternoon, only 12 of the 24 teams ultimately brought fish to the scales, a reflection of just how demanding the second day became.

Day Two Results – When Weather Changed Everything

All teams were required to be checked in and parked at Ralph & Kacoo’s by 3:00 p.m. each day. A strict one-pound-per-minute late penalty ensured punctuality, and all trucks, trailers, and boats were staged before weigh-in began.

Sunday’s weigh-in followed the inverted format. The first team called was the 11th-place team from Saturday, as all teams below them either chose not to enter fish or were unable to bring any to the scales.

Jonas Alexander and Clay Dean waited it out. They would weigh last.

They sat in the truck nearby, stereo turned up loud with AC/DC and other pump-up songs echoing through the lot. Jonas appeared relaxed and confident, feeding off the moment. Clay wore it differently — pacing, watching every bag hit the scale, quietly doing the math as numbers stacked up.

AweSkeet had been here before.
Strong Saturdays.
Promising starts.
Sundays that didn’t always cooperate.

Sunday Weigh-In at Ralph & Kacoo’s – Winter Classic Tradition

Trout Slapper’Z, with Taylor Morrow and Jared Donnelly, delivered the heaviest bag of Sunday at 13.40 pounds, earning the Sunday Heavy Bag award sponsored by Pure Flats (Slick Lure) and Release Over 20. UglyWood, with Patric Garmeson and Trevor Wood, followed closely with 12.59 pounds, while GnR added 11.28 pounds.

AweSkeet didn’t drop the heaviest bag on Sunday, but it was enough. Their 12.40-pound Day Two total, including live-fish bonus, kept them in control.

Every fish weighed throughout the weekend was processed through the Fishing Chaos app. At the scales, Justin Fadalla of Saltwater Finaddicts called each team’s live-fish count and official creel weight. Heather Fadalla entered the data and called it back aloud, while Marty Garmeson assisted alongside them throughout the weigh-in process, creating transparency and redundancy every angler could hear and see.

Day Two and total standings remained hidden from public view. Only the tournament director could see the full picture as results finalized. Once the top three teams were identified, a member of the winning team and a member of the second- or third-place team were selected for polygraph examinations sponsored by Pure Flats.

Winter Classic 2026 Winners and Payouts

First came the Average Joe award, and it delivered some of the most unexpected drama of the afternoon.

With the tournament average landing at 14.57 pounds, Barker Brothers (Noah Barker and Kaleb Barker) finished at 14.32 pounds, while Bay Beast (Jonathan Clark and Joey Bollinger) came in at 14.85 pounds — a margin so small it amounted to roughly the weight of a single lure.

Barker Brothers reached their number by weighing a single two-pound fish on Sunday. Bay Beast brought five fish to the scales both days. Two completely different paths, separated by only a few hundredths of a pound, and a perfect reminder of why you always weigh your fish.

Then came the Lunker Trout and CPR Redfish awards. AweSkeet’s 5.35-pound speckled trout stood all weekend, and GnR’s redfish — entered just 32 minutes into Saturday — had never been challenged.

Then came the podium.

Third place went to Trout Slapper’Z, Taylor Morrow and Jared Donnelly.
Second place followed with GnR, Will Gunnells and Noel Riley.
First place belonged to AweSkeet, Jonas Alexander and Clay Dean.

No gasp.
No shock.
Just release — and a well-earned round of applause.

For Jonas Alexander and Clay Dean, the win was more than a check. AweSkeet has fished the Winter Classic every year. Prior to 2026, their best result was a single second-place finish, despite multiple strong Day One performances followed by difficult Sundays.

This time, discipline held. Execution stayed clean. The Sunday slump finally broke. Second through fourth place were separated by less than a pound — a familiar Winter Classic margi

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The post 2026 Winter Classic Results appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The Quest for Jack Crevalle:

Mobile Bay, nestled along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, offers a prime habitat for the robust and hard-fighting Jack Crevalle. These fish are known for their incredible strength and speed, making them a favorite among anglers seeking an adrenaline-pumping challenge. To successfully target these feisty creatures, a skilled guide is essential, and that’s where Captain Patric and Captain Taylor enter the picture.

Captain Patric: A Master of Versatility

Captain Patric of Ugly Fishing is renowned for his versatility in tackling various fishing scenarios. His expertise in throwing topwater lures is second to none. Jack Crevalle, known for their aggressive surface strikes, fall prey to these lures with an explosive display that every angler dreams of witnessing. Captain Patric’s knowledge of the most productive lures, as well as his insights into the fish’s behavior, can turn an ordinary cast into an electrifying catch.

But that’s not all – Captain Patric’s skills extend beyond the topwater action. His ability to locate schools of fish blitzing on the surface is unparalleled. He has a knack for interpreting the water’s movement and sound patterns, allowing him to intercept these fast-moving schools and position you for a thrilling battle with the Jack Crevalle.

Captain Taylor: Chasing Adrenaline with Precision

Captain Taylor, another standout figure in the world of Jack Crevalle fishing charters, brings a unique approach to the table. His specialty lies in sight casting, an art that requires pinpoint accuracy and quick reflexes. Jack Crevalle are known to patrol shallow waters, making them prime targets for sight casting. With Captain Taylor’s guidance, you’ll learn the art of spotting these fish before they spot you, and then executing the perfect cast to trigger their aggression. Don’t worry many times Taylor will have you sight casting into schools of hungry fish where precision is far less important.

Captain Taylor’s expertise isn’t limited to sight casting. His knowledge of the local currents and migration patterns enables him to anticipate where the Jack Crevalle are likely to be. Whether it’s the thrill of a topwater strike or the strategy of chasing down schools, Captain Taylor’s holistic approach ensures a memorable experience for all anglers.

The Verdict: Choosing Your Captain

Deciding between Patric and Taylor for your Mobile Bay Jack Crevalle charter, it comes down to your preferred fishing style. If you’re drawn to the excitement of surface strikes and intercepting schools, Patric’s expertise with topwater lures and school detection makes him an ideal choice. On the other hand, if you’re keen on mastering the art of sight casting and targeting the Jack Crevalle with precision, Captain Taylor’s skills and knowledge will leave you in awe.

Both Captain Patric and Captain Taylor have proven themselves as the best fishing guides for Jack Crevalle in Mobile Bay. Their diverse tactics, honed through years of experience, ensure that anglers of all skill levels can enjoy a successful and exhilarating Jack Crevalle fishing charter. So, gear up and get ready for a fishing adventure that will leave you with stories to tell for years to come!

The post Your Mobile Bay Jack Crevalle Charter appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Local Expertise and Knowledge:

Captain Taylor’s deep-rooted connection to Mobile Bay gives him a solid understanding of the area’s unique fishing spots, tides, and seasons. This expertise ensures that your fishing adventure will be tailored to the optimal conditions for reeling in those prized flounder.

In-Depth Instruction:

One of Captain Taylor’s standout qualities is his eagerness to teach. He’s not just about helping you catch fish; he’s dedicated to imparting his fishing wisdom. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned angler, Captain Taylor will provide you with valuable insights on baiting, casting techniques, and reading the water, all crucial for successful flounder fishing. Experiencing a Mobile Bay flounder fishing charter with Taylor will improve your fishing ability and over all fishing knowledge.

Targeting Inshore Species:

While flounder might be the primary focus on a Mobile Bay flounder fishing charter, Captain Taylor’s knowledge extends beyond just one species. He can guide you to the best locations for catching other inshore species as well, making your fishing trip a diverse and exciting experience.

Mobile Bay Flounder Fishing Guide Customized Experiences:

Captain Taylor understands that each angler has unique goals and preferences. He takes the time to understand your expectations, tailoring the trip to match your skill level and interests. Whether you’re seeking a relaxing day on the water or an action-packed adventure, Captain Taylor has you covered.

Properly Maintained Equipment:

With Captain Taylor, you don’t need to worry about bringing your own gear. Ugly Fishing ensures that all equipment is well-maintained and of the highest quality, giving you the tools you need for a successful fishing excursion.

Local Insights and Stories:

Part of the joy of fishing is immersing yourself in the culture and stories of the area. Captain Taylor’s familiarity with Mobile Bay’s history and ecology will enrich your experience, providing a deeper appreciation for the environment you’re fishing in.
Finally, if you’re searching for an exceptional Mobile Bay flounder fishing adventure, Captain Taylor Morrow of Ugly Fishing is the guide you need. With his local expertise, dedication to teaching, and commitment to creating unforgettable experiences, he will undoubtedly elevate your fishing trip to new heights. Get ready to cast your line, learn from the best, and reel in those impressive flounder with the guidance of Captain Taylor Morrow. Book your trip today for an angling adventure you won’t soon forget.

The post Mobile Bay Flounder Fishing Charter with Captain Taylor Morrow: appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

As an avid angler and fishing guide, I wanted to share some valuable tips with you on how to improve your flounder fishing game this season. Flounder fishing can be incredibly rewarding, and with a little know-how, you can enhance your chances of reeling in those prized flatfish. So, without further ado, here are five tips to help you catch more flounder this summer:

1. Choose the Right Location: Flounder are known to inhabit certain areas, so selecting the right fishing spot is crucial. Look for shallow coastal waters, estuaries, and sandy, shell or muddy bottoms where flounder tend to hide and feed. Additionally, keep an eye out for structures such as jetties, piers, and submerged vegetation that provide cover and attract flounder.
2. Optimize Your Gear: Utilizing the appropriate fishing gear is paramount when targeting flounder. Opt for a medium to medium-heavy rod with a sensitive tip to detect subtle bites and movements. Spinning reels are popular but bait caster set ups work well for flounder fishing due to their versatility. Use a braided fishing line with a mono or fluorocarbon leader to maximize your chances of a successful hook-up.
3. Master the Art of Presentation: Flounder are ambush predators that lie in wait for their prey. Mimicking their natural food sources is key to enticing a strike. Try using live bait such as mullet, pogies, shrimp, or bull minnows. Alternatively, soft plastic lures like paddle tails, curly tails, and my favorite any of the slick lure lures. Natural colors can be effective but I really like Chartreuse, hot pink, white or florescent orange.

4. Timing is Everything: Flounder tend to be more active during specific periods of the day. Dawn and dusk are prime times to target these elusive fish, as they often move closer to the shallows to feed under the cover of low light conditions. Additionally, pay attention to the tide. Flounder are commonly caught during the incoming and outgoing tides when they move in search of prey.

5. Patience and Persistence: Flounder fishing can require a good amount of patience, as it may take time to locate their preferred areas and trigger a bite. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get immediate results. Experiment with different techniques, adjust your presentation, and keep exploring different spots until you find the hotspots. Once you find one you may find several more in the same general area.
   Remember, practice makes perfect. The more time you spend on the water, the more experience you gain, and the better your chances of catching that trophy flounder. Stay observant, adapt to changing conditions, and enjoy the process of learning and improving your skills.
   I hope these tips help you have a fantastic summer of flounder fishing. May your lines be tight and your nets be full of success! Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions or need more advice.
   If interested in learning more about flounder fishing first hand from Captain Taylor . Click Here to check availability and book online. Keep what you need and release the rest.

The post Mastering the Art of Flounder Fishing: 5 Tips for a Successful Summer appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Live well design

I will be specifically discussing optimal live well designs for boats. However, some of the information will be transferable to other scenarios like kayaks or land based set ups. The first thing that is important to a live well is the shape. I prefer a live well that is nearly oval to round in shape. Rectangle with rounded corners are perfectly ok and most common in modern bay boats. Hard 90 degree corners are bad. Fish will have the tendency to nose into a corner. 90 degree corners do not allow for effective water circulation which we will discuss further.

Here’s a checklist of items to check to make sure your live well will be suitable.

1. measure length of your live well is it at least 28″? Optimistically, you have a couple 28″rs as part of your creel.
2. In my opinion you want a live well that is approximately 18″ wide. 5 speckled trout side by side will have ample room.
3. Depth is really acceptable around 10″. You do not need a lot of water above and below the fish. However, if its 18+” deep you are fine.
4. A lid. If you close the lid will the water be able to slosh out? If so that is not good. As you move the boat around you don’t want water easily sloshing out. Use weather striping or some type of gasket forming material around the lid. As well as having a tight fitting latch system to keep the lid cinched down.

Aeration

Live well Pump

Aeration is a term that very loosely describes adding air to something and in this case our live well water. Depending on your boat manufacture “aerators” may or may not be installed. I run a Blue Wave Pure Bay 2400. This boat is decently equipped from the factory as far as live wells are concerned. The Pure Bay comes standard with a very nice sized release/live well in the aft deck. A live well pump that is usually 800gph that pumps raw water from the water the boat is floating. This water is normally discharged into the live well through a nozzle that is best to be adjustable. You need to be able to adjust the amount of water to prevent overflow and direction to create some current. In some cases this is all the aeration you will need.

Bubbler

Another type of aeration system also found on my Blue wave 2400 Pure Bay is a bubbler. Bubblers are simply that they bubble. Most people have seen a small portable air pump you can hang on the bait bucket. That’s what we have on Blue waves only the boat version is hooked into a switch and requires 12v power. These pumps use very little energy are generally quiet and put continuous air into your live well. In my opinion you could put two or three of these pumps into one tank and not hurt only help. You can take this a step further by swapping out the bubble boxes for pure O2 oxygen bottles. Pure O2 has its health benefits for the fish for sure but you do have to maintain the bottles. Bottles require servicing and refilling where as the pump bubbler can run continuously for 1000’s of hours.

Recirculating pump

The final type of aeration found on my boat and several others is a recirculating pump. A recirculating pump recirculates water in a closed loop system. You can set your recirculating pump up one of three ways. First, pull water from the bottom and discharge above the water level line. The water level will be decided by where the tank overflow drain is located. The next set is to also pull from near the bottom and discharge under the water line. Which creates underwater current. Third, and my preferred set up is the same as the second which is under the water line. My set up is all below the water line but the pump is equipped with venturi system. The venturi system is very simple design that pulls air into the water being discharged into the live well. This third set up gives you good current and additional air.

The one thing to be careful with any type of recirculating pump is the water getting too hot. Recirculating pumps will heat the water with excessive/continuous usage. The easy solution to this is to add timer switches to your recirculating pump. Set the pump to run 90 seconds every 3-5 minutes and you should be good.

Filtration

Another really cool feature of the Blue Wave Pure Bay 2400 release well is the way the over flow drain and recirculator pump pick up is in an offset area. This area is blocked off with a removable strainer cover. I have found that cutting strips of charcoal mat and placing them inside this compartment I can filter the water being recirculated. With in an hour or so i can filter the water so that it becomes near air clear with the usage of these charcoal mats.

Salinity

Mobile Bay area and other estuary type systems you can find water too fresh on top for speckled trout. How is this possible? Salt water is denser and the fresher water will remain on the surface. The surface could be 1-4 ppt salinity (I’ll share in a bit on how to test salinity). Whereas, the fish can be caught in 10′ and the salinity is 5-7ppt. This which is perfectly acceptable for speckled trout. This being said you cannot rely of the live well pump to keep your catch alive in this scenario. If the salinity is 7 or better than you can turn on our live well pump and let it run. The way I monitor salinity is a pet shop hydrometer which is used to measure specific gravity and salinity. Use the hydrometer to keep up with changing water conditions as well.

When you find yourself in low to no surface salinity areas you need to be prepared for such a time. The solution for me is to have aquarium grade sea salt in a container in the boat. I usually keep a gallon bag in full. Use it sparingly, one to two handfuls per minute or two. Stirring the water as you add. Check the salinity with the hydrometer after a couple minutes of adding the salt. Keep in mind the hydrometer is simply measuring the density of the water so if the salt is laying on the bottom and not in solution it will give a false reading.

Live well additives

Live well additives or water conditioners come in many forms and numerous companies have their own “secret blend”. I have used many different products pogie saver, croaker saver, g-juice, rejuvinate, and the list goes on. Take a look at the descriptions of each of the products. You want to make sure you address a few key items with your additive. First, I want something that will remove ammonia this is from urine which is going to be present once you put fish in the live well. Second, slime coat replenishing additives i think are great for the health of the fish. Third, an additive with a mild tranquilizer, this helps calm the fish down and reduces stress. The last thing is a foam reducing agent. Foam can accumulate from fish slime, poop and urine. Cutting the foam will make that stuff drop to the bottom.

Maintain water temperature

Pumping water, recirculating water, all these things can warm the water to levels that could reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Cooler water can retain more dissolved oxygen than warmer water. In this case you may run into a scenario where your water is getting too warm. The best way to resolve this is putting frozen ice bottles or putting ice in some ziplock bags and tossing in the live well. You don’t really want this to be much more than 5 -10 degrees different than the water you pulled the fish from.

Fish Care

We have no know how to set up the ideal live well and additives. Presuming we have all of t’s crossed and i’s dotted when it comes to the necessary live well design, pumps, filters, and water additives we now have the important part of fish care. Fish care begins while the fish is hooked. Fight the fish as quick as possible so that the fish is not exhausted. Net the fish with a rubber mesh net. Remove the hook for the fish’s mouth. I recommend handling the fish with wet hands or wet towel or a lip grip tool. You should support the belly of the fish keeping it horizontal as possible. Place the fish in the live well but do not let go of the fish immediately. I prefer to hold the fish in the water for however much time that is required for the fish to relax.

Weigh in time

We’ve built a great live well. We’ve bought all the necessary items to help our fish. Now it is time to weigh in. I recommend a live fish bag that is at minimum of 24″ but preferably 27″. Add a few gallons of water from your live well into your live fish bag. I like to sink the bag into the live well and get the fish to swim into the open bag. Not all will cooperate but many will. Try not to stress the fish at this point because we are almost there. Ive you can leave the bag in the live well then add some water to the bag so that all fish are well covered. Head to the scales. Depending on the tournament some may not have a tub or basket for a live fish or numerous live fish so give them the heads up that you are headed to the scale with live fish.

Wrap up

I think I covered all the nuances of keeping speckled trout alive for tournament purpose. I wrote all this out to help anglers preserve the fish we enjoy catching. Keep in mind everything in this article will work for most inshore saltwater species. Last year my son and I brought sheepshead, black drum, flounder, redfish, and speckled trout alive to the scales. Thanks for checking out this article. If you have any questions feel free to hit me up at captainpatric@uglyfishing.com

The post Keeping speckled trout alive appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Sheepshead, also known as convict fish, are a popular saltwater fish species found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. These fish are known for their hard fighting ability and their love of bait, which makes them a great catch for anglers. However, they can be a bit tricky to catch, as they are notorious for stealing bait from hooks. So, if you’re looking to catch sheepshead, here’s what you need to know.

Where to Catch Sheepshead

Sheepshead are commonly found around structure such as jetties, bridges, and pilings. They also tend to congregate around oyster beds, reef systems, and other areas with plenty of hard bottom habitat. If you’re fishing in these areas, you’re likely to come across some sheepshead.
Best Bait for Sheepshead
Sheepshead are known for their love of crustaceans, and the best bait for them is fiddler crabs, sand crabs, and clam strips. Other good options include mussels, barnacles, and shrimp. You’ll want to make sure your bait is fresh and has a good scent, as this will help attract the sheepshead to your hook.

How to Catch Sheepshead

Use the Right Tackle: When fishing for sheepshead, it’s important to use the right tackle. A medium-heavy action rod with a baitcasting reel or spinning reel is ideal. The line you use should be braided, with a test of 20 to 30 pounds.
Fish Around Structure: As mentioned, sheepshead are commonly found around structure, so make sure to fish in these areas. You can fish vertically or cast your bait out and let it sink to the bottom.
Set the Hook Quickly: Sheepshead are known for stealing bait, so it’s important to set the hook quickly once you feel a bite. This will help ensure that you hook the fish before it has a chance to steal your bait.
Use Chum: Chumming can help attract sheepshead to your fishing area. You can use ground up bait, such as shrimp or clams, to create a scent trail in the water.
In conclusion, sheepshead are a great species to target for saltwater anglers. With the right tackle, bait, and techniques, you can increase your chances of catching these hard-fighting fish. So, get out there and give it a try!

The post How to catch Sheepshead appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Cold Water

We have witnessed water temps in the lower 40’s even in some areas the upper 30’s for a day or two most days water temps average around 57 degrees. Follow the water temps in real time by clicking HERE

First Cold Snap

This year our first nice cold snap rolled through our area in mid October. A cold snap in October is not uncommon and is often very much needed and appreciated. Therefore this cold snap combined with shortening days will be the first noticeable triggers to sending speckled trout toward their winter homes. Historically, I see this cold snap as false hope yet you may find some massive schools of small speckled trout. This cold snap causes smaller shrimp to start moving which will cause the smaller speckled trout to frenzy. Frenzies can be highlighted by flocks of birds feeding on shrimp. Trout are pushing shrimp to the surface and the birds feed on the fleeing shrimp. Have fun with these schools, most of these fish will be undersized but the action can be incredible.

The Warm Up

That first cold snap is just a tease. What’s next? Although, speckled trout felt changes they won’t be “piled up”, yet. Basically, the fish will be moving everyday but the “warm ups” can cause frustration. The mild air temps combined with mild water temps will feel great but the fishing can be tough. What is going on? In my opinion a warm up allows fish to spread out and feed on the best bait available. When the fish spread out they become harder to find. If fishing is hard just blame the warm up.

Approaching Cold Front

Undoubtedly cold fronts are coming. I begin pondering over how much rain will fall with each front. How will the rain impact our area and effect the fishing? Majority of the time the approaching cold front will be a warming trend. When cold fronts approach I look for speckled trout to move shallow and feed pretty well. Many times we will locate speckled trout in 2′ or less in pre-front conditions. Also as the cold front approaches the wind usually will increase. This increased wind is usually of the southern direction. Increased southern winds and warmer temps will often increase water levels throughout the Mobile Bay system. This increased wind and water levels can prove to make fishing difficult. If fishing sucks for you then blame the warm up.

The Rain Arrives

Subsequently, as the front arrives it usually brings rain to our area and throughout the entire Mobile Bay watershed. The Mobile Bay watershed consists of local and upstate watersheds. Heavy local rain will typically flush out of the smaller tidal rivers, creeks and bayous with in 1-4 days. The smaller the tributary the faster it will clean up. Large amounts of upstate rain are those areas up stream of the most southern dams. Coffeeville dam on Tombigbee River and Claiborne Lock and Dam on the Alabama River are key indicators.

Local River/ Tidal River systems

Heavy local rainfall will typically shut down or nearly eliminate all speckled trout fishing in the smallest tributaries for several days or even weeks. In my opinion these small rivers can will nearly flush all the salinity with a major local rain event, which will make it to fresh for speckled trout to survive. Therefore, these fish will leave. If you have to go fishing for speckled trout after a major rain event then I suggest to focus your efforts on the larger and deeper river systems.

Good Fishing

Although we get some cold sprinkled in here and there in October, November and early December Winter doesn’t actually begin until December 21st. I hear people talk about how good the “winter” fishing is while catching fish in early December. This good fishing is actually fall fishing and that angler is enjoying a good fall pattern. Despite what you wish to call it the fishing is generally its best before and few days after a cold front. Each front makes a change in all species from bait to big fish. Long stretches of consistent weather is often appreciated by us humans but the best fishing is usually brought on by major weather changes.

Salinity

In my experience the true winter homes of speckled trout in Alabama are the brackish rivers and creeks. In the winter speckled trout are not spawning so they only need 5ppt salinity to survive and they are quite happy in 6ppt-10ppt. The human tongue can barely taste the 5pp-7ppt so giving water the taste test to decide whether or not its fishable or not might not be the best method. Also, the saltier water is always lower in the water column. The saltier water is often where your speckled trout will be but they will certainly feed in the higher fresher if they need.

Long Winter

Most of the time once speckled trout fully enter the harbors, creeks, and rivers that’s where they will remain until spring arrives. Once winter is in full swing we will see many to most bait fish and shrimp exit the rivers and creeks which actually makes fishing for speckled trout a little more interesting. Traditional popping cork and shrimp are not near as effective deep in the winter. It seems the bulk of what hangs in are mullet. Which makes the mullet bait pattern that much better. Winter fishing will continue as long as the fronts keep rolling through and water temps consonantly remain under 65 degrees. The longer days will be the speckled trouts calendar until the weather changes.

Spring

As we are approaching the first day of spring we will normally see more days between cold fronts. How will this affect fishing? The more blue bird days we have the more frustrating days of fishing you can expect. Just like in the fall when you have numerous days of pretty and comfortable weather the tougher it can be to get a speckled trout to bite. Blame the bad fishing on the pretty weather.

That’s a Wrap

Thanks for checking out this post I hope you learned something. To wrap things up I recommend to not sleep in on the dreary weather days because the fish are probably biting the best. The second and third day behind the front is usually a good day to plan to hit the water as well.

The post Cold Fronts and Speckled trout appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Premier Speckled Trout Fishing Tournament

Wow! Seven successful Winter Classic fishing tournaments are now in the record books. The Winter Classic 2021 dates were January 23rd and 24th. We registered the most participating teams for this years premier speckled trout fishing tournament. The past champions were registered for this years Winter Classic. Which, included the three time and defending champions Captain Bobby Abruscato and Captain Richard Rutland AKA The Wrecking Crew. Two time champions Trevor Wood and I (Captain Patric Garmeson) AKA Uglywood. And the second year champions David Hare and John Howard AKA Team H&H.

The Winter Classic 2021

What better way to bring in a new year than with a bad to the bone fishing contest. Every single year as the host of a tournament I am hopeful for good conditions and good fishing. Somehow, the lucky seventh edition of The Winter Classic has all of the right ingredients. The ingredients I am referring to are the water quality, quality fishing, and decent weather. Leading up to the speckled trout fishing tournament anglers were catching speckled trout throughout the entire Mobile Bay system. River stages were low, water was in some cases too clear.

Top Sponsors

All great things in life are not done alone. Therefore, I bring in some great partners for the premier speckled trout tournament. L&M Marine has been our top sponsor for the event 6 out of 7 years. Owner Michael Maxwell and sales manager Jon Page have been big supporters of me personally, my fishing guide business and The Winter Classic for several years. I encourage anyone in the boat market or are in need of service/repair give L&M Marine a shot at your business. Despite L&M Marine being a top contributor to The Winter Classic we also have a long standing relationship with The First Bank. The relationship with The First Bank is fostered by John Erwin who has helped me with numerous business purchases over the years. Regardless if your banking needs are large or small I highly recommend giving The First Bank a shot at your business.

Supporting Cast

In addition to our top contributors we have a great group of supporters. For instance, Breakline Optics has donated two pair of glasses each year for the past 6 years. Personally, I wear Breakline polarized sunglasses every single day. They are lightweight, comfortable, durable and above all they are the best glasses I have ever worn for sight fishing. The next long standing sponsor of The Winter Classic is Blue Water Graphics. Michelle and her staff have provided decals, signs and banners additionaly everyones favorite the big ass checks! Surprisingly, the turnaround time on most orders are quicker than you might expect. Not only does Blue Water Graphics provide options for decals, signs, banners and big checks they also have options for screen printing and embroidery.

Tournament Management

Anyone that has been fishing tournaments for longer than about five years have experienced slow tournament weigh ins witheven slower results. Therefore, I partnered with Fishing Chaos in 2018 to bring The Winter Classic and my fishing guide service to the digital age. Fishing Chaos provides anglers, fishing guides, and customers looking to hire a fishing guides an incredible online experience. Respectively, Fishing Chaos is becoming household name in the fishing industry. The Winter Classic anglers were able to register online anytime day or night. Each registered angler can instantly see other registered anglers and find all tournament information. Lastly, the tournament results show up instantly on the app and the registered angler receives an emailed receipt of the weigh in results.

Shaping up nicely

First, this will be the only Winter Classic that has had decent weather without a forecasted front coming in on Saturday or Sunday. As I mentioned earlier the bay and most rivers are holding speckled trout due to good water quality. Prior to the start of The Winter Classic I along with most anglers in the field are getting some “prefishing” done. As a tournament director it is really cool to see how much effort the anglers put into trying to cash a check in this event. Trevor and I cover a tremendous amount of water during our two practice days. He and I located 4 groups of fish in 4 different areas that had our hopes high for being in the running. We never located “the right school” but we felt confident in bringing 12-14 pounds to the scale on day one.

Its go Time

According to The Winter Classic rules anglers are allowed to launch,drop, or deploy his or her vessel into the water at 4am and no sooner on each day of the tournament. Why so early? The first year of the tournament we anglers wanted to compete in the tournament and fish in Mississippi waters. Since this is an Alabama based tournament I wanted all anglers to leave and return with in Alabama. The tournament offically begins at 5:00am. In other words, “lines in” begins at 5:00am. Trevor and I launched around 4:30 and took our time to get to our first spot. Our first spot ended up being only a few hundred yards from this years champions. Overall Trevor and I ended day one feeling like we had a shot. We certainly felt like we were in good position to make a run on Sunday.

Weigh in begins

First to weigh in was Billy Howell and Rob Hall AKA “All Jacked Up” with a weight of 9.41. Next to weigh Team S&B. S&B is made up of Steve Lindsey and Brandon McCart, these two showed up in a bass boat and 5 lively speckled trout with a total weight of 15.49# which includes the live fish bonus. The next solid day one weight was brought by team Lost Cause with a total weight of 13.67# which included live fish bonus. Lost Cause is made up of Kyle Mitternight and Rick Tourne. The 11th team to weigh in brought the heaviest fish of the day to the scales. Jason Gamble and Junnie Ellis AKA Double J weighed in a 4.07 speckled trout that was awarded the .25# live fish bonus for a total weight of 4.32.

Day one weigh in continues

The thirteenth team to arrive to the scales is last years second place team Mines Bigger 2 comprised of father and son team Scott and Jamie Stevens. They drop the hammer with a five fish weight which includes live fish bonus of 16.28#. Not to be out done Kevin Chalk and Clay Dean Team “Just fo Sho” drops the heaviest bag of the day on the scales. Therefore, Just fo Sho is now in first place with 16.47#. Richard Rutland and Bobby Abruscato show up with a respectable 14.06# which will keep them in the hunt heading into day two. Trevor and I are the last team to weigh in. We did exactly what we hoped for we are in the hunt with a total weight of 14.21#.

Strategy Time

We have entered into strategy time. This is the time when all teams take in all the information they can from the dock talk to their own recon. Who brought the heavy bags? Where were they? Will their fish hold up? In my opinion the top 13 teams all have a shot at placing and the top 6 teams have legit shots to win this years premier speckled trout fishing tournament. Not to mention that on Sunday teams are fishing for the heavy bag prize sponsored by The Slick Lure and Breakline Optics . Most teams are competing in a couple side pots. The lunker which is awarded to the largest fish of the weekend and the new Average Joe award. In other words many options remain open for most any team.

It sure was fun

Conditions were fair for all anglers. Just need to add the right fish. Trevor and I found a solid creel fish by 7:30ish and then sucked up the rest of the day. Three of the four areas we found fish in practice all disappeared. Our day was toast. Oh well, I had a blast fishing with my friend Trevor for four days. Obviously Trevor and I want to win but the wins are icing on the cake.

Final Day

Its here. The final day. All anglers I assume are pulling out the best cards, best lures and best strategies. The premier speckled trout fishing tournament is in its final day and its time to make it happen. Therefore, the final day is the hold nothing back day. If you found some fish its time to get on them and make them bite.

Lets get this day 2 started

The final day weigh in begins with the team in last place and finishes with the team in first place from day one. All teams must be checked in with weigh master prior to 3pm. The tournament weigh in begins with Doug Tierce and Jay O’brien as team “Resurrection”. Doug and Jay stayed consistent by weighing in at least 1 legal speckled trout each day. The most notable single fish brought to the scales all weekend was the tournament “Lunker” weighed in by Billy Howell and Robb Hall AKA “All Jacked up”. Their fish was alive and weighed 6.57# and was awarded .25# bonus for a total score of 6.82#. Ran Red Fishing which is harder to say than read is Noel Riley and Aaron Atwood maintained a consistent weekend by weighing in 9.6# on day one and 10.74# on day two. Thus having a respectable tournament total of 20.34#.

Getting close

Weighing in after Ran Red fishing is new comers L&M Marine. Jon Page and Bob Nygaard aka L&M Marine dropped the 4th best day two creel on the scale with 13.36# and a two day total of 22.96#. Wrecking Crew did what they do and dropped a very respectable 16.69# to place them securely in 1st place with only four teams left to weigh. Trevor and I were up next and as I mentioned earlier we sucked it up and only brought 8.5# to the scale. Team S&B said they had a tough day but managed a decent weight of 11.19# to put them in 2nd behind Wrecking Crew with a two day total of 26.68. Mines Bigger 2 weighs in next. The crowd drew in tight. Not much “social distancing”.

Last two teams

Scott and son Jamie pull 5 nearly identical live speckled trout and place into the basket. The crowd goes silent. Weighmaster John “the reel man” Burke calls a weight of 16.56# and “Five Alive!” which gave them the heaviest weight of the weekend for a total of 17.81#. This secures Mines Bigger 2 firmly into 1st place with only one team left to weigh in. Kevin Chalk and Clay Dean dropped the hammer on day one with a day one weight of 16.47#. Although they had a strong day one they needed to have an even better day two to take home the championship trophies. Unfortunately, team Just Fo Sho only showed up for Saturday because they fell short on Sunday with a 10.01# day two creel. Drum Roll please…..

Heavy bag, Average Joe and Lunker

The Sunday Heavy Bag sponsored by The Slick Lure and Breakline Optics goes to Team Mines Bigger 2. Sunday total weight of 17.81# for Scott and Jamie Stevens which they caught with slick lures! The brand new side pot category “Average Joe” goes to the the team that buys in and finished closest to the average weight of the tournament. This years “Average Joe” award goes to Ran Red Fishing. The Lunker goes to “All Jacked up!”. Billy Howell and Robb Hall had a few snafu moments during the weekend but with a single cast by Billy of a Mirrodine XL and a perfectly executed net job from Robb they managed to land the largest speckled trout of the weekend and a top 5 finish overall.

Show and Place

Third Place goes to Steve and Brandon team S&B with a total weight of 26.68#. When asked how they got it done Steve said a variety of tactics and he found a new use for a slick lure. The new suggested use of a slick lure is a live well plug when yours magically disappears. Second place goes to the most consistent Winter Classic tournament anglers. Captain Richard Rutland and Captain Bobby Abruscato. The second place Wrecking Crew weighed in a very respectable two day total of 30.75#.

And the Winners are…

There was one team that stood out as being ultra consistent for The Winter Classic 2021 weekend. Only one team that threw The Slick Lure all weekend. One team that found fish and never left them. And only one team that hooked and landed the right fish to put them on top! Congratulations Scott and Jamie Stevens AKA Mines Bigger 2 as the winners of The Winter Classic 2021 with a total weight of 34.09# in the premier speckled trout fishing tournament!

Thank you

Thank you John Burke for being the best weighmaster we could ever ask for! And thank you to all The Winter Classic 2021 participants. Also, thank you to all the sponsors of The 2021 Winter Classic.

The post The Winter Classic 2021 appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Red Snapper Dates are Set

Each year anglers patiently await the announcement of the Alabama red snapper season. Now, anglers can begin planning his or her red snapper fishing trips. 2020 Alabama red snapper season is set based on the harvest data from previous years. This year in particular was the first year that the state of Alabama was able to choose the management and season without the oversight from NOAA.

State Management

As a fishing guide and an Alabama resident it is very exciting to see Alabama in full control of the red snapper fishery. Therefore, Alabama residence and guests now have a much larger say in how the fishery will be managed in the future. This could lead to longer seasons similar to what we experienced last year. Click here See 2019 season announcement

Alabama Opens Recreational Red Snapper Season on May 22, 2020

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), Marine Resources Division (MRD) announces Alabama state waters and federal waters will open for red snapper fishing for private anglers on Friday, May 22, 2020. The season will consist of four-day weekends, Friday through Monday. The season is anticipated to last for 35 days and is scheduled to close on Sunday, July 19, 2020.

The season dates only apply to anglers fishing from recreational vessels and state-licensed Alabama commercial party boats that do not hold federal for-hire fishing permits. Anglers fishing from federally-permitted for-hire vessels have their own season that will be announced at a later date by NOAA Fisheries.

Alabama’s 2020 private angler red snapper season is based on a federal quota of 1,122,662 pounds. The season dates may be adjusted based on harvest.

“We have added Mondays to our traditional weekend season in response to many requests from anglers who wanted more weekday access,” said Chris Blankenship, ADCNR Commissioner.  “I am also pleased that the season will begin with the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The passage of the Regional Management Amendment by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, Amendment 50, earlier this year gives Alabama the ability to manage the red snapper season for the maximum benefit and access for our anglers. I am looking forward to a great season.”

Anglers are reminded of the following:

*Weekends are defined as 12:01 a.m. Friday through 11:59 p.m. Monday.

*The daily bag limit is two red snapper per person, per day with a minimum size limit of 16 inches total length.

*Anglers over the age of 16 must have an Alabama saltwater fishing license (resident or nonresident, annual or trip), or any Alabama resident angler 65 or older or lifetime saltwater license holder must have a current saltwater angler registration. The saltwater angler registration is free and available at www.outdooralabama.com/saltwater-fishing/saltwater-angler-registration.

*All anglers; including residents and non-residents 16 years of age and older, including lifetime license holders, disability license holders and those 65 and older, must have a Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement to fish for or possess any reef fish. The Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement can be purchased online at www.outdooralabama.com/license-information.

*Each vessel landing red snapper is required by law to complete one landing report per vessel trip of their harvested red snapper through Snapper Check prior to removing the fish from the boat or the boat with the fish being removed from the water. All red snapper landed in Alabama are required to be reported regardless of the jurisdiction in which they were caught.

*Anglers under the age of 16 are not required to be licensed or have saltwater angler registration, but their catch must be included in the landing report.  

*A landing report may be submitted through Snapper Check in the Outdoor AL mobile app, which is available from the Apple and Android stores or online at www.outdooralabama.com. If you have previously downloaded the Pocket Ranger version of the mobile app, please uninstall it and download the current Outdoor AL app. Paper landing reports and drop boxes are also available at select coastal public boat ramps.

*Participating in a MRD creel survey or being inspected by MRD law enforcement officers is not considered reporting. Anglers must still report their harvest through Snapper Check or fill out a paper report even if encountered by MRD staff.

*Operators of vessels with an Alabama Commercial Party Boat License without federal for-hire permits must abide by the state season and may only fish inside the 9-mile state waters line. An Alabama landing report must be completed before landing red snapper in Alabama in addition to holding a Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement.

*Possession of red snapper in state waters while the Alabama season is closed is prohibited. Anglers fishing under another state’s season must abide by that state’s rules and land fish in that state. Individuals on vessels with red snapper may not transit Alabama state waters while the Alabama season is closed.

Anglers on federally-permitted charter vessels may fish in state waters only during the days the state and federal season is open. They may transit state waters with red snapper during the federal for-hire season on days the private angler season is closed. Owners/operators of federally-permitted charter vessels are required to submit an Alabama red snapper landing report prior to red snapper being landed in Alabama and possess a Gulf Reef Fish Endorsement.

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and enjoyment of Alabama’s natural resources through four divisions: Marine Resources, State Lands, State Parks, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR, visit www.outdooralabama.com.

Red Snapper Fishing Charters

Now that the Alabama red snapper season is set for 2020 we can now confidently book snapper trips. The cool addition to this years season is the addition of Mondays. What better way to spend a Monday than on the water snatching on some beautiful red snapper.

The post 2020 Alabama Red Snapper Season appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Spring Fishing Gulf Shores

Lets face it, we are all ready for winter to be behind us and ready for some warmer weather and most importantly, hungry fish. Regardless of where you are when spring rolls around most fish get more active and more willing to bite when spring arrives. Spring, Summer, fall and winter fishing Gulf Shores is no different. Many local and out of town guests are eager to locate the right Gulf Shores inshore fishing charter to target some of Mobile Bay’s best inshore and nearshore species. Typical years we are targeting sheepshead, redfish, speckled trout and black drum during the spring months. There are several Gulf Shores inshore fishing charters available but only a few will take care of the customer. CCA Alabama has compiled a list of true stewards CLICK HERE for those guides.

Summer Fishing Gulf Shores

Each season the Gulf Shores area will have the option to fish inshore and or nearshore. What does that mean? Inshore fishing is fishing that will take place with in Mobile Bay or its tributaries. Nearshore fishing is any fishing activity south of the Gulf Shores beaches. Nearshore fishing can consist of targeting Snapper, King Mackerel, bonita, Spanish mackerel, and several other nearshore species. Summer fishing Gulf Shores, Alabama can provide some incredible fishing opportunities for anglers both inshore and nearshore.

Fall Fishing Gulf Shores

The fall fishing Gulf Shores has a focus similar to that of spring fishing. As the summer winds down fishing is in the fall is near a mirror image of Gulf Shores Spring Fishing. Although, fall fishing Gulf Shores is not always the same animal. In the fall we usually don’t see the sheepshead bite like in the the spring but both redfish and speckled trout seem to be a good option.

Winter Fishing Gulf Shores

Locating speckled trout, redfish, black drum, and sheepshead in the winter months can be really fun as a fisherman, guide and or angler. In the winter months we usually fish in the Weeks bay, Bon Secour, and Eastern Shore areas in the Winter months. If you are interested in booking a fishing guide or multiple boats for any season of the year click HERE.

The post Gulf Shores inshore Fishing Charter appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The Best Speckled Trout Fishing Tournament

The Winter Classic 2020 edition is in the books! Like always we had our share of ugly weather, lock jaw Mobile bay speckled trout, but most importantly eager anglers who all enter with the intent of holding a big check and plaque at the end of the weekend. How is this the best speckled trout fishing tournament? The weigh in process, the rules, and the live fish bonus! Conservation is the focus in this tournament. This year we are supporting the Mobile Bay speckled trout restocking program. Protecting and promoting the fish we enjoy to target and catch is a great way to spend a weekend.

Sixth year

I’m sitting here thinking that its hard to believe we have already completed six of these Winter Classic weekends. So far every year I set the date then stress over what the conditions will be that weekend. Thoughts like will a front hit that weekend, will the water be muddy, will fishing be tough, will guys be able to catch 5 keeper speckled trout, will I have enough teams to make a tournament. Well, so far I can answer, YES! To all of those questions. Yes, the weather will change, yes the water will likely be jacked up, yes some teams will struggle, yes many teams will catch 5 each day, and yes we have enough die hard anglers to commit.

Who’s New?

The Winter Classic 2020 had a few new faces. Noel Riley and his partner Justin Hilderbrand made up team Ran Red Fishing. Another first year team was Get the Net. Team Get the Net is made up of Jamie Stevens and Austin Norton. Father son team Ottomatic comprised of Jim and James Ising were also new to the Winter Classic. Long time BOG anglers Kevin Olmstead and Shane Traylor finally were able to join the Winter Classic line up as TKO. Speaking of BOG, the previous week winners and runner up team split to form team T-N-T. Brothers Josh and Gabe Tidmore teamed up at the last second to enter this years Winter Classic as team T-N-T. Regardless of who wins or loses we hope to supply plenty of live fish toward the new Mobile bay speckled trout restocking program.

The Originals

After six years of the best speckled trout fishing tournament we have four original teams in this years competition. Back to back and defending champions team Wrecking Crew made up of Captain Richard Rutland and Captain Bobby Abruscato was the third team to register. Also, in this years competition the 2016 Winter Classic champions John the “Hammer” Howard and David “Burl” Hare joined forces once again as team H&H. The always competitive, Trifecta comprised of Jeb Mann and Michael Nicholas, are also signed up. The last of the originals is two time winter classic champions Uglywood. Trevor Wood and myself, Captain Patric Garmeson have teamed up every year since the tournaments conception.

Some Old Some New

Every year we pick up some teams from previous years, or old teams break up and new team members are added. Team Bro N Law was the first team to register this year. Bro N Law is comprised of Shon Pipkin and David Skoglund, who are as the name suggests actually brothers in law. Second year team Mines Bigger made up of father son duo Ryan and Scott Stevens. Also, second year team mates Captain Wesley Hallman and Cory Quint adopted team name Little Big Debbie. Another, second year team is team S&B made up of Brandon McCart and Steve Lindsay. Long time participating team Just Fo Sho formed by two grub bouncing anglers, Kevin Chalk and Clay Dean. The 14th team to enter the competition was Jonas Alexander and Erik Nelson who joined forces to form Awe Skeet. The final team to mention is Ol Yella. My dad Marty Garmeson and my long time friend Doug Tierce paired up to become a certain dark horse for this years competition.

Thursday Night

For the last few years Trevor Wood and I have met on Thursday night for some adult beverages, food, and to figure out who will weigh in when at Saturdays weigh in. Trevor has flown in from Chicago each year to specifically be my partner for the winter classic. Since he usually arrives Thursday afternoon we will get together to discuss prefishing strategies and to draw the order in which guys will weigh in on Saturday. This year like last year we met at Yinzers Brew and Grill in Daphne, Alabama. Doug Tierce joined us for dinner this year and was our official name puller for our Facebook Live video.

Prefishing

Many teams had anglers whom had the opportunity to do some prefishing prior to the Winter Classic 2020. I ran into numerous anglers throughout the week as we all seem to either be sand bagging or singing the same tune. Many anglers complained of not even catching five fish or not catching any size. The prefishing was almost a waste for many anglers. Many who all seem to settle in on each of his comfort zones for the best speckled trout fishing tournament. Anglers who worked all week without touching the water until Saturday seem to survive equally as well as some who fished nearly all week. Prefishing for a tournament can be tricky as Captain Bobby Abruscato explains in episode 98 of the Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report.

The water conditions

2019 was a year of high water and crap weather. 2019 finished how it started. Monster local and upstate rains prior to Christmas basically knocked a bunch of good fishing down into the mud and shut down the fish. Each day following the monster rains the local water conditions would slowly improve. Luckily the local rain events following the Christmas rain were all fairly light and very manageable for our water ways. However, upstate rains continued to fill and refill all the major rivers leading to Mobile Bay. The constant flow of fresh muddy water created tough fishing conditions throughout Mobile Bay.

The 2020 Winter Classic Sponsors

L&M Marine

We have been blessed with a really good group of sponsors. The first sponsor to join the Winter Classic 2020 is L&M Marine. L&M Marine has been with us every single year. Since Winter Classic 2016 we have awarded trophies and L&M Marine continues to sponsor those awards. L&M Marine is an industry leader in the sale and service of Yamaha, Mercury, and Suzuki outboard motors. As well as sale and service of some high quality boat brands like Blue Wave, Blazer Bay, Skeeter, Excel, Xpress, and several more great boat brands. Therefore, if you or anyone you know are looking to pick up a new boat, trading up, repowering or simply need some new accessories installed give the folks at L&M Marine a call at 251-937-1380. This year will be the best yet since we are helping with the Mobile Bay speckled trout restocking.

The First Bank

The First is another long standing sponsor of The Winter Classic. Since we added awards in 2016 we introduced the “big checks”. The big checks are presented by The First Bank. In order to have the best speckled trout fishing tournament you need to have the coolest awards. So we added big checks. Besides being sponsors of the Winter Classic 2020, The First is a local bank with a commitment to our community. If you are in the need of a new or refinance mortgage, personal, business or a boat loan give the folks at The First a call at 1-855-257-2265.

Blue Water Graphics

So I mentioned big checks earlier. Blue Water Graphics in Mobile, Alabama has handled printing our big checks, banner and decal needs over the years. As a fishing guide it seems I always need decals or signage made. So I rely on Michelle at Blue Water Graphics to fulfill those needs. Blue Water Graphics has been with us since the beginning. I hope if you need some decals, signage or screen printing done you will give them an opportunity. Call Blue Water Graphics at 251-472-7338 . Thank you Blue Water Graphics for your support of the best speckled trout fishing tournament.

Slick Lure

One of the fastest growing lure brands in the Mobile Bay area is the Slick Lure. The Slick as many locals refer have adopted this lure as a premier big speckled trout catching lure. Since the slick lure is becoming one of the most popular baits for Mobile Bay speckled trout fishing. It only seemed fitting for them to become a sponsor. This is the second year we added the Slick lure package to the awards. This year we added the Slick Lure package as a prize for the team with the heaviest creel on Sunday. If you have any questions about the Sick Lure give them a call at (352)226-3226.

Fishing Chaos

The final player in this tournament is Fishing Chaos. Who or what is Fishing Chaos? Fishing Chaos provides an online platform for various uses in the sport fishing industry. For instance they can host a live or virtual fishing tournament on the web based app. This is how all anglers registered for this years Winter Classic. In addition to anglers registering on this platform they also could see near instantly the standings as teams weighed in. Fishing Chaos has too many features to list so I insist on checking out the site for yourself. https://app.fishingchaos.com You can even book a fishing trip with me, Richard, or Wesley right on the app. At minimum get registered and start logging your catches anywhere in the world!

Day One Conditions

The first day of the best speckled trout fishing tournament weather wasn’t terrible. Easterly winds 10-20 depending on where you were around Mobile Bay. Air temperature started out at 60 degrees with a high of 65. While the water temp for Trevor and I was 66 degrees according to the Raymarine Axiom. Most anglers saw some rain late morning or early afternoon with another round of showers coming after dark. Overall Saturday fishing conditions around Mobile Bay were unseasonably warm with a cold front approaching Sunday morning. Day one tides were above predicted levels and had good movement throughout the day.

The Saturday weigh in

Talking with most anglers the bite seemed to be either okay or non-existent. Taylor Morrow was manning the measuring board to verify each speckled trout measured in the slot. This is the first year of the trout slot and increase of minimum size limit to 15″ and max of 22″. Each team is allowed up to 5 speckled trout with a max of 2 fish allowable to exceed 22″. Our official weighmaster John Burke called for each team to weigh, determined whether fish was alive or dead and called the official weight. This year we were able to utilize the live speckled trout for the new Mobile Bay speckled trout restocking program.

Mobile Bay Speckled trout Restocking

The Claude Peteet Mariculture center in Gulf Shores, Alabama started a new Mobile Bay speckled trout restocking program. The hatchery manager Max Westendorf and other state officials decided to pause the redfish restocking program and kick off a speckled trout restocking program. This program is coming in on the heels of the speckled trout regulation changes both in bag limit and size limit. The number one thing this program needs right now is brood stock or breeding size fish. Well what better use of the fish we bring to the scales than brood stock for a brand new program. So thats what we did with all live fish brought to the scales, we donated them to the hatchery. Each day a hatchery representative was on site with a custom sport trail trailer fitted with one giant tank for all our live speckled trout.

Who’s first to the scales

The first team to the scales on day one was 2016 Winter Classic Champions team H&H. David and John weighed in 5 speckled for a total weight of 8.14# and all fish were determined as being alive. Each live fish is awarded a .25#bonus to the overall total. This brought H&H’s final score to 9.39#. The second team called to the scale was defending Winter Classic champions Wrecking Crew. Richard and Bobby weighed in 5 live speckled trout with an official weight of 11.19# with a 1.25# bonus to bring their total weight to 12.44#. The third team to drop fish on the scale was Ol Yella. Marty and Doug can make a fish eat and they made that happen on day one. Weighing in 4 live and 1 dead fish they had an official weight of 13.24# with a 1# bonus to bring the official day one total to 14.24#. Marty and Doug also weigh in the first respectable size fish with a lunker of 3.68#. At this point Ol Yella is sitting on top of the leader board on day one. Lets see who else shows up with some fish.

Keep them coming

The fourth team to weigh in is team TKO. Which on Saturday was only Shane, his partner Kevin had other obligations but would be there on Sunday. Shane had a good day, 5 lively Mobile Bay speckled trout and one real good one that weighed in at 4.6#. With an official weigh of 12.88# and kick in the 1.25# bonus for a total of 14.13# good enough for second place on day one. The fifth team to carry a bag of speckled trout to scales is Little Big Debbie. Wes and Cory felt okay about the fish they had based on the previous teams scores. Little Big Debbie placed 5 live speckled trout in on the scale for an official weight of 12.27# and a nice kicker fish that weighed 4.14#. After tallying the bonus Wes and Cory walk away with a total of 13.52# good enough to put them in 3rd place. The sixth team to weigh in at the best speckled trout fishing tournament is Get the Net. Jamie and Austin found a respectable trout creel with 4 alive and 1 dead an official weight 11.88# and a 1# bonus to bring their total to 12.88#.

7 through 9

The seventh team to weigh in is Uglywood. Our day one creel consisted of 2 quality fish and 3 we would have loved to have culled. Nonetheless our official weight was 12.50# which was anchored by a 4.45# lunker. Add the 1.25# bonus to bring the total to 13.75# which moves us barely ahead of Little Big Debbie. The next team up was T-N-T, Josh and Gabe Tidmore. They dropped 5 lively speckled trout on the scales for an official weight of 7.7#, add the 1.25# bonus for a total weight of 8.95#. The ninth team to the scales is 2018 third place team Just Fo Sho, Kevin and Clay. Their day one official weight for Just Fo Sho 10.93#. All five fish were determined alive by weighmaster John Burke so they were awarded 1.25#. Just Fo Sho’s total day one weight was 12.18#.

The rest of the field

The final team to bring fish to the scales was Trifecta, Jeb and Micheal. They brought 4 live Mobile Bay speckled trout to the scale for an official weight of 6.44#. Add the 1# bonus and Jeb and Michael are headed into Sunday with 7.44# on the board. As I mentioned earlier, teams either did okay or nothing at all. The remaining 6 teams either choose not to weigh in fish or didn’t have any to weigh in. After speaking with some of the teams who did not weigh it was because many of them swung for the fence hoping to have a big day Saturday. Sunday’s forecast looked challenging to say the least so I don’t fault anyone for trying to hit a home run on Saturday. These winter tournaments can be challenging but its entirely possible to bring 20#-25# to the scales on any giving day. That’s a wrap on day one.

Saturday wrap up

The 2020 Winter Classic fishing tournament is already halfway complete. Saturday is in the books. The field is pretty dang tight from 1st through 7th and really anyone can win this thing 1st through 10th. Ol Yella is sitting 1st 14.24, TKO 2nd 14.13, Uglywood 3rd 13.75, Little Big Debbie 4th 13.52, Get The Net 5th 12.88, Wrecking Crew 6th 12.44, Just Fo Sho 7th 12.18, H&H 8th 9.39, T-N-T 9th 8.95, and Trifecta 10th 7.44. The weigh in site clears out pretty quick. Most of the anglers in the top 10 all seem to gather their things and start thinking about Sunday. One thing I noted while chatting with some of the guys during weigh in was that there was a rush to be the first boat in the water at a boat ramp or two. To my knowledge nobody had to fist fight or anything crazy like that. It was really cool to hear the guys referencing the rules about what time you could launch and fishing distances from one another. I was a proud tournament host to know that the guys were all holding each other accountable on the rules.

Sunday Funday Winter Classic 2020

Fun, some might call it that. The wind was having a ton of fun! I woke up at 3am. The wind sounded like a hurricane outside my window. I always say that if the wind is blowing at my house its gonna be a bumpy ride. I was right I pulled up the wind alert app on my phone and the winds were stroking. 26-30mph depending on which anemometer I was inspecting. Well, Trevor and I had discussed launching on the causeway and running the boat down to Dog River where we planned to fish for Sunday. These plans immediately changed to lets launch on Dog, too rough to run in the dark. The wind was the main weather factor for Sunday. It really wasn’t too cold. Low temp was approximately 50 degrees but the winds obviously made it feel colder. So Sunday was fun for all!

Day 2 Winter Classic Weigh in

The Claude Peteet Mariculture Center truck and trailer is on site when Trevor and I arrive at the scales. We arrived second approximately 15 minutes prior to weigh in beginning. The Winter Classic 2020 rules state that all teams must be checked in with weigh master John Burke by 2:59pm each day and first team up should be ready to weigh no later than 3:05. On Sunday the first to weigh in will be any of the 6 teams that didn’t weigh on Saturday and then move from 10th place towards 1st place. So first up is Awe Skeet.

Lets get it started

Mobile Bay speckled trout can be unforgiving following a cold front. Awe Skeet choose not to weigh in on Saturday but did bring fish on Sunday. Erik and Jonas had a nice 4.22# lunker trout, a total of 3 live trout good for .75# bonus and a total weight of 8.07#. Ran Red Fishing was the second team that didn’t weigh in on Saturday but brought some fish to the scale on Sunday. Noel and Justin brought in an official total weight of 3.72#. Trifecta is the third team to weigh in on Sunday, Jeb and Micheal brought a couple of live trout to add to the speckled trout restocking program. T-N-T, H&H, and Just Fo Sho all fell short of rebounding into contention on Sunday but all brought fish to donate to the Claude Peteet Mariculture Center.

Its getting tight at the top

The best speckled trout fishing tournament is about to come to close. The seventh team to weigh in on day 2 of the Winter Classic is the defending champions, Wrecking Crew. Richard peacocks his way to the scale and pulls out 4 fish, one of which will be the longest and heaviest fish so far in the tournament. Richard and Bobby have a 4 fish stringer 12.67 before the 1# bonus to bring the creel total to 13.67# and the lunker official weight was 5.51# which was rewarded .25# bonus for being alive. Just like that Wrecking crew moved from 6th on Saturday to 1st on Sunday and they have the lunker at 5.76#. At this point Wrecking Crew is first with 26.11 and 6 teams remain to weigh in. Wrecking crew just made everyone tighten up a little bit.

Getting Close

Next team to weigh is Get the Net. Jamie and Austin brought 3 live Mobile bay speckled trout, one lunker a little over 5#. Team Get the Net now sits in second place with 23.99#. Next in line is Little Big Debbie. Cory and Wes learned how extremely important it is to bring your fish in alive. Unfortunately for them they had a really high quality 5.51# speckled trout but was dead on arrival. Wrecking Crew also had a 5.51# speckled trout yet they received the .25# bonus for bringing the fish in alive. The Winter Classic 2020 rules would apply. “18. In the event of a tie for the LUNKER trout. If there is a tie for the largest fish for the weekend the winner will be decided by a coin toss. The weigh master will present a coin and instruct of which side is heads or tails. The anglers will do a best of three rock paper scissors to decide who will call heads or tails.”

Final stretch

Uglywood is up next. Trevor and I landed our 5 Mobile bay speckled trout and all are alive. 9.06# plus 1.25# bonus puts us in 2nd place with a two day total including bonuses 24.06#. TKO is second to last to weigh in. Shane and Kevin fell short of holding one of the top three spots. However, on the positive note they did contribute to the speckled trout restocking program. The last team to weigh in on Sunday is Ol Yella. Marty and Doug had the best day on Saturday and needed 11.88# to remain in the top spot. Unfortunately, for Ol Yella they fell short of placing top 5 with a day two total including bonus with 5.68#.

2020 Winter Classic winners

The 6th edition of The Winter Classic is all over! Third place goes to first timers Get the Net. Jamie and Austin did what it took to hold down a top three position. Second place goes to Uglywood. Trevor and I were happy to place but pissed we didn’t win because we always want the win. First place and for the third year in a row we award Wrecking Crew the Champion trophy and 1st place big check! Not only did the Wrecking Crew take the top spot overall, they also landed the lunker and the Sunday Slick Lure Heavy Bag award! Congrats to Captain Richard Rutland and Captain Bobby Abruscato on one hell of a come back and overall tournament performance! Till next year my friends.

Checking on the Speckled Trout Restocking program

The post Winter Classic 2020 appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

On March 29, 2019 I landed a fish that put me in the Alabama record books. I can actually say that “I Captain Patric Garmeson hold the current Alabama state record sheepshead.” While this accomplishment seems like it could happen to anyone with a hook in the water I feel as if I prepared for this fish nearly my whole life. Sure there are more prestigious records and some states host an even larger state record but this was a really special catch. Below I quoted my article that was published in Great Days Outdoors Magazine. This article captures a bit of my childhood journey developing as a sheepshead anger right on through to the day of the record breaking catch. I hope you enjoy the story and thanks for checking it out. 🙂

A lifetime of sheepshead fishing, everything I learned and all the experiences, lead me to that faithful moment, the moment I landed the Alabama state record sheepshead.

My dad introduced my brother and I to sheepshead fishing at a young age (exactly when I’m not sure). We would target sheepshead at the causeway fishing bridges both from the bridge and from a boat, Dauphin Island pier, Gulf State Pier, the Dauphin Island bridge and the Daphne pilings. The most common place you found us during the spring migration was the Dauphin Island pier.

Our trip to the pier usually included several stops to scavenge for bait. We would stop and look for fiddler crabs where my dad knew we may find fiddler crabs. We often would stop and throw a cast net and use a dip net in the canals for shrimp especially looking for seed shrimp. Our final bait stops would be the East end and near the D.I. airport looking for hermit crabs. Sometimes we would have to buy live and or dead shrimp but for the most part we would catch our own bait.

Catching sheepshead has been a constant in my life, from the time I was young.

Targeting sheepshead from the pier as a child was always a little difficult due to not being tall enough to lean over the railing while standing on the pier planks. I think due to my brother and I being too small to fish like the adults we had to become really good at locating the fish quickly. Usually before we ever wet a line we would walk the entire pier looking through the rail looking down each and every piling to look for some fish feeding on barnacles. The practice of looking for my fish first is still in play for each charter trip. Sure there were some common areas that held fish better than others but always felt better if we could see some fish.

For the first several years of fishing from the pier it was only a pier with no additional structure. I’m not sure of exactly what happened but at some point they added rip rap along the base of the entire pier. This additional structure really helped to increase the sheepshead numbers each year.

It was around this same time that the gas rigs began to pop up in the gulf near our coastline. I may not be really accurate on my timeline but I remember people blaming the rigs for attracting more sheepshead and other pier species away from the pier.

Each day we found that the fish would always move to different areas of the pier. The water current would usually force us to fish on the down current side in the eddy behind the pilings, which is where we could best present our bait and use the lightest weight possible. We were rarely successful actually catching the fish we would see but the fish we could see were usually accompanied by other out of site fish. All of these tactics I still use today for landing sheepshead, including my Alabama state record sheepshead.

This brings me to one of my most memorable pier based sheepshead catches. The largest sheepshead I ever caught was an over 10 pound sheepshead that I caught on a DOA shrimp. Catching giant fish on a fake shrimp was crazy.

My early accounts of sheepshead fishing bring me to my latest and most memorable sheepshead fishing story, my Alabama state record sheepshead story.

On March 29, 2019 I have a single client fishing trip scheduled. This is a special trip to me because of who my client is. John worked with my wife for many years and chartered me to go catch a big fish. I believe his exact words were “take me out to catch a big fish for me to take a picture with.” The first thing that came to my mind was to go in the Gulf and target bull reds, snapper and sheepshead. Well, the sheepshead bite was really good leading up to this trip so I moved sheepshead fishing to the top of my list.

That day’s trip yielded. not only a state record sheepshead, but some great, picture worthy, bull reds as well.

The morning of our trip the wind was blowing 8-10 miles per hour out of the East Southeast. This was a perfect wind for running from Dauphin Island toward the East of the channel Gulf rigs where I had my most recent success. The ride was nice in my 2400 Pure Bay Bluewave boat across the mouth of Mobile Bay and we slowed on Dixie Bar. I scanned the horizon for bull redfish activity but nothing stood out to me so we proceeded toward the East.

We arrived at the rig we last laid the smack down on the spawning sheepshead. One large boat was already tied to the rig on the downwind side. We approached the upwind side and I deployed the Motorguide xi5 trolling motor to use as our anchoring device. As I maneuvered the boat near the rig my eyes were fixed on my 12″ Raymarine Axiom downvision, sidevison, and chirp sonar screens. I was forced to look for the fish using my electronics on this trip. I like a green mirror, amber tinted sunglass lense, in my case I use Breakline Sunglasses, but today the sun was not up high enough for me to physically see the fish under the water’s surface. I began to mark/identify fish in the 10 to 20 foot  range with downvision and chirp sonar screens. I felt these were likely sheepshead. Once I locked in on an ideal gps location, John chose a fish battling weapon.

All of our weapons are Lews CI400 reels paired on 7′ and 7’6″ Lews Inshore rods. Each of the reels are laced up with American Tackle Company Nano X 20 pound braid with 20 pound Silverthread flourcarbon line as our leader. All the rods were set up basically the same. Braid tied to an approximate 24″ flourcarbon leader using the Alberto knot which is a very slim knot that I trust on every fish we hook. On the end of the leader we use #2 Owner K-hooks and a #3-#7 split shot (lighter the better). Today’s bait was live shrimp from Shirleys Bait and tackle. The perfect gear for landing an Alabama state record sheepshead.

When sheepshead fishing, I look for the smaller shrimp in the livewell. You can horn hook your shrimp, tail hook or my favorite way is to bite the tail fin off and thread the hook up the tail meat of the shrimp and out the belly. A typical cast will be cross or up current/wind about 15 to 25 feet and close the bail. This will allow the bait to swing slowly through the water column and, in this instance, kept us in the zone where I saw the suspected sheepshead on the fish finder. On Johns first cast his rod loaded up with a heavy fish. This first fish broke or pulled the hook, either way it didn’t make it in the boat. Cast after cast John is hooking up and landing some and losing others.

Losing fish on 20 pound line is not uncommon but we get plenty of bites. I usually tell people to expect to lose five fish before landing one because sheepshead have weird shaped toothy mouths and are very strong. We were also fishing near barnacle covered gas rigs which can cut line very easily. Once most anglers get a feel for the bite and how hard sheepshead fight they then begin to land more and more fish.

The cigar may say “relaxed: but the bend on that rod tells the true story.

On this day John asked me to fish alongside of him because he was enjoying being on the water with me. We were hooking fish nearly every cast. Sheepshead fishing was wide open on this day.  John broke a line and I handed him the rod I was using and I took his with the broken leader. This time instead of tying another Owner K-hook I looked on the Purebay console and noticed a hot pink colored 1/4oz Bomber jighead with a white Gulp shrimp that was rigged up the day before. The interesting part of this is that the gulp shrimp looked as good as the day before when I removed it from the Gulp juice container. I tied the jighead Gulp combo on the end of the leader line using a Palomar knot and I casted the lure into the middle of the rig. Approximately 25 feet from where I was standing the lure landed and I closed the bale on the reel. When the line came tight about 15 feet below the surface I felt the line immediately go slack. I wound down and set the hook on a good fish. The fight felt equal to that of about a 7 pound sheepshead. John is hooked up as well and he lands a smaller sheepshead and then asks if he should net my fish. I said no big deal I got it. I worked the fish toward the surface and then I saw a giant sheepshead is on the end of my line. I then changed my tune with John and I asked for his assistance. I was convinced this would be my personal best, and possibly an Alabama state record sheepshead.

Once I got the fish in the boat, I had a genuine feeling that this one could be a record.

Once the fish came to the surface a few times and dives back down, the fish began to lose strength and almost gave up as John slid the net under the fish. He lifted the fish into the boat and laid it on the floor. I took a look at this fish and I told John “Holy S$%&! that might be the State Record!” I then dug into the console for my 50 pound digital scale. I used the hook on the scale to lift the fish from the floor of the boat. The weight immediately exceeded 14 pounds and with every wave the boat went up and down over the weight on the scale bounced from 13 pounds, 8 ounces to 14 pounds, 4 ounces.

I now had a weird surreal moment rush over me. John was way more excited than I was at this point. I focused on the proper photograph layout for what was, in my opinion, the new state record. I had never tested the validity of the digital scale but I knew I had the winner.

Branden Collier had the previous Alabama state record sheepshead of 13 pounds, 9 ounces which he set on April 1, 2015. From the time the report came out about Brandon’s fish I always had that record on my mind. Of all the records in the record book I always felt like sheepshead was an obtainable record for me. I’m not sure why, I just did. People don’t go out and catch 13 pound sheepshead all the time, not really anywhere, so I’m not sure why I thought I could put my name above Branden or even before Branden when the record belonged to Drew Parrish for a 12 pound, 15 ounce fish.

The whole moment was surreal to me. I looked at the fish and knew it was the record. I put the fish on ice. At this point we had not kept any fish.  We were strictly catching, photographing and releasing fish. The fish was huge, unlike anything I had ever laid my eyes on.

Once I placed the fish on ice John and I went back to fishing and we continued catching sheepshead. The wind had increased quite a bit and was up to 13-15mph and the swells and wave action were working the Xi5 trolling motor too hard so we decided to pull the plug on sheepshead fishing. On the way back toward Dauphin Island I navigated in a zig zag fashion to look for redfish activity and the things I look for include birds diving, chirp sonar, slicks, or even copper colored water.

We were catching plenty of sheepshead, with those distinct teeth, that day.

As we near Dixie Bar I see a flock of birds diving in 18 feet of water and I go over to take a look. As I slow down it appears we see some fish on the side vision. So I grab a couple 7′ rods rigged with 1/2oz jig heads and some of my old torn up Slick Lures threaded on the jighead hook. The wind quickly pushes of the area I thought I saw fish. I was about to circle around when I noticed a dark patch of water about 60 yards to the west. The dark patch turned copper in color as we approached and then in the waves we could see the individual fish.

“John there they are, your big fish!” I said. John made a cast that fell short so I launched a jig into the middle of the school. I quickly handed the rod over to John and told him to set the hook! Fish on baby! John got a big bull red, the Dixie Bar specialty. We circled back and caught a few more then headed toward Billy Goat Hole. We arrived at the dock and we were greeted by a friendly Alabama Marine Resouce employee who was conducting fish and anglers surveys. She asked if she could survey John and take a look at our fish. I told her “I’m pretty sure we have the Alabama state record sheepshead.” She got her scale out and weighed the fish.

The official, but not certified hand scale, read 14 pounds exactly exactly. The surrealness is running deep at this point. John thinks there is something wrong with me because I am so calm and emotionless. I assure him I am cool. We load the boat and head to the Marine Resource office on Dauphin Island. John follows me there. I loaded the fish into a tournament bag and packed ice around the fish. We arrive in the front office and the lady at the window asked if we had the state record fish. I said, yes ma’am!

Craig Newton AMRD biologist, whom I’ve known for over a decade met John and I at the door and invited us to the back. The scale was set to hundredths and displayed the weight as 13.90 pounds which was certainly more than the existing record. Craig then switched the display to pounds and ounces. The new displayed numbers were 13 pounds, 15 ounces and 13 pounds, 14 ounces. Craig waited till the scale settled on 13 pounds, 14oz which was officially 5 ounces heavier than Branden’s 2015 record of 13 pounds, 9 ounces.

The record.

Craig had biologist Kevin Anson agree that the fish was a sheepshead and then to assist him in the official length and girth measurements. It’s official but unofficial that I have the new state record sheepshead. The surrealness is fully set in now. John is e

xcited and is asking me what the hell is wrong. Haha I am speechless basically. I carried the fish back to the boat and buried it on ice and then made my official statement through my business Facebook page! The excitement grew with each and every phone call, text message, email and message through Facebook and Instagram. Now I wait on my official paperwork stating I have the Alabama state record sheepshead.

I plan to have the fish skin mounted since I harvested the fish and I had to keep the fish frozen for 30 days per Craig Newton’s recommendations. The record should be safe till at least next year when the sheepshead spawn begins again.

Thanks for reading,

Captain Patric Garmeson

captainpatric@uglyfishing.com

Targeting Sheepshead

If you are interested in targeting a sheepshead of a lifetime and or have a shot to break my current Alabama sheepshead state record. We offer fishing charters 12 months per year and sheepshead can be specifically targeted in both fall and spring months with the biggest fish being landed in the spring. Check out the fish species calendar for Mobile Bay. Typically the best fall fishing is Thanksgiving till Christmas and the best spring time is St. Patricks Day thru Tax Day. Although I provide specific days the bite is really dependent on water temperatures and water quality. I you are interested in booking a guided sheepshead fishing charter than give me a call or shoot me a text at 251-747-1554 Check Availablity

The post Current Alabama State Record Sheepshead appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The post Alabama’s 2019 red snapper season dates appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The post Fairhope Alabama Fishing appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The 2019 Winter Classic speckled trout tournament has come and gone and all anglers managed to survive again this year. This was by far the most challenging of all five years of the tournaments existence. Almost perfectly scripted to make it as difficult as possible. I for one love a challenge but this particular winter classic fishing tournament took first place.

The invitations sent

This fishing tournament unlike many others, is an invitation only fishing competition. Invitation only so I personally know everyone participating. We love new teams and anglers but we want to know they are trustworthy. The angler(s) who choose to stretch the rules or even break the rules of this or any other tournament will prevent them from fishing the winter classic. The initial round of invitations landed in e-mail boxes of 2018 winter classic participants on December 19, 2018.

The 2019 Winter Classic is near

Once the invites go out the anglers then go onto app.fishingchaos.com to register his team. Each team is encouraged to invite one other team to the tournament. This is how we grow a little each year, well that is the plan anyway. Chatter about the winter classic usually picks up rapidly once the invites have been sent.

Checking on the rivers

Well, normally the weather in late December and early January are not in play for a January 20th fishing contest. This fall and winter have had other plans for us here in southwest Alabama. Mother nature has pounded lower, mid and upper Alabama with 4-10 times our normal rainfall. This means that Mobile Bay is the recipient of all this excessive rainfall. We use a couple of ways to measure how much or how little the rain will affect us by monitoring the river stages on Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. On December 13, 2018 Tombigbee at Coffeeville the river crested at 30.64′. An average reading for mid December is around 12′ so we are 18′ above normal with this rise. Shortly after this historic we see the Tombigbee jump up to the 32nd highest reading ever of 40.48′.

One big ole mud puddle

As the upstate rivers are rising we continued to get pounded with local rain. Which was turning our local tidal rivers into sediment filled mud streams. Local rainfall is ok as long as the bay is nice and salty because the tide will pull out the mud and replace with cleaner saltier water. Well, too bad we have a major slug of fresh muddy water coming down the rivers and into the bay to wash most of the salt out of our bay. This has turned Mobile Bay into a giant mud puddle.

We are fishing hell or “high water”

As the time draws near we fill out the tournament roster with 15 teams in total which is one less than the 2018 Winter Classic. I figured to only lose one team with such poor water quality was very fair. I certainly would have loved to have seen 18-20 teams this year but I was excited to have 15. On the last week leading up to the 2019 winter classic the weather forecast is adding insult to an already injured Mobile Bay speckled trout fisherman. The weather forecast shows 18-23mph southern winds on Saturday. With 100% chance of rain Saturday. Followed by 20-30mph northern winds on Sunday and a high of 40. As a fisherman I say this makes it interesting. As a tournament director I cringe. I want all anglers to go out and smash the speckled trout and come back with heavy bags of fish.

Sponsors

With any fishing tournament I feel its best to involve some business’ that can benefit from the micro exposure to potential customers. This year we had some of the same sponsors we have had in years past and some new. Since the beginning we have had one brand behind the winter classic. Breakline Optics are premium polarized sunglasses that are ideal for all fishing situations. They have a smaller selection of frames then some brands but they have the best lenses and the absolute best warranty in the business. How about a one time “free replacement” for those who may lose a pair of glasses every year? Message me if your interested or purchase online http://breaklineoptics.com

The support

L&M Marine LLC has sponsored us for four years. They have grown from a lot over the years. Now, selling 14′ boats all the way to 28′ Blue Wave Boats bay boats. They continue to provide exceptional service on all makes of outboard motors. Blue Water Graphics has contributed to the Winter Classic in various ways. From the banner creation to our oversized checks and decals. Blue Water graphics located in Mobile can help solve your signage needs. Bomber Lures brand has been a part of the Winter Classic for two years. Bomber along with sister companies Heddon and Yum provide some exceptional speckled trout lures. New comer Slick Lure was a participating sponsor. The Slick Lure has become a trophy speckled trout specialist dream lure. The Slick Lure not only sponsored this years event, the winners of the 2018 and 2019 Winter Classic’s were using the slick.

Additional support

The First Bank also jumped in to help out with the 2019 Winter Classic speckled trout tournament. A regional bank with locations throughout Mobile and Baldwin counties Furthermore, The First Bank can help out with anything from checking accounts to buying a business. Give John Erwin a call at the Cottage Hill office to see how they can help. The fishing tournament was managed by the guys at Fishing Chaos. Their moto is “Fish Hate Us”. If you need help logging your catches or you need tournament management then check them out at http://app.fishingchaos.com. Tackle This Shoot That is a locally owned and operated tackle shop located in Tillmans Corner, Alabama. Therefore, If you want to know what lures are working stop by the shop and talk to the owner Jay.

Who is in?

The Winter Classic is an invitational speckled trout fishing tournament. Therefore, we have many returning anglers. This year like last year we decided to draw all the teams on Thursday night to decide the order in which they weigh in on Saturday. The first team drawn was Stinky Fingers, with team members James Joullian and Grady Leblanc. James has fished all five years in the classic and Grady has now competed four of five years. Second team drawn was newly formed, Mines Bigger created by father and son team Ryan and Scott Stevens. This is Scott’s second winter classic and Ryan’s first shot. The third team drawn was Troutlaw made up by Jeff Garmeson and Brad Gundersen. 2018 winter classic champions Wrecking Crew was drawn to weigh in fourth. The Wrecking Crew is comprised of Richard Rutland and Bobby Abruscato.

Day One

Newcomers Daryl Johnson and Tyler Vanthoff formed the team Bayou Boyz and they would weigh in fifth. Two time champions Uglywood was drawn sixth. Shon Pippin and David Skoglund aka Blazer bay was drawn to weigh seventh. The Rookies and first time winter classic anglers Cory Quint and Wesley Hallman landed in the eighth spot. 2016 winter classic champions H&H drew ninth. The tenth spot was awarded to Jeb Mann and Micheal Nicholas aka Trifecta. First time Winter Classic participants Bobby McElroy and Barry Keith drew the eleventh spot for team B&B. 2018 second place team Just Fo Sho drew the twelfth spot. The thirteenth spot was assigned to Jay O’Brien and Theo Atkinson. Jonas Alexander and Luke Ojeda, team Awe Skeet and they would be second to last to weigh. The final team scheduled to weigh in was Underdog, which was formed by Jason Gamble and Billy Howell.

Hitting the scales

As I stated before the water conditions and projected weather would have a huge impact on the success of the anglers. Therefore, our day one weights were the lowest we have ever experienced during a Winter Classic. Speckled trout were almost non-existent for many anglers. Only twelve of the fifteen teams actually weighed in a speckled trout. Of those twelve only eight teams weighed more than one speckled trout. The top performing teams after day one were as follows; fifth place Underdog 4.87#, fourth place Uglywood 8.60#, third place H&H 11.35#, second place Bayou Boyz 14.07# and sitting in first place Wrecking Crew with a more than respectable weight of 16.03#.

How is the weather?

Saturdays weather turned out to be very fish-able in the morning. However, this did not last long. The winds picked up rapidly as the morning progressed which later turned into some major wind gusts. Therefore, the winds were making conditions near impossible to make a cast let alone feel a strike. Early afternoon most every angler was feeling the wrath of the wind and was likely experiencing down-pouring rain. Fortunately, the rain was minimal. Once we all arrived at the Blue Gill Restaurant the rain was gone and the wind had subsided. However, this would not last. Sunday morning 3:45am, I checked the winds and temperature. Middle Bay Lighthouse anemometer was reporting west/northwest winds at 36mph. This was not the forecasted wind. The air temperature was 36-40 depending on where you were getting the information. The cloudy, cold and extremely windy conditions did not make fishing easy.

Final walk

The weigh in rules require the team that is in last place to weigh in first and the team sitting in first to weigh in last. Sunday, we technically had 3 teams tied for dead last place due to them not weighing on Saturday. My brother and Brad weighed in first. They went from zero to hero with a one day total of 13.34# that moved them from last to fourth place. Another notable second day was Stinky Fingers when they moved from ninth to sixth place for a total weight of 11.64#. Third place remained in the hands of John Howard and David Hare aka H&H with a two day total of 16.51#. Bayou Boyz held their second place position with a two day total weight of 26.94#.

2019 Winter Classic Champions

Richard Rutland and Bobby Abruscato the Wrecking Crew came into this tournament like they do every tournament. They prepare every day as the tournament draws near. Richard and Bobby won the 2018 Winter Classic speckled trout tournament with a total weight of 29.71#. The amazing thing is this year the conditions were more challenging and the Wrecking Crew pulled off the back to back championships with a 31.65# two day total. Congratulations to Richard and Bobby for pulling off a victory in such horrible conditions.

The post 2019 Winter Classic appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Popular Fish species

Deciding on a preferred fish species to target before selecting a Mobile Alabama fishing charter will help reduce the field. Therefore, choosing a fish or fishes can help point toward the ideal fishing charter or fishing guide. However, certain fish may only be available certain times per year. Its recommended to check out Captain Patric Garmeson’s fish species calendar. This calendar is not perfect but it can certainly help to avoid fish that are not in season.

Speckled trout AKA Sea Trout

One of the most popular inshore fish species targeted by Mobile Alabama fishing charters is the speckled trout. Speckled trout fishing offers anglers of all skill levels a fun fishing experience. Most importantly, speckled trout can be caught in a variety of tactics. Also, speckled trout can be caught during all twelve months of the year.

Redfish AKA Red Drum

Among the inshore fish that Mobile Alabama island fishing charters may target, the redfish is near the top of the list. It’s because the redfish is a hard fighting. Mobile Alabama is home to redfish from juvenile stage called rats to adolescence stage called slots all the way to adult size called bulls. Therefore, redfish are a popular game fish.

Red Snapper

The red snapper is the most controversial fish species found near Mobile, Al. Red snapper inhabit the natural and man made reefs of the Alabama coast. Therefore, finding a Mobile Alabama fishing charter to catch red snapper is easy. Many fishing charters provide nearshore options to target red snapper. However, red snapper seasons are often very restrictive for both the charter boat and the anglers. Call Captain Patric Garmeson to find out when snapper season is available.

Inshore ,Nearshore and Offshore

Mobile Alabama fishing charters offer three main types of fishing adventures. Since, fishing is a year round sport there will always be options. Anglers can choose a fishing charter that suits his or her ability and or desires. So, how do you decide on what is best?

Mobile Alabama Inshore Charter Fishing

Inshore fishing is the most popular fishing experience on a daily basis. Dauphin Island offers world class inshore fishing for its residents and guests alike. So, what does inshore fishing mean? This means, fishing within sight of land, shallow water less than 40′ deep, using light to medium sized tackle and fun for the whole family.

Mobile Alabama NearShore Charter Fishing

Nearshore fishing is the most popular summertime fishing experience for tourist. Most tourist enjoy nearshore fishing because the odds are much greater to catch that really big fish. Many anglers who decide to choose a near shore Dauphin Island fishing charter is to test the waters of the Gulf of Mexico without really loosing sight of land.

Mobile Alabama Offshore Charter Fishing

Many people think of offshore fishing as the only type of Alabama saltwater fishing. For years Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores and Orange beach all competed for the best offshore fishing. Now, boats are faster and better riding to allow anglers to leave from Dauphin Island and fish off the coast of Orange Beach and vice versa. Offshore fishing is also called “deep sea” fishing by many people. This type of fishing usually leaves sight of land all day and will likely require the angler to remain on the boat for up to 12 hours. This type of fishing is a favorite form of fishing for teens and young adults.

Choosing the right fishing Charter

First, the angler(s) need to choose the fish and or fishing type. Do some research. Check reviews, inspect social media pages of the listed Mobile Alabama fishing charters and take a pick. Furthermore, a reputable and reliable fishing charter will be able to book a fishing trip or will have other reputable charters to refer over flow. Now, time to go fishing!

The post Mobile Alabama Fishing Charters appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Dauphin Island Al. is located in Southwest Alabama and offers some of the very best inshore, nearshore and offshore fishing along the gulf coast. This south Mobile county community is home to many Dauphin island fishing charters. The fishing charters located on Dauphin island can provide fishing experiences for all levels of skill anglers. Anglers could expect to catch a variety of fish species on any giving outing.

Popular Fish species

Deciding on a preferred fish species to target before selecting a Dauphin Island fishing charter will help reduce the field. Therefore, choosing a fish or fishes can help point toward the ideal fishing charter or fishing guide. However, certain fish may only be available certain times per year. Its recommended to check out Captain Patric Garmeson’s fish species calendar. This calendar is not perfect but it can certainly help to avoid fish that are not in season.

Speckled trout AKA Sea Trout

One of the most popular inshore fish species targeted by Dauphin Island fishing charters is the speckled trout. Speckled trout fishing offers anglers of all skill levels a fun fishing experience. Most importantly, speckled trout can be caught in a variety of tactics. Also, speckled trout can be caught during all twelve months of the year.

Redfish AKA Red Drum

Among the inshore fish that Dauphin island fishing charters may target, the redfish is near the top of the list. It’s because the redfish is a hard fighting. Dauphin island is home to redfish from juvenile stage called rats to adolescence stage called slots all the way to adult size called bulls. Therefore, redfish are a popular game fish.

Red Snapper

The red snapper is the most controversial fish species found near Dauphin Island, Al. Red snapper inhabit the natural and man made reefs of the Dauphin Island coast. Therefore, finding a Dauphin Island fishing charter to catch red snapper is easy. Many fishing charters provide nearshore options to target red snapper. However, red snapper seasons are often very restrictive for both the charter boat and the anglers. Call Captain Patric Garmeson to find out when snapper season is available.

Inshore ,Nearshore and Offshore

Dauphin Island fishing charters offer three main types of fishing adventures. Since, fishing is a year round sport there will always be options. Anglers can choose a fishing charter that suits his or her ability and or desires. So, how do you decide on what is best?

Dauphin Island Inshore Charter Fishing

Inshore fishing is the most popular fishing experience on a daily basis. Dauphin Island offers world class inshore fishing for its residents and guests alike. So, what does inshore fishing mean? This means, fishing within sight of land, shallow water less than 40′ deep, using light to medium sized tackle and fun for the whole family.

Dauphin Island NearShore Charter Fishing

Nearshore fishing is the most popular summertime fishing experience for tourist. Most tourist enjoy nearshore fishing because the odds are much greater to catch that really big fish. Many anglers who decide to choose a near shore Dauphin Island fishing charter is to test the waters of the Gulf of Mexico without really loosing sight of land.

Dauphin Island Offshore Charter Fishing

Many people think of offshore fishing as the only type of Alabama saltwater fishing. For years Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores and Orange beach all competed for the best offshore fishing. Now, boats are faster and better riding to allow anglers to leave from Dauphin Island and fish off the coast of Orange Beach and vice versa. Offshore fishing is also called “deep sea” fishing by many people. This type of fishing usually leaves sight of land all day and will likely require the angler to remain on the boat for up to 12 hours. This type of fishing is a favorite form of fishing for teens and young adults.

Choosing the right fishing Charter

First, the angler(s) need to choose the fish and or fishing type. Do some research. Check reviews, inspect social media pages of the listed Dauphin Island fishing charters and take a pick. Furthermore, a reputable and reliable fishing charter will be able to book a fishing trip or will have other reputable charters to refer over flow. Now, time to go fishing!

ugly_fishing

Top of the tide + south wind = game on 🔥 Spinnerba

Spring catching #sheepshead #bullredfishing

Quick trip to coastal Alabama from Indiana for som

Spring Catching #sheepshead #redfish #mobilebay

Mr Hank and Mr. Sam like #bullredfish I added in s

When the azaleas are blooming I’m normally thinkin

Joey caught a big one. Top 5 largest ever landed o

Come with me and you’ll see

Mr. Jack called and he explained to me that he was

I couldn’t image myself not fishing or guiding rig

Load More… Follow on Instagram

The post Dauphin Island Fishing Charters appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Springtime Speckled Trout Fishing

Spring brings new life and with it often brings great fishing. Most of the speckled trout are leaving the rivers and creeks where they have spent the last several months and they are hungry! Most of the baitfish and shrimp are in very low supplies right now so speckled trout are not very picky. Speckled trout are doing three things right now; looking for food, headed towards higher salinity water and avoid being eaten.

Looking for Food

Speckled trout and other predator fish are looking for food and as much as they can find right now. As I mentioned before the vast majority of speckled trout are leaving the rivers and creeks right now in search of food. Where will they find this food? They will look for food on shallow flats, oyster and other reefs, and grass beds. In my experience speckled trout will find pogies, shad, glass minnows(bay anchovies), finger mullet and a few shrimp in these areas during the springtime.

Higher Salinity

While the water temperatures remain stable under 75 degrees speckled trout can and will adapt to very low salinity conditions. This is how and why we find speckled trout in the creeks and rivers during the cooler and colder months. However, as the water temperatures rise above 60 and the days become longer speckled trout are tuned to head toward higher salinity. Salinity at or above 15ppt. The higher salt concentration is imperative for speckled trout and other marine life to have successful spawning cycles. The first major speckled trout spawn will likely occur at or near the last full moon in April or first full moon in May.

Avoid Being Eaten

Despite the fact that speckled trout will eat another fish nearly the same size as they are. They too are on the menu for larger fish and large marine life. Thus another reason for speckled trout to be found hanging out around shallow flats, reefs and grass beds. The shallow water can be difficult for dolphins, sharks, bull reds and other large predator fish from making a meal out of a speckled trout. While reefs and grass beds can provide some cover for them to hide.

On the Flats

This is where you will find me targeting springtime speckled trout; on the flats. Look for flats close to the deepest water near the mouths of creeks and rivers. I will look for some visual clues like fish slicks, jumping mullet, or any type of surface disruption. I will use the wind to my advantage and not complain about the wind blowing. The one fishing method that will catch more speckled trout than any other method is a popping cork rig.

Drift till you Find them

While on the flats you should use the wind to your advantage. Position your boat up wind of the main areas you wish to target and then start drifting. Cast down wind and work your baits back to the boat. As you are covering water you may find long stretches of little to no productivity, this is normal. once you get a strike or catch a fish then you may  want to slow your drift in that area or stop the boat all together. Sometimes stopping the boat can result in catching 2-20 more speckled trout in one spot. Other times it may just be a waste of time to stop. Some days its best to drift until you stop catching and then circle back and do it again.

Reefs

Reefs are natural, man-made or a combination of both. Usually made up of some sort of shell or other hard structures like word, fiberglass, rock or concrete. Reefs are great for targeting speckled trout in the spring time because these reefs will usually harbor other smaller fin-fish that can easily be on the menu. Many of the reefs I target are going to be in water less than 10′ and I can use a popping cork or slip cork rig along with a variety of lures that work the entire water column.

Position can be everything

While on the flats we will use the wind to our advantage and cover large amounts of water to catch our springtime speckled trout. However, on the reefs you can be 30′ from the best spot and never catch a fish, while your buddy next to you is catching them every cast. It seems to me like speckled trout are roamers while on reefs until they find the perfect underwater setup. The wind is coming one way and the current another and it creates the perfect ambush point behind the largest pile of shell/rock. That is where your buddy is casting. You on the other hand have vast amounts of evenly placed rock that for some reason doesn’t appeal to the fish today. My recommendation is to cover these reefs very slowly using your trolling motor and when you find that one spot that’s holding the fish then lock it down.

Grass beds

Grass beds are normally going to be in areas of 10′ or less and in many cases 3′ or less. You will need to use a combination of flats and reef fishing tactics while fishing grass flats. I fish Mobile Bay and Mississippi sound and our grass flats are fairly isolated to a few select areas. Most of the time I will target speckled trout using lures that are either weedless or float above the grass. Look for days with a little wind but not too much. Too much wind will make it difficult to make accurate casts. Too little wind and you are having to use your trolling motor too much which could spook your fish.

Springtime is Getting Time

Spring is here and the fish are hungry. If you can get out then locate your speckled trout in one of the three areas I discussed here. You will likely find the largest concentrations of fish in one of the three areas I above discussed. Save the headache of trying to figure out all the details and hire a guide to show you some of how its done. Right now is the time to go catch speckled trout and a lot of them!

Good Luck Y’all!

Captain Patric Garmeson

The post Springtime Speckled Trout Fishing appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

The post Sheepshead Fishing appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.

Year round action

You may or may not know this but I am on the water all 12 months per year. During those 12 months I am taking clients out into the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi Sound, Mobile Bay, Weeks Bay and all the rivers that feed Mobile Bay. I have had to adapt to all the seasons, weather and water temperature changes which all dictate how our fish behave. Throughout the 12 months I can target different species nearly 365 days. The first and a local favorite is speckled trout. The second is redfish. Redfish are becoming very popular with my clients and I break the redfish species into two groups. First, the keeper size, which is made up of both undersized (less than 16″) and slot size (16″-26″). Then, we have the bull redfish which is any redfish over 26″.

Keepers

Many of our guests are interested in keeping his or her catch for food purposes. While on our charters if our guests are interested mostly in keeping fish then we will likely target speckled trout or other seasonal tasty fish like sheepshead, snapper, white trout and the list goes on. As a fishing guide it is important for me to find a balance between client satisfaction and conservation. That being said I must do my part to protect species that may not be as readily available. Redfish are available but I certainly like to protect them as well. We exclusively release the larger bull reds and we will refrain from keeping slot redfish if we have plenty of fish in the cooler already. However, if you enjoy eating redfish then we will certainly keep some of the slot fish for you.

Bull redfish

As we discussed earlier the bull redfish is a redfish over 26″. Usually once these fish reach 30″ they will likely move into more open water and group up with other bull sized redfish. This is not always the case because it’s not uncommon to catch bulls while targeting specks and slot reds. I like the open water large schools of bull redfish. The reason I like them is because they are often very aggressive, easy to see in the water, and seem to fight harder than a loan wolf fish.

The Set ups

Bull redfish can be anywhere from 8#’s up to 40#’s (Alabama state record held by Al Mead 45# 9oz). Our tackle will likely consist of 400/4000 – 600/6500 series reels and rods capable of 15#-65+# braided line. You can certainly catch bull redfish on less tackle but you better pack a lunch and larger equipment will drastically reduce the fight time.

The Tackle

Now that we know what sized rod and reel to use, you will need to match the tackle. Keep it simple as possible. A single jig head like the bomber lure 1/2oz jig head with a yum mud minnow is an incredible combo. If you want to fish with live bait like pogies or croakers, then I use a knocker rig which is a 1oz-4oz egg sinker (2oz is my personal favorite for both casting and dragging) on your line sitting directly on top of your hook. Another very effective set up is a popping cork.  I like a 6/0 kahle hook or a circle hook of equal size. You can also through ling jigs, crank baits and topwater lures but the main thing is to keep it simple.

Find the fish

Now that we have the right size rod and reel set up and the proper tackle we can look for fish. December – August you can find large schools along the gulf beaches, Dixie bar, and open areas of the gulf. The water is usually clear enough to see the schools from a distance in the gulf. August-November you will likely find more bull redfish schools within Mobile Bay. These fish will be found gorging themselves on pogies so look for pelicans to show you where the pogies are located them look for fish activity. The fish within the bay system are usually not in giant schools like you will find in the gulf. These fish are usually in small groups and I find using a popping cork with a live pogie for bait is the best answer for these fish.

Catch the fish

While in the gulf you can have the most fun by sight-casting to the school of fish. Read the school to see which direction they are moving. Read the wind and current. Place your boat in the best position to either drift into the school or allow the school to swim to you. Once in range cast you bait/lure into the school and hang on. These fish are highly competitive and will likely not let anything fall into the water without a strike. If the water is dingy and you only see minimal activity then try popping corks to see if you can draw the fish to the bait.

Beautiful creatures

All creatures are beautiful in their own way but its hard to not think that redfish are not gorgeous animals. Take care of these fish. Respect them. Protect them and enjoy them. When my clients begin to bring these fish up the boat I coach them through the whole process. Me or another guest will likely net the fish. If you are not taking photos then leave the fish in the water and remove the hook(s). Once in the boat we will quickly remove the hooks, measure in length and possibly weight, position the angler on the boat in an ideal location to prevent shadows. Now that the angler is in a good position then hand the fish to the angler. Let them admire the catch for a moment and take several photos. Cherish the moment.

Return to the wild

The bull redfish is the natural brood stock for the species. The more bulls we have then the more fertilized eggs we will have, which later turn into rat reds and some of those will grow to the bull status. Bull redfish fishing is only as good as our fishery can support so lets support our fishery by returning these fish where we captured them.

Guided Fishing Trips

If you don’t have the ability to go out and target these fish on your own then book a fishing trip with me or one of our guides. Though we can not guarantee a redfish on every trip we have the right plan of attack to get us close.

The post Bull Redfish appeared first on Ugly Fishing Charter Fishing.