The Finest Kind » Gulf of Mexico

(Not so) Skinny Water Fishing Report 4.25.2011

Administrator — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:50:25 +0000

On another day with my friend from the UK, Mr. Mike we blasted out to some near shore gas wells off of Fort Morgan, AL. We spent the previous day searching in vain for migrating cobia…with no luck at all. Never saw the first one. At least we were not the only ones. Word one the radio was about the same. That day was picture perfect. Very calm, clear water, light offshore breeze so I guess you could call it too perfect. Fishermen always have an excuse, right? Anyway, that was the day before. On this day we ran the 18 miles on very calm water to rigs. I haven’t made that run in my flats boat in over two years but Mike was wanting a big pull that only offshore species can produce. We had success immediately! The red snapper cooperated right off and Mike landed several on strip retrieves and dead drifts on his 12 weight fly rod. He also struggled to control several more that simply would not stop heading for the bottom until breaking off his leader. I t was great fun to be down there again and we basically had it all to ourselves. When we least expected it four cobia did what they do best and swam right up under the boat and refused to eat a fly. One would have tipped the scales at probably 40lbs (US). They popped back up one more time for a few seconds and then disappeared again.

Time flew by and after lunch we headed back stopping by one last time at a single gas pipe and caught a little cobia, 10lbs on the Boga-Grip. Mike’s first cobia, although awfully small. We were happy to catch him…and let him go! Chalk up another beautiful day on our Gulf of Mexico. We are so lucky to live here!

Mike catching Red Snapper on his fly rod

Skinny Water Fishing Report 4.21.11

Administrator — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:28:51 +0000

Our old friend Mike from the U.K. paid us a visit last week for a bit of fly fishing. He hasn’t been here since 2004 and it was great to see and fish with him again. We started out a week of fly fishing last Monday the 11th. Capt. Clif was kind enough to let us try out his his new East Cape Skiff for some super skinny water fishing. We got into some nice redfish right away and proceeded to break off the first to reds we hooked. Now normally a guide would suspect knot failure if tied by the angler but that was not the case this time…and I’ll take the blame. I let Mike fish with his own leader which was already on his rod. The problem was just days before he came to fish with us he was in Mexico bone fishing with…you guessed it the same rod and leader. Yep, the prudent guide would have insisted on a new leader, but no.. lazy me said “it looks good to me Mike”. Well we managed to catch the next one (no surprise) with a new leader. We saw many more reds that day but between refusals to eat the fly, botched casts or bad boat position (my fault) we managed to end the day with only the one red to the boat.

Check back tomorrow for more on our week of fishing, story telling and Malbec drinking. Plus Mike’s take on the drink called Crown and Seven!

Skinny Water Fishing Report 18 January 2011

Administrator — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:39:42 +0000

Last Sunday brought sunny skies and warmer weather…well enough to warrant a short trip around the bay to do some scouting. Jr. and me put the boat in at Boggy Point to check out some of the nearby flats for redfish action. Well it didn’t take to long for us to run across a school of about fifteen, 12lbers! Of course Capt. Semper Paratus (always ready)… (that’d be me) was not ready! So we watched them swim off to deeper redfish land while I rigged up a little to late. We managed to find another school of three which I hit right on the head and scared off. The highlight of our short 3 hour Sunday ride was spotting a single redfish in one foot of water that was easily 30lbs. This one I cast to perfectly and was quickly refused. Oh well, sometimes it’s just not about catching. Come on Spring time!!!

Sight Fishing Big Lagoon, Nov 1 2010

Administrator — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:23:18 +0000

The day after Halloween started out beautiful and got better as the morning went on. It started out with a short drive to drop Jr. off at school then a cup of coffee with a friend. On the way back to the house to do some Monday morning work I got a text from Capt. Clif. “Runnin down the beach on the outside…meet me on the North shore of Johnson’s beach in 20 min…” Well I didn’t think about it to long and headed his way. We met up and took off on his new “Lostmen, East Cape Skiff“. We started out fishing in Big Lagoon, a estuary of Pensacola Bay, Fl. It didn’t take long before we spotted a couple of nice speckled trout following a small school of bait. I got a cast on one of them but didn’t get a take. Trout in skinny water are, 1 tough to see and 2 VERY skittish. A few hundred feet more and I blew a shot at a redfish, pulling the jig right out of his mouth.

After working that shoreline for about an hour we saw and had shots at, at least 8 more redfish. After an hour or so we scooted across the lagoon to the other side and spotted a couple more redfish but not near as many on the other shore. Well before you new it it was 1pm and it was time for me to run. Capt Clif dropped me off back on the beach and we parted ways.

A text a little later from Clif read, ” Fished a little longer after dropping you off….saw a pompano in super skinny water as well as several more reds.” All in all a pretty good morning!

Drop us an email to book a trip…. rick@southern-waters.com

Small Alabama Redfish

Surf Report Jan 16 Saturday 2010

Administrator — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:45:15 +0000

Here in Orange Beach the wind is still pushing hard out of the southeast. The water is high and the surf is well overhead but sloppy as you would expect. The forecast is for the wind to go west by tomorrow afternoon then north west Sunday night. If so Monday morning and pretty much all day Monday should be offshore and big. Check back as it could switch earlier making Sunday afternoon rideable. We live at the beach so we’ll know right away. The water temp is 57 degrees. Wet suit required and unless your tough, booties and gloves too. Hit up your favorite shop, Blonde Johns, Waterboyz, or Innerlight for your neoprene!

Check out our board specials going on now, super cheap prices on hand crafted FCD Surfboards (Patagonia).

Surfs Up in Orange Beach

Administrator — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:55:44 +0000

Surfs Up…in Orange Beach. RIGHT NOW!…Well actually it was Thursday and today’s Saturday! Just getting used to keeping current posts on our blog.

That snotty little storm we had last night kicked up about a 4′ ground swell. The wind has died out and become a light NW breeze which has turned that swell into glassy 3 footers. Grab the long board and get your butt to the beach. Don’t forget the wet suit. Checkout our longboards on sale…perfect New Years resolution…paddle your belly off and be ripped for Spring Break!

New Years Eve Surfing in Orange Beach 2009

The Southern Waters Life.

Administrator — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:46:27 +0000

Thanks for checking in on our blog. Our goal is to focus on the way of life that we live, which is based around the ocean. You’ll be seeing stories from our contributors who are living the life around the globe in and on its “Southern Waters”. Fishing, Surfing and Diving in places like Panama, Tahiti, Australia, the Bahamas, and more. We welcome your stories and informative articles too. Feel free to tell us your “Sea Stories” if we like them we’ll post them, and if your really good we may even make you a regular contributor.

So check back in with us soon and we think you’ll like what you find.

Captain Rick Haag

The "Big 80's" on the Tournament Trail