Coastal Angler Magazine | March 2023 | Alabama Gulf Coast Edition

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A MODERN-DAY TED WILLIAMS

By A. DeGruchy

Major League Baseball’s JD Martinez has garnered a lot of accolades, including three Silver Sluggers, a Hank Aaron Award and MLB Player of the Year. e man is a vetime All-Star! What some folks might not know about the former Boston Red Sox turned Los Angeles Dodger is he’s also an avid sherman.

Growing up in Miami, he o en escaped to sh the Florida Keys. rough the years, that passion never faded. He now lives in Islamorada and spends the o season shing with Capt. Brandon “ e Bean” Storin.

Capt. Bean grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and has vacationed every year in the Keys since he was 5 years old. He shed with Capt. Jimmy Willcox, who inspired a dream to become a backcountry guide. In 2021, e Bean ful lled his dream.

Together, JD and Capt. Bean have made memories while landing some awesome sh. eir rst trip in the Islamorada backcountry produced JD’s personal-best tripletail. It was JD’s rst time tripletailing, and they were sight-casting buoys. Just like hitting a 95-mph fastball, timing and execution are everything, and JD made the perfect cast when they spotted a stud tripletail. Several runs and exhales later, Bean swooped deep and netted the 20-plus-pound

beast. It was JD’s rst, and it is a personal best that will take some work to beat.

Another epic adventure took place during a sunset black n tuna mission. Capt. Bean knew ns, and they used light spinning tackle to make it more fun. It didn’t take more than a couple minutes for JD to get tight on a monster n. All you could hear was the reel screaming, and the rod was doubled over the whole ght. It was JD’s personal-

full-grown one to boot.

On their most recent adventure, Capt. Bean and JD were bottom shing for mutton snapper when an unexpected bite inhaled a whole ballyhoo. It ended up being an almost record-breaking yellowtail snapper, which at 29 inches was the sh of a lifetime. Gray’s taxidermy commemorated the yellowtail to add to JD’s mount collection, along with the aforementioned tripletail.

JD is a good angler, and he is not the rst Red Sox slugger to nd a shing home on Islamorada. Ted Williams, considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all time, played for the Sox from 1939-1960. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, and he is also a member of the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame. Williams resided and shed in Islamorada for bone sh and tarpon with legendary Capt. Jimmy Albright. It is said he became as good an angler as any of the guides.

MLB and the Islamorada backcountry have a shared history. Capt. Bean and JD continue adding to the legends to this day.

Follow JD Martinez (@jdmartinez28) and Capt. Bean (@bnmbean) on Instagram. Some of their adventures are featured on YouTube at Bean Sport shing TV.

Noodling for Cat sh...what have I gotten myself into?

is past summer, I wanted to do something exciting and di erent with my friends for my “bachelorette” getaway. I always thought noodling would be a cool experience.

If you’re not familiar with noodling, it’s a technique anglers use to catch cat sh with their hands. In the lead-up to the spawn, cat sh nd holes in the banks where they will eventually lay and guard their eggs. It’s up to the angler to locate either a natural hole or a strategically placed box that a cat sh has decided to call home. e angler then sticks their hand into the hole, triggering the cat sh to chomp down on their hand and forearm. en, it’s a wrestling match to the surface.

e athead cat sh we pursued don’t have teeth, but they do grow large, with some sh reaching well over 50 pounds. It takes all your strength to get them out of their happy place and up to the surface to become sh celebrities.

Because it takes place during the spawn, this style of shing has become almost 100-percent catch-and-release for many noodlers. A er a few photos, sh are released safely to return to their holes and continue spawning duties.

When my two best friends and I le the familiar clear Florida waters for the beautiful state of Alabama, we had the goal to get one of these monster cats to bite... our arms. I’m not going to lie; I was a bit nervous getting on the boat. It was beautiful and peaceful on the river,

TO REMEMBER

By Deidra Thrappas

but the water is murky like chocolate milk and the banks are muddy. Shoes are highly recommended.

When I entered the water at our rst spot, it kind of hit me: “What have I gotten myself into?” But there was no turning back. Our guide located the wooden box he had planted earlier in the season and instructed me to hold my breath and lie on the bottom while slowly sliding my hand into the hole.

At rst there was nothing. en… WHAM! It was like a toothless gator grabbed me. I had been instructed to grab that sucker by its lower jaw with both hands and not to let go. So that’s what I did. A er a brief struggle, I had a dandy on the surface staring right at me! rough the day, we tried many holes, some empty and some with sh. Each time we stopped, the anticipation and excitement were the same as at the rst hole. It was a great experience, and I plan to go again soon. If you’ve ever thought of going noodling, I highly recommend it, 10/10.

e noodling season runs from midspring through the summer, depending on the location. Get online and nd a local guide for the area you’re interested in. Feel free to contact me with questions on Instagram @ get_outside_with_deidra or my husband, Capt. Jamie rappas @yellow_dawg_ shing.

Deidra and her husband Capt. Jamie rappas are co-publishers of the Volusia County, Fla. edition of Coastal Angler Magazine.

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A CHANGE OF PACE

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

Today we are going to cruise past the shallow South Texas ats, through the pass, and nd some nearshore rocks loaded with huge legal Texas red snapper! What a di erence a few miles and 68 feet of water can make.

I typically make a handful of trips to the short rigs or rocks o the Texas coast each summer for a change of scenery. On the calm summer days, the mosquito eet (smaller bay boats) breaks the jetties and heads out for kings, cobia and red snapper. ese shallow-water snapper are typically in the 16- to 20-foot range. ey are tasty none the less, but nothing like what you nd close to shore in winter, as I recently observed during my rst winter o shore trip. Recently, we were in between cold fronts and had our rst sunny day in more than a week. Several days of windy, cloudy, cold, rainy days had me longing for some sunny rays. When my brother called and asked if I wanted to join him and his neighbor for some Texas red snapper, I didn’t hesitate to say yes! e photos he sent of the previous trip’s catch were the icing on the cake. e forecast called for 2- to 3-foot seas—which turned out to be less—70degree sunny temps, and wind at 6 knots from the east. is was a one-day window.

When we pulled up to a small set of rocks, there were two other boats there and four rods were doubled over! One of the boats was doing a bag check, and I watched him tossing and counting 15- to 20-pound snapper into the cooler. His count ended at 14, two shy of his limit… and they had two on the line. Keep in mind, at this time my personnel best snapper was about 8 pounds, and everything I was seeing was more than twice that size. e anticipation was high as I waited for the trolling motor to lock in.

Once the trolling motor settled into place, we pinned chunks of squid onto bottom rigs weighted with 8 to 12 ounces of lead and the fun began! It became a bit chaotic with doubles on while trying to coax a 20-pound snapper into an oversized net while still trying to catch one yourself.

It is hard to beat the drag zinging of a king mackerel or the Mack Truck power of a cobia during the calm days of late summer, but I might have to switch my snapper season from summer to winter! When the smallest winter ones are twice the size of your largest summer catch, it’s an easy switch.

Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Knockin Tail Lures® and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOCKIN TAIL LURES®

Warm weather is right around the corner and flip flop season is upon us! With this comes some amazing speckled trout fishing! As the water temps begin to creep back up into the 60s, the speckled trout are going to leave the deep channels of the creeks and begin to make their way south for the spawn. These migration patterns create some outstanding opportunities to land not only quality trout but also catch them in numbers! As these trout prepare for the spawn, they are going to feed heavily creating larger feeding windows and more opportunities.

One of the key areas to look for these trout are going to be the flats just outside of the main river and creek mouths. These trout will be a little easier to locate, just look for the huge pods of glass minnows being blown up on in the shallows. I like to target these trout with a Mirrodine 17MR, the erratic action, flash and rattle are hard for

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Springtime Speckled trout

BY NATHAN RICH

an aggressive trout, whose been freezing all winter long, to turn down. Lastly, keep an eye on the water temps. Cold fronts will push push the trout back into the creeks and warming trends will push the trout further south ultimately leading them to their spawning grounds.

For more information on Spring time speckled trout and all things inshore fishing, be sure to check out our YouTube channel “Southern Salt”. We drop several videos each week and go in depth with fishing tutorials. Until next time Tight Lines and hope to see you out on the water!

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Fishing hunting paddle sports

Cruising the Beach for Spring Pompano

BY CHRIS VECSEY

As we settle into March, we begin what is perhaps the biggest transitional time of the year. Spring begins to move in bringing warmer water temperatures and many migratory species.

One of the most anticipated targets every spring is the pompano. These prized fish need no introduction. Besides their fighting abilities that rival most on the pound-for-pound scale, pompano is considered to be one of the finest fish on the dinner table.

Connecting with speedy pomps is usually a matter of location, location, location. Pomps love washouts (rip tide) areas off of the beaches and other anomalies that alter beachfront sandbars. These variances in the bottom structure diverts currents which then scour the bottom and reveal food. Sand fleas, ghost shrimp, coquina clams and other pompano forage then becomes an easy picking.

Once a prime piece of beachfront has been located, pompano can be intercepted a couple different ways. The most common method is setting rigs at various distances and depths along the bar/structure being fished or by casting artificial lures like jigs and even soft plastics.

For baits rigs, the typical pompano setup is a two-hook rig of 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader with two hooks attached via dropper loops. The most common hook types and sizes are circle hooks from #1-3/0 or kahle hooks from #6-#1. These hooks are generally spaced at least a foot apart. At the top of the rig is a swivel for line attachment, and a snap swivel or loop at the bottom for the weight. Many use brightly colored “micro floats” to attract pompano and other surf-running species. Pompano use scent like all predators, but they are very sight-oriented feeders and the bright floats will catch their eyes as they roam the surf-line. These rigs can be bought in almost all local tackle shops or tied at home.

Artificial choices vary but the most popular are bright colored nylon or bucktail jigs in orange, pink, chartreuse or other various colors and in weights from ¼-1oz. These jigs should be worked with sharp “hops” from the bottom to catch a pompano’s eyes. Leader sizes for jig fishing can be the same as with the set-rigs, but sometimes it’s necessary to increase the thickness if bluefish and Spanish mackerel crash the party. These toothy critters will make off with your jigs if too light of leader is used.

Pompano fishing is a fun and simple way to enjoy the water this spring. It takes minimal tackle, minimal effort. It’s just a walk on the beach!

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HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE DO I NEED TO EARN MY USCG CAPTAINS LICENSE?

Are you looking to earn your captains license? Are you confused about how much sea time (experience) it takes to qualify for one? Sea service is a measure of a mariner’s lifetime experience onboard boats, whether recreational, commercial, or military. It may be calculated starting from your 16th birthday and continues to accumulate over time. A day of sea service is any day that a mariner served upon a commercial or military vessel in an assigned position in either the deck or engineering department of a vessel (not as a passenger). It may also be earned on recreational vessels on lakes, rivers, bays, harbors and oceans. The position may include duties such as: handling lines, being a lookout, steering the boat, and other navigational or propulsion duties. Sea service never expires and may be reused when applying for new endorsements. As a note, it’s the mariner’s responsibility to keep copies of all sea service records including the location (body of water it was earned in). What counts as a “day”? A “day,” as defined by the regulations, is 8 hours on a commercial vessel and 4 hours on a recreational vessel. Credit for a full day will only be given for service of 4 hours or more (See 46 CFR 10.107, for the official definition of “Day”).

Captain Jack R. Sanzalone is a 30-year submarine veteran and licensed USCG Master Captain and Assessor with 41 years of experience. He’s the owner of The Captain School Orange Beach Alabama. You can contact Captain Jack at: jack@boattutors.com or by visiting his website at www. boattutors.com

Veteran Owned Business by Captain Jack R. Sanzalone Serving Mississippi, Alabama and North Florida for over

ALABAMA

FRIED SHEEPSHEAD

heepshead have long had an undeserved reputation as being a trash, throwaway fish; they’re actually one of the best tasting inshore fish found on the Gulf Coast! Their very firm and mild white meat make them a versatile and crowd pleasing meal. During the winter months, sheepshead can be found hanging around all sorts of inshore structures such as rock jetties, bridge pilings, and sea walls. These fish have excellent vision and love to steal bait so hiding your hook on light mono filament line or fluorocarbon leaders is crucial! Live baits such as fiddler crabs, shrimp, or even night crawlers work best for these great fighting fish. If your next fishing trip yields plenty of sheepshead, you can’t go wrong with frying them. Sometimes simple really is best!

INGREDIENTS

Sheepshead filets, dried thoroughly

3 eggs

Splash of milk

Zatarain’s Crispy Southern Fish Fry

Canola oil for frying

Salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning

Thermometer for oil temperature

SFried fish is a simple dish that can be elevated and perfected by paying attention to details such as drying the fish properly and not letting the frying oil get too hot. Setting up a breading station makes the process easier and less messy as well. Loaf pans work great for large filets.

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

1.        Heat oil in a Dutch oven to 340 degrees. Don’t let the oil get much hotter than 350 degrees because the breading will cook too fast and get very dark, and the fish will not be cooked through.

2.        Set up a breading station using loaf pans or similarly shaped Tupperware. Crack eggs into one pan and lightly whisk them with a few tablespoons of milk.  Season with salt, pepper, and your favorite Cajun seasoning blend.

3.        Add plenty of fish fry to second pan. I like to add some extra cornmeal for crunch. Season the dry fish fry mixture like

the wet mixture.

4.        Pat the filets dry with thick paper towels.

5.        Dip filet into fish fry, shake off excess, dip filet into egg mixture, drip excess away, then dip wet filet back into fish fry and shake off excess fry.

6.        Gently lower filet into oil. Fry until filet floats and appears golden brown. Time depends on the size of the filets, usually 3-5 mins.

7.        Don’t crowd the pan; try to fry two filets at a time.    8.        Drain on paper towels

Brown Water Banter is your local Podcast. Join hosts Joey and Jared as they highlight some of the greatest aspects South Mississippi has to offer.

Check out Episode 170. We talk to Captain Allen from Chasing Dots Charters! We dig into how he moved from Hattisburg to the Gulf Coast to start his own charter business.

Tune in for tips, tricks and a lot of laughs. Stay in touch with us by downloading our App in the App Store or Google Play. Cheers!!

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Serve with J. Lee’s hot sauce, cocktail sauce, and/or tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

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close to normal. This could make for an earlier spring as long as we don’t get a ton of rain in the second half of February. March fishing is all about finding salty water. If the rain is less than average, the Mobile River will be a good place to look for specs. The Theodore Industrial Canal is another place to find specs coming off their winter naps. Bull reds are still hanging out in the passes at the gulf. Some of the near shore rigs may be worth checking out as well. Orange Beach is a good place to find salty water and some big specs will be around the deeper docks in Old River and in some of the canals. I use soft plastics on jig heads for reds and Mirrolures for trout. Typically I look to the creeks that flow into the bay like Fowl, Dog, Fish, Magnolia, Bon Secour, and the Theodore Industrial Canal. Once the starts to warmup, the Shoals and grass fats around Dauphin Island should be worth checking out. My favorite baits are soft plastics on jig heads and Mirrolure’s glad shad. Try bright colors, chartreuse, pink, or white in dirty water and natural shrimp, root beer, or chartreuse in clear water. If I’m in salty water that is less than 4 feet deep, Mirrolure’s Catch Jr. or Catch 2000 are my first choice. The key this month will be to find the salty water. If your fishing the rivers look deep and fish slow. As the water warms up, more bait will show up and the feeding frenzy will begin. Good luck and stay out of the rain.

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2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic Returns to the Tennessee River

The prestigious championship bass tournament—widely known as the “Super Bowl of Bass Fishing”—will be held March 24-26 in downtown Knoxville and on the University of Tennessee Campus.

e Bassmaster Classic pits 55 of the world’s best bass anglers against one another for the title of Bassmaster Classic Champion. e Classic is a catch-and-release event, with bass being returned to the shery under the supervision of the TWRA.

Daily takeo s will be from Volunteer Landing on the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville each competition day, and weigh-ins will take place in the ompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus. e fan-favorite Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo will be held Friday through Sunday, March 24-26 in the Knoxville Convention Center and the adjacent World’s Fair Exhibition Hall.

All activities and venues are free and open to the public. For more information, visit Bassmaster.com.

B.A.S.S. PHOTO

COLOMBIA: A GOLDEN ERA OF FISHING BEGINS

By Riley Love

Twenty years ago, I wrote an article on the Golden Age of Panama shing. Long have anglers waited for access to the salt and freshwater environments of Colombia.

In 2016, a lengthy peace process was negotiated and a nal agreement for a cease re and cessation of hostilities between the government and militias. In truth, there are still areas of the country to be avoided and cocaine production remains high, but the political and drug-crime environment has improved enough to move Colombia nearer the top of the target list for angling. e country’s upward trajectory with new tourism outstrips its neighbors. e latest three trips we’ve taken to the country have been completely safe.

Fishing the Amazon and Orinoco River basins are “peacock bass trips.” It is a stunning shery, where you routinely encounter fellow anglers from the far side of the world. From there, these trips can be divided into peacocks and “what else.” In Guyana it was giant arapaima. For the last Brazil trip, it was big wolf sh. is venture was to the Guaviare River, massive itself, a tributary to the mighty Orinoco. It is hard to understand the size of these watersheds until you see them yourself. Our quarry here was payara, the vampire sh.

e dichotomy of life in the tropics is the wet and dry seasons. During the time of rain, the rivers swell from their banks into dense rainforest. Sitting in your boat, you listen to peacock bass bust prey far back in cover where no cast can go. e shing season is re ned to those months when the rivers shrink back into their skeletal forms and sh are targeted in remaining aneurysmal pools. But the payara have a need for speed. ey stack up in current and mouths of tributaries where more water ows. ere is something about going a er speed freaks… it presses my buttons.

Alberto “Beto” Mejia is the young progenitor of FISH COLUMBIA. He has developed lodges here, on the Orinoco and on the Paci c coast at Punta Ardita, just inside the Panamanian border. He is a stone-cold payara y sherman. is lodge is more rustic, and you really feel away from it all.

Peacocks and payara take ies very well, both poppers and streamers. For the conventional sherman, it’s a chance to use multiple baits and techniques. Very large topwater prop baits and poppers, big minnows at multiple depths. e Dramatis personae includes numerous others- pacu, sardinata, also the opportunity for multiple species of cat sh, some in the 400-pound range. Uraima falls in Venezuela was a specialized lodge for payara. is is o the list as a destination for various sordid reasons. I have bagged them across the frontiers of South America. Most run 6 to 7 pounds, and a very good one about 15 pounds. e sh on Columbia’s Orinoco run twice that size. I believe this is the best payara lodge on the planet.

For more information, go to www. shcolombia.com. For more from Riley Love, go to rileylove.com and nd him on social media @rileyloveauthor.

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The in atable shing kayak is super rugged and ready to take on hooks, ns, and rocks. Tough, fast, portable, and built especially for anglers. The patented NeedleKnife™ keel cuts through the water so you can paddle or motor your way to your favorite spot quickly and easily. The Angler 385fta is 12’6” x 36” fully in ated and holds up to 2 people or 635 lbs. of people and gear. Packs down to 36” x 15” x 20” to t in a car trunk, SUV, RV, any small place. Various seating and trolling motor options are available.

console or tackle bag. You’ll nd other uses as necessity dictates.

Soft Baits: You’re throwing away money if you sh so plastics and don’t use super glue. Most so plastics are designed for action rather than durability. ey’re disposable, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get the most you can out of them.

If you’re shing a paddletail, grub, eel, worm or any so plastic on a jighead, a small drop of super glue will extend the life of that bait inde nitely. Secured to the jig, it will never slide down to the bend of the hook like a loose sock. To a lesser extent, this trick works for bare hooks, as well. Forget multiple sh, a so bait can last multiple trips when it’s glued in place— barring, of course, interactions with toothy sh.

When it comes to sh with teeth, there’s no way to avoid rips and tears in your so plastics. Even toothless sh will beat up a bait with extended use. Super glue repairs slices and gouges in so plastics. e rigidity of the repaired area will a ect the action of the lure, but this can be a trip saver when you’re down to the last in a bag of that one color sh are biting.

Hard Baits: With hard baits, super glue is for on-the-water repairs. If the lip on your crankbait gets loose, a tiny dab of glue will hold it tight and keep your lure swimming true. If the screw eye comes out of your favorite topwater or swimbait, gluing it back will render it stronger than it was to begin with. Super glue extends the life of expensive lures that would otherwise be headed for the trash.

By CAM Sta

SUPER GLUE BELONGS IN YOUR TACKLE BOX

Just like pliers or a good knife, super glue is an essential item in your shing kit. ere are numerous practical uses for this stu in shing, and it’s also a catch-all tool. It’s like liquid duct tape. When you have it, there’s no end to the situations when it comes in handy. Here are a few good reasons you should keep a tube of super glue in your

Knots: e debate is ongoing on whether super gluing knots increases their strength. Most folks who do it are in the “it can’t hurt camp.” However, there are a couple situations when it just makes sense. Coating line-to-line connections that frequently run through the guides smooths the knot and protects it from wear. With braided line, good knots, and the right knots, are crucial. Even so, braided line can cut itself when knots shi and tighten under stress. A drop of super glue keeps knots snug and secure.

Miscellaneous: Super glue can save the day when an eyelet or rod tip comes loose. It’ll also keep you on the water when you cut yourself chunking bait. Glue the wound shut and keep shing. Save the emergency room for later.

For more tips, go to coastalanglermag.com.

By Molly Kirk

GOLDEN BASS CAUGHT IN VIRGINIA

Virginia angler Jacob Moore was quite surprised when he reeled in this largemouth bass from the James River. Moore was expecting to catch a largemouth—he was targeting them. But he de nitely wasn’t expecting to catch a golden largemouth!

“I was out there practicing for a tournament, catching a bunch of sh,” said Moore, who works as an arborist and participates in local tournaments. “I was on the lower James near Chippokes [State Park]. When I hooked into that one, I thought I had a saltwater sh on at rst, but lo and behold, it was a largemouth! A very di erent largemouth, though. I haven’t seen anything like that before. I’ve seen bass with black spots, but I’d never seen an albino one.”

“Golden largemouth bass are extremely rare and most anglers have never seen them, let alone heard of them before,” said Alex McCrickard, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) Aquatic Education Coordinator. “ e sh is a product of a genetic mutation that alters the skin pigments called xanthism. Yellow pigmentation dominates in xanthism, as you can see in Moore’s golden largemouth.”

Moore measured the sh at 16 ½ inches, took a few photos, then returned it to the water.

For more information, go to dwr.virginia.gov.

TIES STATE RECORD

This big Georgia sheepshead tied a two-decade-old state record for the species a er weighing in at 14 pounds, 14.37 ounces.

e angler, Ben Golden III, of Midway, Ga., caught his sh near the Sunbury community outside of Midway on Feb. 3. e catch quali es as a tie with the existing record of 14-pounds, 14-ounces set by Ralph White, of Rincon, Ga., in 2002.

“To be honest, I’ve been telling folks it’s been my goal to catch a state record for 10 or 12 years,” said Golden, who grew up in Midway and has been shing the Georgia coast most of his life. “I’m excited to say that I did it.”

Sheepshead are common around 7 pounds but can easily be found up to 10 pounds. ey reach maturity around 3 to 4 years of age and primarily live inshore, o en near rocky areas, docks, bridges or arti cial reefs, or other areas with barnacles.

Between 2017 and 2021, NOAA Fisheries estimates that Georgia recreational anglers caught an average of 490,197 sheepshead each year, with an average of 262,457 being harvested.

For more information on the Georgia Saltwater Game Fish Records program, visit www.CoastalGaDNR.org/SaltwaterRecords.