Coastal Angler Magazine | January 2024 | Alabama Gulf Coast Edition

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SEATROUT VOLUME 29 • ISSUE 346

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WELCOME

By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon

Tuna Town TO

I

had only been fishing a few years when I wound up taking a job in Venice, Louisiana. I had gotten the lead on a first mate position through a mutual friend of a captain who I had never met before. When I called the captain, I asked when he needed me. He told me, “yesterday.” So I went to the tackle shop, bought my first pair of slickers, and hit the road.

The only thing I knew about Venice was that there was no cell phone service and no women. As I drove down the road south of New Orleans, I began to notice ships on both sides of the road simultaneously. I realized I had better call someone to let them know I was heading to a deadzone in the middle of nowhere, filled with lonely, salty men.

I arrived at night and located my captain’s houseboat, where I would be staying.

I made the jump across to the boat and opened the door without knocking—as I was instructed to do. A dozen men, drinking beer, went silent as they stared at me. I looked around the room at the welcoming party, and the walls that were lined with shelves of alcohol bottles and a deer head decorated with Mardi Gras beads and bras.

They offered me a beer and I declined. After the 14-hour drive, I most definitely wanted a beer, however, this did not seem like the time and place to let my guard down.

The captain showed me the boat docked out back, my bunk where I would be staying, and told me what time to set my alarm for the charter the following morning.

I had no idea what to expect or what I had gotten myself into, but I quickly fell in love with the fishery and a week-long trip turned into a year and a half. The fishermen there were nothing but respectful and treated me like one of the guys.

I had only been fishing for two years at the time and had a lot to learn. I spent evenings teaching myself how to tie snell knots and throw a cast net. When the locals would go out fun fishing and bring back coolers with hundreds of trout, they were more than happy to teach me how to fillet fish.

The fishermen didn’t cut me any slack for being a woman, which I was grateful for. I worked just as hard as they did, earned respect, and learned everything I needed to become a competent fisherman.

I was openly doubted every step of the way, until I was able to learn and prove myself, which I did. But I was told that if I made it to the fall, there was no way that a woman could handle shrimp-boat season.

Shrimp-boat season involves pulling behind shrimp boats and then boarding them by jumping from the bow of your boat onto the tires that hang from the stern of the shrimp boat. Then you promptly scurry up before your bow has a chance to crush your feet. You then shovel bycatch into a bag or basket, get it back to your boat, and hopefully get yourself back on the boat before your crew hooks up to a big tuna and abandons you there for the fight. The goal is to not die, break your ankles or get murdered by the shrimp-boat crew in the process.

I did make it to the fall, and I did survive shrimp-boat season, and it was some of my favorite fishing I’ve done, to this day.

It wasn’t until I left that the ball-busting ceased and I received positive feedback, when a captain called to tell me I did a really great job and that I’d earned a place and should come back for the following season.

I am so grateful Tuna Town was a stop on my journey to where I am now. I am indebted to the fishermen there who helped teach me things the right way, without mercy.

Capt. Quinlyn Haddon, with Sweet e’nuf charters out of Marathon, Florida Keys, can be reached at (504) 920-6342.

See CaptainQuinlyn.com and @captainquinlyn.

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THROW UMBRELLA RIGS FOR WINTER BASS

When the bass are feeding up on baitfish in the winter, the natural bait ball presentation with multiple baits swimming together drives these bass absolutely crazy. It can make for a very fun day on the water.

Setting up your “rig” is not complicated. Depending on how deep you are looking to fish, use 1/8-ounce jig heads for shallow water (10 feet or less) and ¼-ounce jig heads for anything deeper than 10 feet. Pick TYLER WOOLCOTT out some small 3- to 4-inch natural shad colored boot-tail swimbaits to attach to your jig heads and that’s all there is to it. inter can be a tricky time of year to go fishing, The winter months is typically the time when bass to feed up before but I want to tell you about a bait that might help you put some more fish in the boat. In fact, this lure is so good that they spawn. Whether you see it going on or not, they are eating a lot of bait somewhere on your some tournaments don’t allow body of water. You can throw anglers to use them anymore. this rig basically anywhere, I’m talking about the Alabama and if there are fish around, rig, which some people call they will bite it! I throw it the umbrella rig. around grass, rocks, docks, This device made its debut open water, points and on the bass fishing scene in ditches.

2011 and absolutely dominated the tournament fishing scene Gear for a few years before it was When throwing an A-rig, eventually outlawed by most it can get pretty heavy once professional fishing series for you add all the jig heads and basically being an unfair way swimbaits onto it. You’ll want to catch fish. The rig consists to use a big heavy rod with of a baitfish-style head where some strong line. A 13 Fishing you tie your line with multiple Muse Black 7’6” rod paired metal-wire arms that extend with a Concept A 6:8:1 reel is out where you attach jig heads a good fit. Spool this up with with a swimbaits. Most come 20-pound Seaguar Abraz-X standard with five metal arms line and you are good to go! and five jig heads.

Good luck out there!

Even though the Alabama rig is outlawed by most pro fishing leagues, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it when you are out fun Tyler Woolcott is a professional tournament angler and guide. fishing or even fishing smaller tournaments. It is a fish-catching machine!

Check out his website at www.tylerwoolcottfishing.com.

W

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JANUARY 2024

NATIONAL 7

A GREAT LAKES FORMULA FOR

By Nick Carter

JUST ONE FISH

C

obi Pellerito’s goal in a day is just one fish, and with the surge in Great Lakes smallmouth fisheries, there’s a good chance he’ll find what he’s looking for: one giant smallie.

“Big smallmouth is my jam,” he said. “It’s not like tournament fishing, where you’re looking for a limit. I’m out there looking for one big fish.”

Pellerito theorized that three invasive species are responsible for Great Lakes smallmouth achieving grotesque proportions with weights in the 7- to 8-pound range. European round gobies and rusty crayfish from the Ohio River Basin have become important prey species since their invasion. European Zebra mussels are forage for another smallmouth favorite: perch, and these filter-feeders also create clear water, which is great for visual hunters like bass.

8 NATIONAL

JANUARY 2024

Pellerito bemoaned the destruction these invasives wreak but figures we might as well take advantage.

THE FORMULA: The size of the Great Lakes system is incredible. From a home base in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Pellerito has explored parts of it from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, downstream through lakes Michigan, St. Clair, Huron, Erie and over to the St. Lawrence River. Over this vast expanse, state fisheries reports tell him where the largest smallmouth are.

“Once you’ve picked a fishery, there’s no substitute for time on the water,” he said. “Find the most desirable structure in the lake or in the part of the lake you’re fishing.”

Smallmouth can be patterned seasonally. From there, Pellerito fishes long days to eliminate water. He looks for big points and transitions in bottom composition. He seeks out subtle structure like boulders or logs on barren flats. Bait presence is important, whether its gobies or crayfish in the rocks, perch in the grass or balls of suspended baitfish.

THE FISHING: When he finds an area he likes, Pellerito covers water quickly with a crankbait. He likes a Megabass Deep-X 300, which dives 12 to 15 feet.

“Covering water until you find where the fish are is important, then you slow down,” he said. “The biggest fish tend to be a step off from where the rest of them are.”

Big smallmouth hold in “wolf packs” of two or three fish, and this can sometimes lead to days of more than “just one fish.” Recently, Pellerito boated an incredible 35-pound, 9-ounce five fish limit. Find one big fish, and it pays to pick that area apart.

For this, Pellerito switches to classic drop shots or tubes. A standard tube crawls through the rocks like a goby or a crayfish. With the drop shot, Pellerito fishes a Megabass 3-inch Hazedong, which looks like a goby.

It takes light line to draw strikes in clear water. Pellerito uses 15-foot leaders of 5- to 7-pound fluorocarbon with a main line of 8- to 10-pound braid. He’s experienced tremendous success with these tactics. This season, he boated 39 fish heavier than 6 pounds, 19 heavier than 7 pounds and two heavier than 8 pounds.

To see more of Cobi Pellerito’s giant fish, see his Instagram @cobi.pellerito.

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ALABAMA GULF COAST 1

in creek channels and around mud flats. When looking for schools of these baitfish I’m looking for mullet jumping on the flats or the constant smacks on the surface from croaker, pinfish and pogies.

With winter temps in the low 50’s and the speckled trout becoming less energetic and lethargic, one thing is for certain. The speckled trout will not be far from their food sources. I hope this article was helpful, you can find many more videos covering a variety of inshore fishing topics on our Youtube Channel “Southern Salt Kayak Fishing” Until next time tight lines and stay safe!

Find The Bait, Find The Fish!

T

By: Nathan Rich

his is the time of year when speckled trout stack into certain areas and travel in large schools. Baitfish, behave the same way.

When water temps plummet into the low 50’s and even colder, baitfish gather in large schools around areas of warmer water. With January weather, one thing is for sure, find the baitfish and you will surely find the fish!

When looking for baitfish there are 2 types that I look for. The first type that I scan the water for are smaller baitfish, such as glass minnows. You will typically find these baitfish in huge pods close to grass lines and structure. Some of my biggest trout days have been chasing down schools of glass minnows that are getting blown up on by speckled trout.

The next type of baitfish I look for are larger profile baits such as croaker, pinfish, and mullet.

This time of year you can find these baitfish stacked

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2 ALABAMA GULF COAST

JANUARY 2024

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ALABAMA GULF COAST 7

I

have lost count of the number of USCG violations I have observed while operating in both inland and international waters. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the Gulf of Mexico, PerdidoPass, the Old

River, Bayou Saint John or maybe clear over on Big Lagoon, it seems many folks just don’t understand that theUSCG Rules of the Nautical Road (NAVRULES) apply to all vessel’s operation on the high seas and in inland waters. The NAVRULES are made up of 41 Rules that both recreational and professional boaters alike must understand and follow. Their primary purpose is to prevent collisions between vessels on the water. NAVRULES are similar to driving rules on our roadways, they help establish who has the right of way and what action(s) must be taken to prevent accidents. Now before you panic, I’m not suggest-

USCG RULES OF THE ROAD DON’T APPLY TO MY VESSEL, DO THEY? type of vessels you may encounter in the area you are boating. For example, if you boat primarily in Bayou Saint John you might expect to encounter a commercial fishing vessel, tour boat and of course recreational boaters.

That said, the prudent mariner should not only have an understanding of the basic NAVRULES applicable to all boaters but also an understanding of the lights and sounds of the other vessels they may encounter. To fully understand why the NAVRULES are so critical to boating safety I believe it may be useful to first understand their history, and why they were developed in the first place.

ing as a recreational boater that you have the same level of knowledge

According to the USCG’s History Website (history.uscg.mil) ships at sea in

of the NAVRULES that a USCG Licensed

the 1800’s had no established rules governing who had the right of way. Of

Captain does. However, I am saying you are required by law to understand and comply with the NAVRULES that are applicable to the geographic location you are operating your vessel. To accomplish this, you must first understand what rules apply specifically to your vessel, do you have a sailboat, power boat, and how long is it? You should also be aware of what

course, during this period, we aremostly talking about slow moving sailing ships that were used for moving freight, passengers, mail or to catch fish. During these unregulated periods collisions were very common. Being one of the maritime leaders of the sea and with the introduction of steamboats which were faster and larger, the United States took the lead to address steamboat safety, and as part of the 1838 Act of Congress mandated that steamboats running between sunset and sunrise had to display one or more signal lights. Eight years later England enacted the Steam Navigation Act of 1846 that required that English steam vessels pass port-toport. Shortly after that the United Kingdom issued regulations requiring steam vessels to display red and green sidelights. Unfortunately, collisions between different nations amplified on the high seas due to the fact that different nations had established different rules. It wasn’t until 1889 that the United States assembled the first International Maritime Conference to study regulations for preventing collisions at sea. Fast forwarding to

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present day and skipping some history, the entire world established (via the International Maritime Organization) and have agreed to follow what we know today as the Rules of the Nautical Road which became law on July 15, 1977. In summary, please do yourself, and all boaters a favor, find anall-inclusive top quality boating education class that have USCG Licensed Captains as instructors and take it. Don’t let the above history lesson repeat itself on your vessel. Knowledge of the NAVRULES is paramount to safe boating before you get out on the water, especially with today’s high-speed vessels and with the increased number of recreational boaters on the water

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ALABAMA GULF COAST 9

delicious inshore fish around! For some reason they have gotten a bad rap and were known as a trash fish, but they are quite the opposite! They fight well and taste even better! You can do so so many things with the white flaky meat as well!

Like this smoked sheepshead dip recipe which is perfect for holiday parties and get togethers!

ALABAMA

KITCHEN DELIGHTS

BY SEAN VARONE

Smoked Sheepshead Dip

T

o catch sheepshead on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts, target areas with structure like docks, piers, and jetties starting in the fall all the way to the spring. Most of them head out to the Gulf of Mexico during the summer months. Use fiddler crabs, barnacles, or live or fresh dead shrimp as bait. You can also have success with small artificial lures such as the Vudu shrimp! Sheepshead have strong, nibbling bites, so be attentive to subtle movements as they are nicknamed convicts for a reason! They are good at stealing your bait! Use a sensitive rod and set the hook promptly when you feel weight or see your line moving away. Patience and a steady hand are key to landing these crafty fish! They are absolutely one of the most

INGREDIENTS 5-6 tsp salt 4 tsp brown sugar 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp dried thyme 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 2 lbs sheepshead fillets

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In Episode 215, we sit down with Mr. Alvin Baker and discuss his childhood experiences living on Deer Island. Mr. Alvin brings us back to the early days of Biloxi when it was still known as the seafood capital of the world. Tune in to hear another great blast from the past. Cheers!!

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12 oz cream cheese, that’s roughly one and a half rectangles of Philly cream cheese 3 tbsp prepared horseradish

is cool, gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning. We needed a bit more salt and cracked pepper.

5. Serve cold, garnished with dill and paprika sprinkled over top.

1/3 cup pepperoncinis, finely chopped 3 ribs celery, finely chopped 1/2 of a sweet onion, finely chopped 1 package fresh dill, finely chop around half the frilly parts smoked paprika for sprinkle

•

HERES WHAT YOU DO 1. Combine salt, brown sugar, garlic powder,cayenne, and thyme in a small bowl. Season the fillets generously with spice mixture and place in the refrigerator for one to two hours.

2. While fish sits, preheat smoker to 225 degrees and set cream cheese out to come to room temperature.

3. Smoke the fillets until they flake easily and are lightly crisp at the edges, 40-50 minutes.

4. Mix cream cheese, horseradish, pepperoncinis, onion, celery, and dill in a medium bowl. When fish

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ERRATIC ACTION PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOCKIN TAIL LURES®.

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

A

common principle anglers abide by during winter months is to slow down their retrieve or presentation. Although this is a good default option, it may fail to entice strikes of those big, cold, winter trout. Let’s discuss.

Some of my favorite lures for targeting trophy trout in the winter are those that suspend, slow sink, and have an erratic movement. When I

define a slow presentation, I am referencing the speed at which the lure moves toward the angler, the retrieve speed, not the motion. As a young angler, I was always told to slow down when it’s cold and then slow it down a little more. Although this has its place, it should not be set in stone, or ice if it’s really cold. OK, enough of the bad jokes.

When trout are cold and may not be feeding

as aggressively as we would like, an extremely erratic motion can entice the strike. This erratic motion makes the lure dance in place with little to no forward movement. I use a rod with a whippy action for this. This allows me to point my rod tip at the lure and shake it up and down aggressively causing the lure to almost dance in place. I then let it pause, suspending or slow-sinking as I reel up the slack. I then repeat this practice, modifying according to the conditions.

Fishing braided line is imperative for this method. The stretch in mono will not allow your slow-sinking lure to dance in place at the end of a long cast, but the zero stretch of braid makes it move like it is on a wire. I learned this the hard way 20 years ago. I was fishing with four friends, and I was the only one using mono and the only one not catching. I mimicked every move my buddy made to no avail. I then ask him to cast his lure and retrieve it near me. I watched it dance past with great action. I then cast my lure near him. Although I moved my rod more vigorously, he said my lure was moving in a straight line as if I was just reeling it in. I switched to braid on the next trip and never went back, and of course this dancing method started to produce fish!

If you pay attention to the strike, this method will let you know if you should modify your retrieve. If they bite on the pause, you may want to slow it down a bit. If they bite on the shake, you may want to speed it up. I hope this helps you land more big trout this season. Good Luck!

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

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By Capt. Jamie Thrappas

A BIG INSHORE SURPRISE!

t was a chilly winter morning, and my crew—a good friend Zach and his two sons—all knew it was going to be either a tough day or a great one. It was a typical morning for winter here in the Daytona, Fla. area, with overcast skies, highs in the low 60s and a dominant wind and swell headed from the northeast.

The inshore bite is typically pretty good this time of year, with a variety of different species usually willing to cooperate. Red drum are a favorite backcountry target during the colder months. When they move up on the flats to feed, it can lead to good action on spoons and paddletails. On the end of the outgoing tide, we hoped to bag a few redfish before the switch, but the bite never happened. We kept busy with some small permit, pompano, mangrove snapper and even a flounder.

By the time the tide switched mid-morning, the bite had slowed down with just a few small sheepshead taking our bait. Sheepshead are delicious, and around here the causeways of the Intracoastal along with barnacle- or oyster-encrusted docks, bridges and jetties are a pretty good bet for picking up a few for the cooler.

They love sand fleas and fiddler crabs but will also eat shrimp on a jig head or Carolina rig.

Something I like to do while targeting other species is to leave baits out for red or black drum. I had two dead stick bottom rods out the back soaking halved blue crabs in the hopes that a drum would be hungry enough to pick it up.

With the action pretty slow, and while we still had some time left in the trip, I decided we should make a move. I told Zach’s younger son Gavin, who is an employee of mine at Yellow Dawg Bait & Tackle in Ormond Beach, to reel in the back rods that had been soaking.

At first it looked like he had a snag as the rod bent when he picked it up, but then the drag took off. Big black drum are tanks! It’s almost like they have shoulders and they’ve been working out all week waiting for you. The big ugly that highlighted that trip was somewhere in the 50-plus-pound range, a trophy for sure!

Gavin, who is the younger guy in the photo, will be in U.S. Coast Guard boot camp when this edition hits the racks. His dad, Zach, is a veteran, along with his other two sons Logan and Cameron. A big thanks to all the men and women out there who serve our country!

Capt. Jamie Thrappas is Co-Publisher of Coastal Angler - Volusia County and owner of Yellow Dawg Fishing. Check out yellowdawgfishing.com.

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By Nick Carter

A

AT FIRES CREEK, N.C.

delayed harvest trout stream is a better place than most to spend a winter afternoon, and if you can find a two- or three-day warming trend, there’s a good chance you’ll get into some pretty good fishing.

North Carolina’s Fires Creek has a 2-mile stretch of delayed harvest water on U.S. Forest Service land off U.S. 64 between Murphy and Hayesville. Rainbow, brown and brook trout are stocked in the creek and protected under catch-and-release, single-hook, artificial only regulations during the October into June delayed

harvest season. It’s a small-stream setting with more and bigger trout than one would find in most creeks this size.

The creek is gorgeous, with clear plunge pools and deep bend runs sliding into skinny pocket water that twists for miles through the bottom of a rhododendron-choked valley. Even the rounded river rocks are notable for their beauty, with striking dark gray and tan bands that’ll make you want to stash a few flat stones in your vest to take home.

The fishing is about like any other delayed

harvest in terms of fish size and the density of stockings, but it is a small stream, so you’ll be tempted to—and you should—explore your way upstream instead of settling in on the big holes.

Small streams are just more fun when you fish them that way. Around each bend lies a new challenge, another series of pools and runs.

Tightlining nymphs is probably the most effective way to fool fish this time of year. They might fall for the standard “junk flies,” but a few months into the DH season, the fish might also be looking for something more natural. In winter, the aquatic insects will be small. Little black stoneflies, midges and blue-winged olives might hatch off on a warm afternoon and lead to some dry fly action, but unless you see bugs in the air, you’re better off fishing subsurface imitations of these insects.

A double-nymph rig with a big attractor nymph below a smaller more natural looking nymph is always a good option.

The foot bridge at the Fires Creek Picnic Area is the lower boundary of the DH water. Access above the foot bridge is easy on a streamside trail and also along Fires Creek Wildlife Road. This gravel track parallels the creek way up into its headwaters. The delayed harvest ends at the Forest Service 340A bridge. Upstream of this point, the trout population trends toward stream-born rainbows that top out at 10 or 11 inches.

For GPS coordinates to access points and detailed maps of North Carolina and Georgia’s best trout water, check out “Flyfishers Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.” It is available at fly shops, on Amazon, and signed copies are available from the author by e-mailing nsc8957@gmail.com.

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A FEW THOUGHTS ON

SHEEPSHEAD

By CAM Staff

S

heepshead have become a wintertime staple when water temps drop and the regular cast of inshore characters become more difficult to target. If you’re a cold-weather inshore angler, you’re probably already familiar with sheepshead, so here are a few tips you might not have heard yet.

Finding Fish: Convict fish travel and feed in packs. Once you locate them, the action can be fast, but you have to find them first. Obviously, they like structure like bridges, docks and jetties, where they can happily gnaw on barnacles.

When considering structure, older, rambling docks with lots of pilings provide more surface area for established colonies of crustaceans. These can be honeyholes, but keep moving if you’re not catching fish. You might run a dozen different structures in a day and catch 90 percent of your fish on one. In the clear water of winter, sheepshead can often be sight fished, and they don’t really spook, so look for them before casting. If the water is too dingy to see them, you can sometimes hear them crunching shells if you listen quietly.

Chum ’Em Up: This might sound silly, but sheepshead get excited about free food just like any other species of fish. Keep a shovel on the boat and scrape barnacles off the structure you’re fishing. This rings the dinner bell, and it’ll also help you spot them as they dart around to pick off the falling morsels.

Looking for scraped pilings is also a good way to identify where other anglers have chummed sheepies before.

Play the Tides: Pretty much every fish feeds best on a moving tide, but a ripping flow can be detrimental when fishing for such a structure oriented fish.

Fast moving water tends to pin sheepshead right up against structure. This, and the tide itself, can make presenting baits more difficult. Find a moderate tide, and

sheepshead will spread out and move around a little more, which makes them easier to catch. Position yourself up-current and allow your baits to drift down into the fish.

The Business End: Although they are not skittish, sheepshead can be selective. Whether you’re fishing fiddler crabs, shrimp tails, sand fleas, oysters or clams, use a small, short-shank hook and hide it inside your bait.

Also, fish braided line. Braid has less stretch, so those little bumps when a sheepshead taps your bait translate better to the rod tip. Braid also has better abrasion resistance for when they pull you around a piling, but the increased sensitivity is key. With their black and white bars, convicts are notorious bait thieves. You need to know it the instant they suck in your bait.

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