Reel Report: <b>Fishermen</b> enjoying chamber-of-commerce weather, tides

Wayne Miller caught this 7-pound largemouth bass while throwing a big topwater twitchbait in Bayou Sara Thursday morning. Miller says bass fishermen can put together a nice sack of fish if they're willing to move around and try different baits. (Submitted by Wayne Miller)

Great weather, good tidal movement, decent water clarity, falling water temperatures and major feeding times early and late should all add up to some awesome fishing over the next week no matter what you like to catch.

The little rise on the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers has stained the water heading into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Predictions from the National Weather Service indicate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is going to let the reservoirs behind the dams at Coffeeville on the Tombigbee and Claiborne on the Alabama fall slowly, keeping the rivers at a higher level.

That likely will extend the time some muddy freshwater flows into the Delta.

That won't be a huge problem for bass fishermen who make the effort to fish creeks and bays, but it could hinder folks who like to fish the main rivers.

I know folks were catching speckled trout and the occasional redfish up around Twelve Mile Island on the Mobile River early in the week, but I haven't heard if the river rise has hurt those bites.

I'm fishing up that way today, so I will have a better sense of what's happening. (I plan on posting an update to www.al.com as soon as I'm off the water.)

Bobby Abruscato said with water temperatures earlier in the week still hovering around 81 degrees, not much has changed in the Mississippi Sound. Until the water cools beyond 75 degrees, he said summer patterns would persist.

George Koulianos and a partner caught redfish and a couple of flounder off the stumps in Grand Bay. They didn't fish for specks.

He found specks and white trout around the rigs by Katrina Cut on Monday. Live shrimp under a slip cork were the ticket.

Chris Vescey at Sam's in Orange Beach said the pompano bite in the surf off Gulf Shores picked up this week. Sand fleas were the preferred bait.

Redfish and flounder are still biting well around Perdido Pass and Bay St. John. Specks are biting at night around the docks off Old River.

With cooler temperatures, Vescey said king mackerel and Spanish mackerel should be biting close to shore.

Offshore, he said the billfish bite, especially among white marlin and sailfish, should pick up.

The wahoo bite is still solid to the southeast around the Nipple, Spur and Elbow.

Rough seas have prevented most fishermen from heading to the southwest rigs.

Flounder, Spanish mackerel and ladyfish were biting at the Gulf State Park Pier on Thursday. One angler also lost an estimated 40-pound cobia.

Over the last week, redfish, bluefish, whiting, sheepshead, triggerfish and pompano were caught.

Live bait is growing scarcer at the pier. Folks targeting flounder are bringing their own bull minnows onto the pier.

Wayne Miller said the Delta continues to be a challenge for bass fishermen as they deal with another rise on the rivers feeding it.

The good news is that the bass are still biting. However, anglers should be prepared to try numerous areas and techniques to put together a good sack.

The topwater bite continues to be good on frogs, buzzbaits and stickbaits. Miller caught a 7-pound largemouth bass in Bayou Sara Thursday morning while slowly fishing a big topwater twitchbait on wood banks.

Bandit crankbaits in shad patterns and small spinnerbaits are working in the main rivers.

The most productive slow presentation Miller has found over the past week in the rivers has been a Junebug-color worm fished slowly around wood cover. It has been really effective with good tidal flow.

The DOA bite continues to be consistent along the south end of the Delta around the Causeway. Miller said anglers should always be vigilant in their search for active shrimp. 

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Cooler Alabama weather signals second-best <b>bass</b>-<b>fishing</b> season

Kenny Pannel flips a jig into timber at Lake Neely Henry. He primarily uses jigs and buzzbaits to catch bass as the water cools. (BASS)

The cooler weather of recent mornings has inspired Alabama hunters who are eagerly awaiting a number of hunting seasons that will begin in upcoming months.

The chilly mornings have also been exciting for Alabama bass fishermen who know the drop in temperatures signals the start of the second-best time of the year for bass fishing in the state.

"I think most people including me think that the spring of the year is the best time to fish, but the fall is definitely the second-best time," said Dan Catchings, a district fisheries biologist with Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries in Eastaboga. "From about mid-September to about mid-November, the bass are really active again."

A bass' life cycle revolves around the fact that it is a cold-blooded creature, Catchings explained. In summer months, bass seek deep-water refuges and become lethargic. In the cold months of the winter, they also live in deep water to find the warmest water. They also feed less because the colder water lessens their metabolism and makes it tough for them to chase prey. In the fall, however, bass eat like pigs at a trough. They must fatten up for the winter and they do so in shallow water where they are easier to catch.

Kenny Pannel, a pro tournament fisherman on the BFL and BASS Federation tournament trails, said the cool mornings Alabama has seen in the past few days will be enough to trigger great fishing in the upcoming weeks.

"They'll start to move shallow now and they will gorge themselves on baitfish until it gets too cold for them to move much," he said.

"They'll get up in that shallow water and that's when I like to get a buzzbait out and fish it early in the morning. I use a white or a white/chartreuse medium size with about a 1-inch blade. If it's windy, I'll use a buzzbait with a clacker that makes a little more noise so they can find it better in the choppy water."

Bass will typically gather in the shallow water along banks and seawalls. He pinpoints those areas with his buzzbait.

Alabama can still get some warm, sunny days in late September and in October, and the buzzbait bite will end as soon as the sun gets up in the sky. When that happens, Pannel says, he targets bass that will gather close to fallen trees and other timber. He uses a green pumpkin jig with 30-pound test line to yank bass out of the thick stuff.

He says the best fishing this time of the year actually occurs at night. As the temperature drops at night, the spotted bass gather in numbers on rocky points. He uses a black/blue ½-ounce spinnerbait with a No. 6 smoked Colorado blade and slow rolls it across the rocky points.

"I don't know where those fish go during the summer but when it starts cooling off like it is doing now, they get on those rocky points at night and the fishing gets really good," he said.

Doug Powell, a staff environmental specialist for Alabama Power and a fisheries biologist, says when the temperature begins cooling as it has the past few days, it signals fun time.

"Bass are no different than other critters, really," he said. "Everything in the woods gets lethargic during the hot summer months and gets active again in the fall. People think of alligators as a hot summer creature, but that isn't true. They are cold-blooded, too. They don't move much in summer but they start getting active now."

Powell says that when the water cools to the point that fishermen see shad beginning to school, that means the bass are fattening up for the winter.

"The colder mornings signal that harder times are coming," he said. "They know they have to eat while they can and what they are looking to eat is in shallow water where the fishermen can get to them better."

Pannel says he loves fall fishing for reasons other than bass getting aggressive again. Fall, he says, is the most peaceful time to fish. Most bass tournaments have ended for the year and pleasure boaters have called it quits until next spring. Many fishermen have called it quits, too, as they spend more time watching football and preparing for the hunting season.

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Better weather boosts catches of flounder

Memorial Day weekend saw a healthy boost to flounder fishing after recent heavy winds and rainfall wreaked havoc on doormats, spreading them pretty thin.

But local tackle shops have been seeing nice catches of other species such as speckled trout, which are popping up in several areas, red drum and a Maryland man landed a hefty citation croaker.

Here's an overview of the recent fishing on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Chris' Bait and Tackle in Townsend reports some fishermen hit their limit on flounder on Memorial Day. Those reports came from a fishing area known as "The Ditch."

"For the most part, the flounder fishing has improved because the water has also cleared up," according to the shop's website.

Flounder have also been reported off bouy 42, Kiptopeke State Park, the bridge-tunnel high rise and also near Oyster.

Sea mullets are running around Lattimer Shoals and a few croaker starting to show, while traces of spadefish are showing at the chesapeake light tower.

Small grey trout have been landed around the high rise, while some black drum have been spotted near the bridge-tunnel's third island and cobia sightings are increasing.

Don Varney of Don's Tackle Shop on Wachapreague Road said the speckled trout action has been very good near Harborton.

He added that weather is still affecting flounder fishing with the recent heavy winds and rainfall.

"We're looking for flounder to get back into a good cycle again," he said.

Matt Abell at Seahawk Sports Center in Pocomoke City, Md. had a citation croaker to report.

Steven Parker of Girdletree, Md. bagged a 17- inch hardhead out of Tangier Sound.

Pocomoke Sound is seeing the best speckled trout action and red drum are still running around the barrier islands.

"Flounder fishing has been pretty good," he said.

The Seahawk Flounder Tournament gets under way from June 22-24. The cost is $10 per angler and kids can enter for free.

Gather the kids and grab your fishing poles; free fishing days are here again. This year anyone in the Commonwealth can fish without a license June 1-3. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries the agency which regulates freshwater fishing, would like to encourage Virginians to take advantage of this once a year opportunity to fish for free while spending some quality time with friends and family.

No fishing license of any kind will be required for recreational rod and reel fishing during free fishing days, except for a special trout license in designated stocked trout waters. All fishing regulations including size, season, catch limits and gear restrictions will remain in effect.

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