Just back home from about 6 weeks of bumming around along the salty shoreline of the Gulf in both FL and AL. Winter fishing in Michigan was a complete bust this year, along with any other cold weather outdoor sports, so it was time to make the Southbound journey and leave things behind until Spring. While fishing was always an important part of most days, there was plenty of other side attractions to keep occupied with.

A highlight of the time away was to get a free personalized tour of the Gulf Shores Fish Hatchery located near the local airport on the North side of the inter-coastal waterway adjacent to Route 59. They specialize in raising pompano, redfish, flounder and speckled sea trout. Very cool, and well worth the time spent to learn more about these popular species!

Since we were going to be gone a while it made sense to procure a non-resident annual pair of saltwater angling licenses for both States...that way I could fish anytime the chance arose without worrying about a short term license expiration. Sometimes the water was barren, and other times you just so happened to arrive during a feeding frenzy! Those were the best of times!

My usual approach was to throw various lure types, both top water and under the waves, to temp fish into a bite. Bait lines in the surf worked well too when there was more time to hang around and enjoy the beaches. My favorite fishing memory of the trip was in having a large fish yank one of my surf rods into the ocean while I had my back turned to make a cast with a second rod while fishing from a seawall. The bait, being half of a small "cigar" mullet, had just been tossed out about 125' during a slack tide. Within a minute of hitting bottom, something grabbed it and all I heard was the clank of my rig hitting the handrail as the rod appeared to have been shot out of a circus cannon and launched into the emerald blue waters in front of me. Bugger...that was an expensive bit of entertainment! Shame on me for not having checked the drag setting since this particular reel does not have a "bait runner" setting.

About a half hour later, after deploying another bait rod, I hooked a small red snapper and while reeling the fish in I noticed the yellow braided line of my original rod coming in as a tangled ribbon gracefully wrapped around this new fish! The other rod eventually made it's presence known and a nearby angler assisted me in getting the whole mess safely back onto shore from the depths of the inlet. Boy was I happy! The 20 pound fluorocarbon leader was cut clean off well above where the hook had been.

You never know what kind of fish is out there waiting to find your hook. Big or small, the thrill is still the same! I had numerous fish "break off"...some even pulling me down the boardwalk as I tightened up the drag and tried to manage the fury while putting my back into a reverse curve and hold my ground. Those instances go down in your memory banks as future "tall tales"....

I hope you enjoy the following snapshots!