You’ll find anglers on bridges and beaches, bait shops open long before dawn, big tackle stores that carry enough gear to outfit a fleet of sport-fishers, and a line-up of fishing tournaments year-round. Numbers tell the story, too.

Jacksonville has the highest rate, per capita, of fishing license holders of the four biggest Florida metropolitan areas. That beats Tampa-St. Pete, Orlando, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale. Jacksonville takes the crown for the hardest-fishing big city in Florida.

The region’s rivers, maze-like marshes, bays, the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), jetties, beaches, and offshore grounds form a network of waters unlike any other in Florida. Two spring scenarios to target are shallow-water redfish and trout, and offshore, schools of migrating dolphin swarming at the Ledge.

Catch Seatrout and Redfish in Jacksonville

Big tides breathe life into Jacksonville’s extensive marsh-and-creek system.

“We have a 5-foot tidal swing, on average, every 6 hours, so the locations to fish are constantly changing,” says Capt. Buzz Brannon, who’s guided anglers in Jacksonville for more than two decades.  He runs an 18-foot Beavertail Vengeance in the shallows, stalking reds, trout, flounder, and other species on spin and fly. One of his favorite bites is for “hillbilly bonefish,” what some folks call redfish when they get them in the grass on big tides, he says.

For seatrout, Brannon likes dusk and dawn, low-light times. In the spring, when the finger mullet show up, both trout and redfish take topwater lures. “Anything with a hard edge along the St. Johns will be holding mullet,” he says.

Fishing the city’s infrastructure — bridges, docks, seawalls, and industrial installations along the water (where legally accessible) — produces a variety of species. Both natural and manmade habitats hold good fish in Jacksonville, one of the city’s many surprises for visiting anglers.

It’s been the best year of redfishing Brannon has seen for quite some time. In 2012, an increase in the redfish bag limit to 2 fish per person took a toll on the redfish. In September 2022, the bag limit was lowered back to one redfish per person, and since then, the fishing has been steadily improving, Brannon says.

The nourishment of those rich waters flowing in the St. Johns generates and draws abundant life to the nearshore and offshore waters, including a pelagic fishery that’s been a standout hotspot in recent years— the Ledge.

Big Dolphin off Jacksonville

About 55 to 65 miles off Jacksonville, depending on the marina’s location, the continental shelf slopes down from 120-foot depths and then drops off to 175 feet deep — the Ledge. The Gulf Stream runs nearby, and when its warm waters or any of its warm eddies circulate over the Ledge’s structure, prey, and predators get drawn into those dynamic flows. In winter, these waters hold good numbers of big wahoo, ranging up to 70 and 100 pounds, often caught high-speed trolling and more recently, Capt. Tim Altman of Hoodoo Charters says, by live-baiting.

“Guys are having incredible days for wahoo at the Ledge slow-trolling live baits like blue runners and bonito,” says Altman, a multiple-time wahoo tournament winner and a fanatic for those fish.

Capt. Altman runs 11-hour charter trips to the Ledge for pelagics including wahoo and dolphin aboard his Saltwater Challenge, a 36-foot Contender with triple Mercurys. In April, the game switches to catching big dolphin.

“We’ve crushed it the last few years for big dolphin at the Ledge, lots of them,” he says. “We’ll start going out for them between April 12 and 15, and the biggest fish are early in the year. We get a good month and a half of solid dolphin fishing.”

His good news about dolphin fishing may surprise people who’ve heard about a lack of fish in recent years around South Florida and the Keys.

“I’m aware that South Florida has seen a real decline in their dolphin fishing, especially around Key West, Marathon, and Miami. I can’t explain the difference in Northeast and South Florida fishing,” Altman says. “The old-school guys say the migratory pattern for yellowfin tuna has changed, so maybe that’s the case with dolphin, too, or maybe the currents have changed.”

Dolphin at the Ledge

Altman and his crew leave his Amelia Island marina at 5 a.m. and head out to the Ledge for an 11-hour trip. He’ll check RipCharts on his phone and screenshot the image of the temperature breaks at the Ledge. On his Simrad he also has SirrusXM weather for sea surface temperature readings offshore. He’s looking for temperature breaks with ocean water temps 76 degrees and warmer, weed lines, and edges.

“During dolphin season, as we get near the Ledge, I’ll put out small Nomads or a horse ballyhoo skirted with an Ilander on a planer with wire to target wahoo. Beyond the Ledge, we’ll run everything on the surface.

“Some days skirted stuff works, but I don’t believe there’s anything more effective for dolphin than a properly rigged, chin-weighted, split-bill ballyhoo,” he says. “When you see that big dolphin coming, or if you get a hit, you free spool it for 15 to 25 seconds, and I’m telling you that works.”

The dolphin come through in packs, and between times Altman and crew can also bottom fish for triggers, snapper, grouper, or whatever’s in season. They’ll likely have sardines in the livewell and they’ll chum dolphin by their boat with cuttlefish or squid, keeping a lookout, ready to throw a live bait to any big fish coming to the boat.

“You’ve got to be ready for those big fish. You’ll have a bunch of schoolies, the boat’s kicked out of gear and you’re live-baiting. The fish get all around you. Then you’ll see the dolphin scatter and that’s indicative of a shark or a big dolphin coming in to tear them up. I’ll tell you it’s incredible when you see that big dolphin coming through the water to you. Man, that’s fun.”

Jacksonville Florida Fishing Captains

• Capt. Tim Altman, Hoodoo Charters, (904) 859-6314, www.hoodoocharters.com
• Capt. Buzz Brannon, Northeast Florida Angling, (904) 570-7878, www.northeastfloridaangling.com

Bait Stores

•             B & M Bait & Tackle, Jacksonville, (904) 249-3933
•             Brown’s Creek Bait & Tackle, Jacksonville, (904) 757-1600
•             FishBites Trading Post, St. Augustine, (904) 217-8012

Note: Special thanks to the FWC and its licensing department for the analysis of its data on fishing license holders by municipality across the entire state of Florida.

The post The Hardest-Fishing City in Florida appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Alabama’s Gulf Shores and adjacent Orange Beach feature one of those stretches of coastline that look absolutely fishy. And it is. I’ve been there and experienced it. For example, I’ll never forget a memorable bite, casting XXL topwater lures to schooling bull reds — all 20- to 40-pound fish — just offshore the beaches. I was fishing maybe a quarter- to a half-mile off the beach with Capt. Clif Jones. For several hours I gaped in awe as monster redfish climbed all over each other to be the first to clobber my big surface lure on every cast. The January morning was icy cold, but the reds didn’t mind, and the stiff north wind blew directly off the beach, so we enjoyed calm water.

That was a quarter-century ago. These days Jones (who has recently retired after more than three decades as an active guide out of Orange Beach) sees a paradox with the bull reds on the outside beaches. On the one hand, there’s more bait than ever, so the fish are more scattered versus sitting on fewer, tight groups of bait. On the other hand, “There are also more redfish around now than ever,” he says.

Given my experience, I tend to think of redfish when I consider this stretch of Alabama coast. But while red drum are one of the premier species, there’s so much more. Anglers here tend to separate their fisheries into three categories, relative to the shore: inshore, nearshore and offshore.

Fishing inshore refers to the extensive system of back bays, channels and flats. So many bays — Perdido to the east and massive Mobile Bay to the west, with smaller bays in between — offer year-round fishing in protected waters. Primary targets are redfish, speckled trout, flounder and sheepshead, plus at times Spanish mackerel, jacks and more. You’ll find the best inshore fishing spring and fall. Summer can be productive, but these days Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have become such a popular summer destination that, Jones says, it’s simply too busy and crowded much of the time during the school’s-out season.

Nearshore means fishing along the beaches and out a short distance, but not as far as deep water. Expect plenty of variety depending on the season, conditions, bait and other variables — both red and black drum can be thick and big, particularly in colder months, with 15- to 40-pound fish typical. Other game fish you’ll find in nearshore waters include cobia (especially in the spring), bluefish, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, gray snapper, blacktip shark, triggerfish, tarpon and more.

Connecting inshore and nearshore waters are inlets, notably Perdido Pass at the east end of Orange Beach. With so much tidal flow, Gulf passes like this, and the area just outside the passes, tend to be magnets for bait and predators. These areas also may be crowded in summer, but an angler is likely to find fish in the pass any month.

For anglers venturing offshore and willing to make the run to deeper water (figure 15 to 40 miles), besides scattered rocks and some natural hard bottom, there are oil rigs and artificial reefs. Out here, anglers look for the usual suspects in the northern Gulf: billfish, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, at times mahi and wahoo, red snapper, amberjack, gag grouper, and grey triggerfish. For those making a directed effort, swordfish are available too. 

While sailfish can be a pretty frequent catch, blue water here is dominated by white marlin. Jones says, “We can have great numbers of white marlin. I’ve had days with 12 to 14 bites.” The crowds of summer visitors aren’t a factor offshore, and summer is definitely prime time.

For the most part, the sea floor of the northern Gulf is pretty austere — flat, featureless mud and sand. In that setting, any sort of reef will be a tremendous fish magnet. So it’s not surprising that the artificial reefs off Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are so productive. It might be surprising, however, to learn that in its rather short length of Gulf coastline — just 53 miles — the state of Alabama boasts the largest artificial reef program in the U.S. Reefs can be sunken ships, barges, tanks, bridges, rubble, repurposed concrete culverts and pipes, and more. You can find literally thousands of reefs listed at outdooralabama.com, including the .gpx files to import directly into GPS hardware, as well as interactive maps and a downloadable complete guide to Alabama’s artificial reefs. While some of the artificial reefs sit 50 miles or more offshore, others — known as circalittoral reefs — can be in less than 10 feet of water near shore.

A boat is hardly requisite for fishing coastal Alabama, thanks in part to the Gulf State Park Pier, one of the longest on the Gulf coast at 1,540 feet. Then there are the Orange Beach jetties, offering access to great habitat and moving water, as well as endless beaches for surf fishermen.

Anglers visiting these waters can drive via Interstate 10 or 65. Many major cities are within an easy day’s drive. Commercial airlines serve nearby Pensacola (Florida) and Mobile (Alabama) regional airports. New Orleans international airport is about 3 ½ hours down the road. With so much growth in tourism here, you can be sure the choice of accommodations of all types is extensive. Keep in mind that from roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day, things are booked up long ahead. 

Those who plan to book a charter for one or more days fishing can choose from more than 100 operations, from big offshore convertible sport-fishing yachts to fast, open center consoles for inshore and nearshore. Private boaters who trailer in or boat in will discover a wealth of full-service marinas. Many offer launch ramps, plus public launch areas are scattered throughout the bays. For general information, visit gulfshores.com.

The post Can’t Miss Coastal Alabama Fishing appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

“The fishing was so good, I could only fish two rods and I was getting worn out,” reported Capt. Kenny Louderback after a recent trip where he landed 23 giant redfish between 44 and 48 inches. “The day before we caught redfish up to 53 inches!”

Capt. Kenny Louderback was fishing shallow shoals at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and along Fisherman Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. 

The day of the epic bite, he marked fish on his fishfinder in 30 feet of water and deployed the anchor. The deep hole was close to shore making a natural funnel for the redfish to travel into the surf zone. 

With two anglers steadily cranking in giant redfish, Louderback was busy baiting hooks, landing drum and reviving the released fish. “Before I release a redfish, I use a fish gripper to hold it in the water,” he explained. (Don’t hold a fish vertically with a lip gripper.) Once the fish swims on its own, he unclips the gripper and lets the red swim free. The captain laughed, “As soon as the bait hit the bottom, I’d have two more fish to release.”

How to Catch Chesapeake Bay’s Red Drum

Fishing with a whole or half hard crab on a 9/0 hook and 50-pound leader, Louderback uses a fish-finder rig with 8 to 10 ounces of lead. To fish the heavy rig and big bait, he utilizes a 6-foot boat rod and PENN Squall 20 spooled with 30-pound braided line. He threads a fish-finder slide over the mainline and ties the line to a swivel. The swivel is connected to one to three feet of 50-pound monofilament and the 9/0 circle hook. 

Up until recently, red drum fishing has been slow. Louderback reports cold water and bad weather are putting a damper on the red drum bite. “A hard northeast wind has caused the water temperature to fluctuate.” He sees 68 degrees one day and 64 degrees the next day. Since the water temperature started to stabilize, Louderback has had consistent action on big red drum. With the slow start, he hopes for a longer season as the water warms into the lower- to mid-70s.

In a couple weeks, Louderback will turn his attention to sight fishing for cobia and red drum. He searches the mouth of Chesapeake Bay looking for the schools of redfish and cobia swimming on the surface. When he spots fish, he casts a two-ounce bucktail or live eel with a medium-heavy spinning rod and reel. He looks for sight fishing to continue through summer and into early fall. 

Outer Banks Redfish Fishing Techniques

Farther south, North Carolina’s Outer Banks have been covered up with trophy red drum since February. “Red drum fishing is awesome,” said Capt. Tim Hagerich, from the Black Pearl Charters out of Hatteras Inlet. When I texted Hagerich for a fishing report, he replied, “I’m on a school of drum right now!”

Hagerich finds drum two ways. When the weather is clear and the seas calm, he heads into the ocean toward Diamond Shoals. Searching the shoals, he finds schools of drum in the clear water. “Sometimes the school has 2,000 fish,” he marveled.

Once he spots a school, Hagerich casts a 2-ounce bucktail toward the fish. “Jig the bucktail anywhere near the school and the fish will pile on,” he explained. 

Hagerich stopped using the ubiquitous rubber curly tail jig on his bucktail. “It takes too much time to fix the tail after catching a fish,” he complained. Hagerich said it’s more important to cast again while the school is nearby. “Bucktail color doesn’t matter, either,” he added.

Big Red and Black Drum Mixed Together

On a recent trip, Hagerich found big redfish mixed in with a school of large black drum. The water on Diamond Shoals was crystal clear and Hagerich spotted a school of black drum in 20 feet of water.

“Black drum won’t bite so I drove around the school four times and didn’t make a cast,” he recalled. Another captain took a chance and pulled a redfish out of the black school. Hagerich chuckles and said, “The moral of the story is don’t believe your eyes.”

Wind, What Wind? When the wind blows, Hagerich fishes behind the islands. “The harder the wind blows, the fishing gets better,” he said.

Focusing his efforts on Hatteras Inlet, Hagerich finds breaking waves on a shallow shoal and anchors his boat. He casts a chunk of mullet on a fish-finder rig into the breakers and along the deeper slough. Fishing in the wind is no problem: “We fished three days in 30-knot winds last week,” he said.

Hagerich expects drum fishing to remain good through the summer and into fall. As the water warms, he turns his attention to slot and over-slot redfish on the grass beds and shallow flats.

The post The Best Place to Catch Trophy Redfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Probably few things annoy an angler more than perfectly delivering a cast to a spot you know holds fish only to have the hook on your soft-plastic lure immediately snag some sea grass, a stick, an oyster bar or rocky bottom.

“If you throw a lure out in front of a fish and it gets hung up, you either have to rip it out of the grass and it runs right by the fish, or it’s hung up and a big, ol’ wad of grass spooks the fish,” says professional redfish tournament ­fisherman Mark Cowart, of Panama City Beach, Florida.

To avoid that, top anglers and guides rig their soft-plastic baits on hooks and jig heads to run weedless. The key is to essentially hide the hook point, a goal they achieve using a variety of hooks and other terminal tackle.

Hide The Hook in the Soft Plastic

Capt. Gary Dubiel of Oriental, North Carolina, is a Rapala pro staffer who fishes Storm’s 360GT Coastal soft plastics. The 360GTs feature slots in the belly and back so the hook point remains hidden, not protruding from the bait. The lures come pre-rigged with either a VMC Coastal Black jig head or a VMC Coastal Black Hook with Keel Weight.

Instead of fishing them on a jig head, where the hook would be exposed, Dubiel prefers the weighted hook, which he says is “fairly lightweight and designed primarily for fishing shallow grass flats in Florida. If you want to get deeper, you need to use a little bit heftier weight.” In that case, Dubiel rigs the lures on a VMC Heavy Duty Weighted Swimbait hook. The wide-gap hook features a locking spring that screws into the head of the bait and a weight on the shank. He uses 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, going bigger for thicker baits.

“I put the hook point into the body of the bait, and when it comes out, it actually sits in the groove on top,” explains Dubiel, who targets speckled trout, redfish and striped bass. “It’s outside the plastic, but the point is protected. It’s pretty smooth going through the grass. And the keel weight has a tendency to keep the lure a little cleaner, whether you’re fishing grass, wood or oyster shells.”

Capt. Ed Zyak of D.O.A. Lures in Stuart, Florida, says the company works with Eagle Claw to design hooks customized for its baits. D.O.A.’s PT-7 topwater lure comes with a 7/0 extra-wide-gap spring-screw TroKar hook with a needle point instead of the standard triangular point.

“The triangular point cut through the PT-7 easier than the needle point, which doesn’t rip out of the bait as easily and still has an extremely sharp point, plus we needed a bigger gap for the PT-7 for better hookups,” says Zyak, who also fishes the hook with a 5.5-inch jerk bait, 4-inch shad, and 5-inch swimbait for snook, redfish, and trout. “What makes it good is it’s a very strong, very stout hook. And because the wide gap drops down so far, it acts like a keel, which makes the baits swim true.”

Zyak skin-hooks the lures, going through the top of the bait with the hook point, then barely sticking the point back into the lure. He does the same with the 3/0 Needlepoint Screw Hook that Eagle Claw makes for D.O.A.’s 3-inch C.A.L. Shad and 4-inch C.A.L. jerkbait. He adds that a benefit of the spring screw, besides easy rigging, is it allows for multiple bites. “Many times fish come up and whack the bait, pull it down, and now the bait’s compromised, so you’re not going to get that follow-up bite because the bait’s in a ball. With the screw, they whack it and whack it and whack it.”

Rig Saltwater Soft Plastics Like Bass Fishermen

Capt. Mike Mann of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a member of the Rapala and Z-Man pro staffs, pairs VMC’s freshwater bass hooks with Z-Man’s swimbaits for redfish and trout in central Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon during summer. Because of Z-Man’s stretchy, nearly indestructible 10X Tough ElaZtech soft plastic, Mann employs an old Texas-rig trick from his largemouth bass fishing days.

“I use an eighth-ounce worm weight and put a toothpick in the top hole, breaking it off to pin the weight to the top of the lure. Screw-in worm weights don’t work well with Z-Man baits because they don’t stay in the ElaZtech,” says Mann, who fishes with an exposed jig hook during winter. Summertime is when he gets away from jig heads. That’s where a small bullet weight keeps the hook weedless.

“I use a wide-gap 4/0 hook with Z-Man JerkbaitZ and PaddlerZ and a 3/0 with PogeyZ and small (3-inch) paddletails.” Mann says. He Texas-rigs the lures. “I’ll bring the hook point up through the slit in the lure’s back and then just catch the tip of the hook point back in the lure. When a fish hits, it’ll pop right out and you’ll get a better hookup, but it still allows the lure to come through the grass without getting snagged.”

Zyak Texas-rigs lures with Eagle Claw’s specially made Long Neck Hook when grass is thick on the surface. He inserts the hook eye into the bait to reduce the chances of snagging grass, and secures a small bullet weight atop the nose of the lure with a rubber bobber stopper. Zyak also uses the hook to weedlessly rig a ¼-ounce 3-inch D.O.A. Shrimp backward, cutting off the tail flipper, leaving the weight, and adding a glass rattle into the bait’s head.

When he’s fishing around structure, Aaron Wavra, an associate manager at Pure Fishing, Texas rigs Gulp! Shrimp and Mantis Shrimp on a Berkley Fusion19 EWG (extra wide gap) Hook with an unsecured bullet weight because “you get a little more movement when you jig the rod and impart action to the bait. The weight slides up the line and allows the shrimp to do its own thing. It has an erratic action.”

For a truly different weedless option, Wavra suggests drop-shotting a baitfish imitation. Using a technique popular with bass anglers when the bite is tough, a Fusion19 Drop Shot or EWG Hook is attached to the line with a Palomar knot a foot or so above a weight. “Instead of nose-hooking the bait, come in between the gill plates” Wavra says, so the hook point is just inside the nose. “I’ve used it in Islamorada [Florida], in sand holes where you’d typically throw a shrimp on a jig head. You can really control the presentation and keep the bait vertical. The nice thing is you always have a tight line and can feel every bite. It’s ­excellent for finicky fish.”

If he’s fishing in grass, Wavra rigs Gulp! Shrimp, as well as the Gulp! Pogy, Nemesis and Ripple Mullet, on Fusion19 keel-weighted or unweighted swimbait hooks, which have a spiral bait keeper attached to the eye. “The thing I like about it is it keeps the shrimp vertically oriented.”

Likewise, Mann pairs the Z-Man EZ ShrimpZ with a VMC Heavy Duty Weighted Swimbait hook because it allows the shrimp to hover vertically in the water and float down when he lifts the rod tip. He coats the shrimp lures with Pro-Cure Super Gel fish ­attractant, his favorite scents being shrimp and bloody tuna.

Rig Jig Heads With Soft Plastics

Cowart is a Z-Man pro staffer who partners with his son, Capt. Michael Cowart, in three different redfish ­tournament series. They used to Texas-rig their Z-Man baits on Mustad Grip Pin weighted hooks. Thanks to field testing and recommendations Cowart and his son made in conjunction with Eye Strike Fishing, Z-Man now offers the Weedless Eye jig head. It features a streamlined head that has a bait keeper plus a wire weed guard that goes through the hook eye, which is bent at a 45-degree angle, to the hook point. The weed guard prevents the exposed hook from snagging. “It’s 99.9 percent weedless,” Cowart says. “You can throw it with any Z-Man bait. Not just any jig head will work with a Z-Man. You need a keeper for the ElaZtech.”

Read Next: Secrets of Fishing Soft Plastics

Cowart also uses the Z-Man Texas Eye jig head. The freely swinging Weedless Eye head is attached by a ring to the eye of a Mustad hook. He Texas-rigs the jig head, going through the bait with the hook, then skin-hooking the hook point back into the lure.

“Any paddletail bait swims like freaking crazy on it,” says Cowart. “When you’re fishing a Z-Man and the jig head is resting on the bottom, the bait will float straight up. It makes one fantastic dead-sticking bait. Redfish can become very finicky. They don’t want a lot of flash or movement. A retrieve with the Texas Eye could last two minutes.”

Use a Lightweight Hook or Jig Head

Cowart says that for 90 percent of their tournament fishing, they tie on a jig head with a 3/0 hook. They use as light a jig head as possible because too heavy a head dampens the action of the bait.

His Weedless Eye weights are usually 3⁄16- and ⅛-ounce. He uses a ­3⁄16-ounce Texas Eye half the time, going to ¼-ounce when fishing in 5 feet or more of water.

Dubiel’s VMC weighted hooks range from 1⁄16- to ¼-ounce. The heavier hook is used for deeper water when Dubiel has to get a 360GT down to structure. Whichever hook he uses, it’s perfectly rigged so only fish get the point.

The post Hooks for Weedless Rigging Soft Plastics appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Palm Coast, Florida, photographer Mark Bias (marksphoto.com) captured these amazing photos from a helicopter flying over the north jetty near the mouth of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville earlier this month. “They were playing with the school of redfish by taking them in their mouths and swimming a short distance and releasing them,” he says.

The dolphin never actually ate any of the fish while he hovered near them. Dolphins regularly pursue and eat redfish after pushing them into the shallows to strand them on shorelines. Given the fact that young dolphins seem to be present here, this might be an example of behavioral teaching.

Bias also photographed a large school of what he believed to be red drum about 200 yards offshore of Jacksonville.

The post Amazing Photos: Bottlenose Dolphin Harass and Mouth Redfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The Louisiana Delta offers legendary inshore fishing opportunities. The Cajun Fishing Adventures lodge in Buras, about 15 miles north of Venice, offers a great launch spot for fishing an enormous variety of bays and creeks, both salty and nearly fresh. Summertime redfishing here means sightcasting for keeper drum or popping corks and artificial lures for bulls.

For three days of hardcore casting — and dodging the ever-marching August rainstorms — I joined a group of fishing writers and industry reps for Z-Man, Skeeter, Huk, LiveTarget, 13Fishing, and Power-Pole. Using the lodge as our home base, thanks to its owner Ryan Lambert as our host, we fanned out in half a dozen shallow-water boats. The groups returned at the end of each day with sometimes-amusing stories of success, some truly tinged with a little Cajun magic.

Lucky 13?

The night before our first day on the water, Jose Chavez from 13Fishing rigged up dozens of Omen Green and Fate Green spin and baitcasting outfits. The company makes rods for saltwater and freshwater fishing.

Nearly Live

A box full of realism: LiveTarget lures in many shapes and sizes, including mullet, menhaden, shrimp and sardine. This particular selection was compiled for my home waters of south coastal Georgia, but I used several of the baits on the Delta.

Backcountry Bronze

Capt. C.A. Richardson, creator of Flats Class TV and a charter captain based in Tampa, Florida, prepares to release a slot-sized red as one of the many ubiquitous summer squalls lurks in the background. Richardson travels to Buras every summer to run charters sightcasting for reds in the normally clear waters of this region’s creeks and bays. With his Hell’s Bay flats skiff, he can pole in significantly skinnier water than most bay boats.

During our first-day trip, Richardson’s eyes were constantly on the weather radar as he deftly dodged the storm cells and led Z-Man president Jonathan Zucker and I to double-digit redfish releases. We were rigged up with Z-Man DieZel MinnowZ on Trout Eye Jigheads.

Richardson poled through small creeks, and we looked for reds along the roseau cane shorelines and in the mats of vegetation just off the banks. Besides reds, we saw dozens of gar fish of all sizes.

Seal the Deal

Z-Man’s Jonathan Zucker with an impressive marsh red that ate a DieZel MinnowZ in a color called “The Deal.”

Guide’s Choice

Richardson keeps a rigged rod tucked into his belt behind his back. He poles quietly through the shallows, and when he sees a redfish that neither of his anglers can get a lead on, he casts to the fish. Cast ahead of the fish and then bump the bait a few times, and the rest is redfish history.

Why Did the Cow Cross the Creek?

We couldn’t quite tell if these cows were just cooling off in the creek or if they were contemplating swimming across. In any case, it was an odd site during a fishing trip.

Bullish Morning

Our second morning, Capt. Cody Obiol pointed his boat to an open bay where birds dived feverishly on small menhaden. Again, we were greeted with a mixture of sunshine and storm cells.

Cork Rig

While birds dived into the water’s surface, redfish slammed the menhaden schools from below, which created significant oily slicks. With the trolling motor down, we started casting to the slicks and ripping our cork rigs back toward us. The cup-faced corks — trailed by a Z-Man MinnowZ — create white bubble trails that bull reds can’t resist.

On the Hook

Capt. Cody Obiol hooks the first bull red of the morning.

Rainy Red

Passing rain showers did nothing to dampen the bite.

Louisiana Staple

Zucker (left) and Obiol admire the first bull red of the day. Although Louisiana waters host abundant bull drum as well as many other spectacular species, one never knows whether the bite will stay on, or whether storm conditions might require a quick exit. Moral: Exult over every fish!

Head and Shoulders

Guessing a redfish’s weight can be tricky. One with a fairly large head and shoulders — like this one caught by Huk’s Chris Ellis — can weigh more than its length seems to suggest.

Neon Bright

When the bull red bite waned, Obiol took us north to some smaller creeks to sightcast keeper reds, like this bright bronze beauty that came home with us for supper.

Double Trouble

On our final day of fishing, Capt. Jude Montet took me and Zucker back to the open bay east of Buras to hunt more redfish slicks. Before we were chased back to the dock by storms, we doubled up on this pair of bulls.

The post Sightcasting and Popping for Louisiana Marsh Redfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

South Atlantic red snapper and red drum are both expected to benefit from a public/private partnership announced this month that will advance current research on fish barotrauma — injury caused by pressure changes — and the use of descending devices to return fish to safe depths.

Selected coastal anglers will participate in the 18-month joint project by using specified release procedures and by responding to followup surveys.

The partnership, which includes Yamaha Marine Group, state fisheries managers from the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, as well as the FishAmerica Foundation, the American Sportfishing Association and the National Marine Fisheries Service, plans to design and fund the project, which will be conducted through the FishSmart program. FishSmart created a similar survey in 2014 for red snapper in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

While red snapper remain the poster child for release-mortality concerns, anglers have expressed growing angst over releasing redfish caught in deeper waters, where they’re being targeted more frequently. Project managers hope to encourage use of specialized circle-hook rigs and assess the need for descending devices for red drum.

“The recreational community has long been criticized for complaining about the problems in federal fisheries management but then offering no solutions,” says Martin Peters, Yamaha senior manager for government relations. It occurred to us at Yamaha that one of the biggest issues we face in the management of fisheries is insufficient data, which sometimes leads to overzealous management and limited access to the resource.

“One possible solution companies such as Yamaha can offer is to privately fund data-collection projects. We further imagined that if we were able to identify such a project and pledge funding, we might be able to encourage other companies and or NGOs to join us in providing additional funding. That is what has happened.”

While project managers are still hammering out the details and the cost of the snapper/drum project, they have settled on some basic parameters. “We want to build on the original [FishSmart] study and focus it regionally so that the results have more validity for informing the decisions of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and NMFS with regard to managing red snapper in the South Atlantic,” says Spud Woodward, director of the Coastal Resources Division for Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources and a member of the project team.

In fact, the south Atlantic council has been hosting public-comment webinars in August, to gather information on snapper/grouper regulations. Subsequent changes could result in a short 2018 red snapper season in the south Atlantic, where the fishery has been closed to all harvest for four years.

FishSmart’s study suggested that rapidly returning fish to depth is the method of choice for releasing barotrauma-effected fish. Participants received a descending device to use during the trial period. Afterward, 78 percent of survey respondents said they believe descending devices would be very helpful in reducing discard mortality of red snapper.

Woodward expects the new project to begin in either late 2017 or early 2018. Project managers will reach out to the fishing community to identify red snapper and red drum anglers. Red snapper anglers will receive a descending device as well as instruction on its use.

Redfish anglers will receive sample packs of circle hooks and a circle-hook short-leader rig along with instructions on how to build that rig, which has proven effective for reducing deep-hooking in adult red drum.

After a specified time, participating anglers will be asked to evaluate their experiences. If surveys show that barotrauma in red drum is an issue that should be addressed, project managers could opt to enter a second phase of the research and provide descending devices for drum.

“The goal is to promote the application of best practices and appropriate tools to improve the survival of released fish in South Atlantic marine recreational fisheries for red snapper and red drum,” says Andrew Loftus, coordinator of the FishSmart initiative.

Peters adds: “Hopefully, it will lead to improved sustainability and better management of the species. We also hope it will eventually lead to improved access for recreational anglers.”

For more information on the project partners, visit their websites: FishSmart, Yamaha Marine Group.

The post South Atlantic Red Snapper and Redfish Release Project Announced appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

As we drove toward a vast sunflower field near the Texas/Mexico border, raft after raft of doves lifted from the nearby trees — a black mass of wings. “Whoa,” I murmured; the five of us hunters gaped. We had just spent a sunny September morning casting Sebile plugs to hungry redfish and trout in the salty shallows of the Lower Laguna Madre. We experimented with Penn’s new Slammer III spinning reels as we visually scoured the arid horizon for signs of south Texas’ ­signature exotic antelope, the nilgai.

Clearly we had come to an unusual place. And what we were about to experience on the dove field just might morph into a lasting impression, particularly for me. That’s because I love wing shooting, and I prefer warm weather. So what could be better than fishing a pleasant sunrise in the morning, and then hunting in shorts that afternoon?

Game Plan

South Texas offers this late-summer opportunity when the special white-winged dove season opens for hunters in 27 counties, usually during the first weekend in September. That timing also coincides with some prime fishing offshore of Brownsville and in the famous shallow 50-mile-long bay that comprises the Lower Laguna Madre.

Our host, outfitter LeeRoy Gonzales, tailored for us a three-and-a-half-day — Friday through Monday morning — cast-and-blast experience out of Harlingen, Texas. Our group included Penn brand manager Mike Rice, SF publisher Dave Morel, marine biologist (and the author’s spouse) Spud Woodward, a representative from Benelli firearms, Chad Rhea, and one from SilencerCo ­suppressors, Darren Jones.

Gonzales bunked us at a single-story ranch-style house set on the Arroyo Colorado, a 90-mile green river running from Mission, Texas, to Laguna Madre. Agricultural fields drain into the waterway; during wetter periods, the runoff attracts a small ­population of common snook.

After our late-day arrival, a crew prepared a family-style meal, and we planned the next day’s offshore-fishing adventure out of South Padre Island.

Before daylight, we’d drive about 50 miles south to board a 68-foot Viking, owned and captained by Murray Meggison with mate Capt. Travis Flanagan. Offshore shrimpers would lead us to blackfin tuna and kingfish, and we’d check a few shallow drops in Texas waters, within 9 miles of shore, for keeper red snapper.

Unlike those caught in federal waters, Texas red snapper remain in season year-round. The state enforces a four-fish daily bag and a minimum length of 15 inches.

Trolling and Dropping

Flanagan had already rigged trolling leaders for the arsenal of Penn Carnage boat rods and Slammer III spinning reels (which range up to size 10500 for 80-pound braid) that Rice had brought. Rice had spooled 7500s with 65-pound SpiderWire. As Meggison motored into the Gulf to run the 40-plus miles offshore, Flanagan readied Sebile Stick Shadds and a red-and-white cedar plug. He thawed a block of squid for bottomfishing baits.

As the sun finally breached the horizon, Meggison slowed near two trawling shrimpers in about 130 feet of water. Flanagan set out three rods, as Meggison wove a pattern near the vessels.

A snake king slammed the starboard rod, and Woodward picked it up as the crew searched for signs of other takers. Rice held one rod’s tip near the water’s surface to force the plug deeper. Flanagan ­rhythmically jigged the cedar plug. At the transom, the king shook itself off the plug, avoiding the gaff and the camera.

Meggison ran farther offshore, where he found and circled the Miss Verna shrimper as its crew started hauling nets. A bonito hit Rice’s plug and bottlenose dolphins swarmed the spread. Topwater fanatic Morel started heaving a Sebile popper in anticipation of a blackfin tuna surface strike.

After we beat the water for another 15 minutes, Meggison steered the Viking toward one of his bottomfishing waypoints, and Flanagan rigged up several Penn Rampage jigging sticks. Weighted with 14 ounces to 2 pounds of lead, we dropped three baits in 300 feet of water.

Quickly, Woodward landed first one and then a second red snapper. Since we were floating in federal waters, both fish were released. Rice horsed up a ­grill-worthy yellowedge grouper.

A few drifts later, Meggison pulled stakes and headed toward state waters. He trolled near a buoy, where we picked a dolphin, and we hauled up several amberjack from the shallower structure before heading toward shore.

Skinny Water

Texas had scheduled its special white-winged dove season for Saturday and Sunday afternoon (noon to sunset) the first two weekends of September — perfect for a morning cast and an afternoon blast.

At daybreak Saturday, Capt. Jaime Lopez motored up to the dock behind our lodge in his skinny-water Texas sled boat, an Ibis made by NewWater Boatworks. Rice, Woodward and I boarded the low-gunwale 21-foot skiff, and Lopez ran the Arroyo Colorado 6 miles to its mouth at the Laguna Madre.

This lower portion of the river is bounded by the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, host to mammals such as nilgai, ocelots and jaguarondi, and birds such as chachalacas, hawks and falcons.

The tide was high, though that’s a bit relative. The water rises and falls only about 18 inches once a day in this region. But in a bay that averages 3.6 feet of depth, that can make a big difference, particularly with any kind of wind pushing the water.

A moderate east wind stacked bay water higher along our mainland shoreline, giving us about a foot of depth over the sand and grass of Peyton’s Bay. We each grabbed a Penn Battalion rod paired with a Slammer III 3500, spooled with 15-pound SpiderWire Stealth, and tied on a variety of baits — a red-and-white soft-plastic jerkbait, a transparent Zara Spook and a chartreuse Sebile Stick Shadd.

I walked the Spook along the bay’s surface, noting the easy action of the rod. A swirl on the lure made my heart race, but the red failed at its attempt. Woodward hooked the first fish — a black drum — on the jerkbait.

Lopez spun us up over sand and skated across the flats toward a windward grass shoreline. He poled us along the bank, which had started silting. A redfish crashed my topwater as soon as it hit the surface. Rice hooked a second red on a suspending Stick Shadd, and Woodward quickly reached for the tackle box.

While Texas allows saltwater anglers to keep three red drum daily within a 20- to 28-inch slot, we released all of our reds and a few small trout. By midday, we headed back for lunch and the afternoon dove session.

Flight Path

Arriving at the dove-thick sunflower field, 40 miles south of our lodge, we parked the trucks beneath a stand of acacia and Jerusalem thorn trees. The midday sun toasted the dry ground and the wilted crop. Benelli’s Rhea and SilencerCo’s Jones set up a rack of shotguns for us to try, with and without suppressors, which greatly muffle the sound of the discharge.

The suppressors take a little getting used to because they weigh down the barrel a bit, but the reduction in sound can be ear-saving. Silencers are legal to use and own in most of the United States; they’re permitted in 42 of the 50 states.

I had brought my own 20-gauge Benelli Montefeltro but soon fell in love with a brand-new 28-gauge Ethos. Gonzales provided No. 7½ and No. 8 shells, and we brought improved, improved-modified and modified chokes to try.

The five of us spread out in and along the field, finding shade and standing or kneeling near cover. We didn’t have to wait long before the first white-winged doves buzzed us like practiced squadrons. Mixed in, we found a few mourning doves and plentiful Eurasian collared doves, a larger exotic species with no season or bag limit.

We could take 15 doves a day within the special white-winged dove season, but no more than two could be mourning doves or white-tip doves.

The white-winged birds look unusually dark when flying compared with the other species, so they were fairly easy to distinguish. They came from multiple directions, though mostly from behind us, heading toward the Rio Grande, a stone’s throw away.

Regular flights kept us constantly scanning the skies. Some flocks flew high, out of range, even for the 12-gauge shotguns we had on hand to try. But plenty of birds offered passing shots, overhead shots and even approach shots.

Regardless of species, doves can fly erratically. Finding the proper lead and swinging through the shot takes practice and muscle memory. Fortunately, when the birds are thick, you can quickly recall the right rhythm.
Without a retriever present, we picked up our own birds and tucked them into our hunting vests, pushing through the prickly sunflower plants, which stood about 4 feet high. We took frequent breaks to drink Gatorade or water, and to drop off birds to maintain an accurate bag count. The sun was still high by the time we had shot our limit.

Gonzales fired up a portable grill, and we sampled some nilgai sausage with ice-cold beer before heading back to the lodge.

Snook Search

On day three, we awoke before dawn to head upriver with Gonzales in his 21-foot Shallow Sport on the Arroyo Colorado. Gonzales showed us the oversize drainage pipes that usually bring fresh agricultural runoff to the river, and thereby snook in the 24- to 28-inch range — and sometimes juvenile tarpon. Despite September supposedly falling within the rainy season, these drains remained dry.

We cast our suspending ­twitchbaits toward the pipe mouths, to the structure beneath the Rio Hondo gate-lift bridge, into shadow lines, and inside the river bends where the water deepens. We found small menhaden upriver, but no snook.

Without much moving water or signs of fish, we headed back to the lodge for lunch and a trip to the dove fields. On this second afternoon, the birds had already become wary of open areas, flying higher and using more-evasive tactics. But the sheer number of white-wings — this time mixed with even more mourning doves — kept us busy.

On our final morning, Woodward, Jones and I joined Capt. Daniel Juarez to prospect the bay for gator trout in potholes and along a channel edge. Texas anglers like to wade so they can thoroughly work an area, so Jones jumped out of the boat in his boots and wading belt, while the rest of us drifted the region aboard Juarez’s skiff.

We cast various jerkbaits, let them sink to the bottom, and then bounced them back. We picked up numerous small trout, but the big fish eluded us. September is a transitional month, where redfish stage up to move to deeper water, and trout fishing can be hot or cold.

The region’s best trout fishing occurs in spring, when the fish spawn and anglers use artificials as well as live croakers to best the gators. In the Lower Laguna Madre, anglers can keep five fish per day with a 15-inch minimum length, and no more than one fish measuring more than 25 inches.

Later that day as we departed south Texas, we felt a bit weary, yet we knew we had just made several fast friends and truly experienced a unique ­destination. After all, any day hunting and fishing is better than … well … any day.

Harlingen Bound

Our south Texas host LeeRoy Gonzales describes his LG Outfitters business (lgoutfitters.com, 956-559-6334) in a way that reminded me of a dating service: He puts the right people together for the right experiences. Besides dove hunting, Gonzales can arrange a wide assortment of hunts in the region; he works with a number of fishing guides and vessels for offshore- and inshore-fishing experiences.

Prices vary greatly because each aspect of the trip is customized, but inshore fishing costs $750 per day and nearshore starts at $900. Dove hunting costs $200 per day per hunter for premium fields. Lodging costs $150 to $300, but clients can also opt to book their own hotel or condo in South Padre or Arroyo City.

On our trip, we flew into Harlingen, where LG’s Samuel Juarez picked us up and drove us to the nearby Bass Pro Shops. We purchased our hunting and fishing licenses: An annual nonresident saltwater-fish package proved to be the least-expensive option at $63. The state sells one-day, all-water nonresident licenses for $16 a day, but since we planned to fish portions of four days, the annual came in at $1 cheaper.

We also purchased five-day nonresident special hunt licenses ($48 per person) and a migratory bird endorsement ($7 per person), and registered for the free HIP certification. Total per hunter: $118.

Texas Doves

Texas plays home to at least eight dove subspecies, including the white-winged (pictured above), white-tipped, mourning, rock, Eurasian collared, Inca, band-tailed pigeon and common ground dove, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. All but the last three species can be hunted, and they continue to migrate through the state in ever-growing numbers.

TPWD says about 35 million mourning doves (which account for 10 percent of the country’s 350 million) and 9 million white-winged doves make their way across Texas each winter. Those numbers and Texas hunters’ feverish penchant for dove hunting resulted in the longest overall dove season in 80 years for 2016, at 90 days (20 days longer than previous years). The state is separated into zones with differing start and end dates, but the season generally ran from September through a portion of November and ­ mid-December through late January.

White-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) feature white crescents along their wings, orange eyes rimmed in blue, and a square tail. They spend summer breeding periods in parts of mostly southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They spend winters in central Mexico and even along the Gulf Coast region.

The post Redfish and Doves: A South Texas Cast and Blast appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

“I love my job,” my hunting guide whispered.

“So do I!” I chimed, giddy.

No telling what the turkeys were saying. Gobbles rang through the woods behind us. Whenever Dale Drury called, they answered.

We sat statue-still in the late-March dawn at the edge of a food plot in south coastal Georgia. As many as five gobblers yodeled, the sounds clashing, challenging, interrupting. Hens clucked and yelped. A massive flock of Easterns was assembling next to a creek just 50 yards away.

I knew they’d come to us. They had to. I strained my eyes to see them at the edge of the woods.

“We’re gonna get us one,” Drury asserted. “We just have to be patient.”

Be patient? I felt like a 5-year-old sitting through breakfast on Christmas morning.

Cast and Blast

Hunting and fishing spark my passions for nature and discovery. I revel in their inherent and highly contagious side effect: anticipation. Many anglers I talk with feel the same. Blending both activities into one cast-and-blast trip ranks high on my list of must-take adventures.

I had set up my March-morning turkey hunt with Drury through Cabin Bluff Cumberland River Retreat, near Woodbine, Georgia. Later that afternoon, I would hop aboard one of the Bluff’s Pathfinder bay boats to cast live shrimp to redfish and trout.

Cabin Bluff is one of the few lodges along the East Coast where outdoorsmen and -women can enjoy a half-day trip afield paired with a half-day of saltwater fishing. States along the Gulf of Mexico offer more cast-and-blast locations, but often their opportunities remain limited to duck hunting and inshore fishing since both take place in or near coastal marshlands.

At Cabin Bluff, I could have chosen quail hunting — a traditional Georgia pastime — turkey hunting, or deer and hog hunting. Upland forests lie in close proximity to marshes in this region.

Originally opened as the Camden Hunt Club in 1827, Cabin Bluff wears a timeless feel with its spreading oaks and dappled sunlight, its marshfront breeze and still, quiet soot-black nights.

The lodge lies near the end of a rural road about 9 miles east of Interstate 95. Its 24,000 acres insulate the retreat from the bustle of places like Jacksonville, Florida, 46 miles south.

During my trip, I heard no traffic sounds and saw no signs of workaday endeavor. The woods, however, came alive with the sounds of owls, ­squirrels, ­songbirds and, of course, turkeys.

Crazy Birds

As the morning light turned yellow, I saw a green food plot spread out ahead of me like fingers on a gloved hand. Drury had built me a palm-frond blind so I could move enough to prepare a camera or a shotgun.

What a dilemma. My job called for me to shoot photos but also to shoot a turkey. I rested my 12-gauge Beretta on a monopod and kept my Nikon camera at my right hip. And we waited. The gobbling continued.

Finally, I saw a lone hen slip off, crossing the end of the food plot about 100 yards away. And then another one. About 8:45 a.m., the gobbling waned and then stopped.

The gobblers, clearly henned up, simply had ignored our pleas. That morning, a bird in the hand was well worth one or two — or 20 — in the bush. But my hopes had plummeted.

The wind started to mount, so Drury and I trudged back to his truck. We drove a few miles over dusty roads to some select locations where Drury stopped to call and listen. No luck.

Plan C: We headed to a shady oak hammock to set up where the birds could still, hopefully, hear our calling over the wind.

Turkey Calls

The wind’s whistle and the swaying of green branches combined with the warming sun to overload my eyelids. I longed to shift my legs, but perched on a low campstool with my back against a tree, I could not risk movement.

I had brought my slate call to use, but Drury, using a diaphragm mouth call, already sounded like half a dozen different hens. I decided to keep my turkey mouth shut.

The turkeys reciprocated.

Afternoon Action

Back at the lodge, we shared stories with two other hunters and their guide, who had set up on another part of the property. Drury and I had definitely experienced the better show.

“Tomorrow,” we all said to one another, sitting down to a five-star lunch of fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, haricots verts (thin green beans) and roasted red potatoes.

My fishing guide, Toby Mohrman, joined us at the communal lunch table, and we discussed how we might fish the afternoon. A stiff north wind meant we’d have to find sheltered creeks if we wanted to properly present a bait. We’d also need to wait until the tide change at about 2:30 p.m.

Late March can be a turning point for fishing this region. Cold winter water begins to warm, and the usual suspects, redfish and trout, ride the dramatically rising and falling tides to feed at oyster bars and in potholes and flooded marshes. As spring continues, bull reds stage along the beaches and tripletail migrate to the shallows off nearby Jekyll Island, where anglers sight-cast to them with live shrimp, artificials and flies.

Trout Too

Fall, when most hunting seasons begin, brings another influx of bull reds to shoals and sandbars. The winter trout bite can be legendary by its numbers, though locals rarely see fish above 3 pounds. (Exception: The state record, taken in the 1970s, weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces.)

Mohrman and I shoved off the floating dock at Cabin Bluff to scout some nearby shell points at the mouths of feeder creeks, using the Minn Kota trolling motor and its Spot-Lock feature. Mohrman handed me a St. Croix Tidemaster rod with a Penn Conflict spinning reel, spooled with 15-pound PowerPro. He had tied on a Paradise Popper popping cork, a ¼-ounce bead-chain swivel, and two feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader attached to a No. 2 Kahle hook.

Species and Seasons

Water turbidity is an issue in south Georgia, with twice-daily high and low tides of 6- to 9-foot amplitude, so live baits usually score with greater frequency. We pinned live shrimp to our hooks and began to cast into the brown-green water.

I picked the outer edge of a creek mouth, where the deeper water lay almost still. A legal-size redfish nailed the shrimp and raced toward the marsh grass. Fortunately, I had the creek current working for me, and the legal-size red thrashed boat-side after a few minutes — a thrilling battle on light gear.

Georgia regulations limit anglers to five redfish per person per day, each measuring 14 to 23 inches in total length. My red pushed the top end of that limit, but we released it and a handful of school-size seatrout in just a few hours.

Just Teasing

Turkey hunting is its own means to an end. The thrill of scouting birds and then hearing a gobbler respond to your calls makes for a great day in the woods.

If you see a gobbler strutting, whether in the distance or at your decoy spread: bonus points. If you lure him to within 25 yards: heart-pounding exhilaration. And then, if you make a perfect shot and score a mature bird: That makes the whole season.

Drury and I set out on day two with high hopes of encountering our flock again at the same location. “I might have called too much yesterday,” he said, second-guessing. “That might have driven the hens off, so the gobblers went with them.”

He pledged a vow of near silence.

So did the birds.

Fewer clouds today meant we’d face a brighter morning. Drury let rip with an owl hoot when he exited the truck. Silence. We felt more than saw our way down a path toward our blind. Drury set up a single hen decoy and a strutting gobbler. We waited.

Minutes passed toward fly-down time. Finally, Drury clucked. Emptiness. He rapped out a perfect yelp. Nothing. By 7:10, we had picked up our gear and headed to the truck.

Run ‘n Gun

Our strategy switched to what we anglers call run ’n’ gun. We drove to half a dozen likely spots, where Drury got out, walked a ways and called. We even busted a gobbler on our way to one location. We watched his head bob through the bushes.

By 7:55, we had built a quick palm-frond blind on the edge of a dome-shaped food plot. An hour passed, but suddenly I heard a clucking sound, and it wasn’t coming from Drury. As the hen approached through the woods, we heard one lone long-off gobble. I sat tight.

The hen stepped out of the woods a mere 10 yards to my left and walked close enough in front of me that I could have tapped her with my shotgun. Drury clucked softly and purred. The hen pecked at the dirt in front of me.

I didn’t allow her to transfix me, though. My thoughts and my peripheral vision focused on anything that might be following her.

As the hen moved into the field and off into the far woods, Drury stood up. He called back toward the woods. Futile as that proved, we had enjoyed two beautiful mornings in the woods, and I still had a fishing trip to enjoy that afternoon.

The Moral

My afternoon on the water started off blustery again, but this time we found productive trout holes near the shady western shoreline of Cumberland Island. Cabin Bluff lies just across the marsh from Cumberland, which gained renown during the last decade as the location of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s wedding.

Mohrman provided a running dialogue about the wealthy industrialists who used to winter there — folks with names like Carnegie and Rockefeller.

Once the tide started to move, the trout started to bite. We quickly fought and released a dozen more schoolies in a late-day flurry.

While other locations offer clearer water where trout more readily and frequently take a topwater bait or jigged soft plastic, the tried-and-true popping cork provides its own allure. It takes me back to the eagerness of childhood, when I just knew that by sheer force of will, I could force that bobber underwater.

And that’s what it’s all about, anyway. Right?

Cabin Bluff Cumberland River Retreat

Our predecessors knew how to enjoy the outdoors. Cabin Bluff testifies to a tradition that grew from what was once a true necessity: capturing game for food.

After the John Floyd family cleared and cultivated this land in the early 1800s, they founded the Camden Hunt Club, credited as the first members-only hunting club in the United States. After war and new ownership, the land reverted to forest and then to logging property. But in 1928, Howard Coffin started Cabin Bluff as a world-class hunting and fishing destination.

In 2010, the Bluff opened as a public destination accommodating 40 guests in eight cabins and 20 private rooms. A conference center, swimming pool and golf course — 18 holes uniquely designed around six greens by golf pro Davis Love III — plus a sporting-clays course and five-stand setup add to the recreational opportunities.

Anglers and hunters fly into Jacksonville, Florida, or Brunswick, Georgia, and drive about 30 to 40 minutes to the lodge, which is 9 miles east of Interstate 95 near the town of Woodbine, Georgia.

A basic three-night stay at Cabin Bluff starts at $1,950 per room, including all meals and beverages. A sample two-morning turkey-hunting package, including one inshore fishing trip, sporting clays and five-stand shooting, golf, and all meals and beverages costs $2,475 for one hunter, $3,285 for one hunter and one nonhunter, or $4,770 for two hunters.

Anglers do not need a fishing license to fish with the licensed guides at Cabin Bluff. Call 912-729-5960 or visit cabinbluff.com.

Eastern Wild Turkeys

Among the six turkey subspecies, the Eastern wild turkey — found throughout Georgia — covers the greatest geographic region, thriving in 38 states and some Canadian provinces, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Easterns feature chestnut-brown tail-feather tips, white-and-black bars on their wings, and the longest beard of all subspecies. Male gobblers weigh 18 to 30 pounds while female hens weigh 8 to 12 pounds. The NWTF says Easterns are second in difficulty to Florida’s Osceola turkeys when it comes to calling them to the decoys.

Georgia’s 2017 spring turkey season will run March 25 through May 15. Statewide, hunters are allowed three gobblers per season (though Cabin Bluff permits two per guest per season). Nonresident hunters must possess a hunting-and-fishing combo license ($20 for three days; $100 annually), a big-game license ($90 for three days; $195 annually) and a free turkey harvest record. Visit georgiawildlife.com for information about resident licensing.

Cabin Bluff provides shotguns and shells, although guests can bring their own firearms if desired.

The post Coastal Georgia Cast and Blast: Turkeys and Redfish appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Extreme south Texas, near the Mexican border, can be quite untamed — literally. Executive editor Chris Woodward, publisher Dave Morel, and Penn brand manager Mike Rice found that out in early September, when they joined LeeRoy Gonzales of LG Outfitters in Arroyo City for three days of offshore and inshore fishing and two afternoons of white-winged dove hunting. Gonzales specializes in putting together unique fishing and hunting opportunities, using a network of regional pros.

In the Gulf, we jigged, trolled and bottomfished for snapper, grouper, dolphin, blackfin tuna and kingfish. In the shallow water, we targeted redfish and trout — of course — but we also hit select spots for snook. Snook can be successfully targeted under certain conditions in south Texas, near freshwater outfalls and in the Brownsville ship channel. But our trip, unfortunately, didn’t produce those conditions.

On the dove field, we were joined by Chad Rhea, with Benelli, and SilencerCo‘s Darren Jones. Here are a handful of images from that cast-and-blast experience. Be sure to read the full-length feature article coming up in the March issue of Sport Fishing.

Arroyo Lodge

Doubled Up

Federal Snapper

Deepwater Grouper

AJ Workout

Creature Comforts

Lower Laguna Madre

Dry Conditions

Shallow Bite

Redfish Rally

Trout Numbers

Dove Opener

Editors note: Texas offers a special white-winged dove hunt in early September for 27 counties of the state. This year, the dates were Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3-4, and Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10-11. It is legal to keep 15 doves a day during the special season; no more than two of which can be mourning doves and two can be white-tips. The larger Eurasian collared doves are considered an invasive species, so they are not protected by bag limits. On our opening day, Sept. 3, our crew of seven hunters shot 257 doves, which included well more than 152 Eurasians. The white-winged doves flew late in the day, and we could easily distinguish them because of the dark-to-light contrast between their bodies and wings.

Sunflower Power

Quiet Hunting

White-Winged Dove

Noshing on Nilgai

Rain or Shine

Pretty Pairing

The post Fabulous Fishing and Hunting: the South Texas Two-Step appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.