Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

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Pier#r
Seasoned Fisher
Posts: 135
Joined: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:37 pm
Location: Born, bred and someday dead in Mobile, AL
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Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by Pier#r »

I arrived at my sis & b-i-l's house on Dauphin Island just after 5am to fish their dock lights but this is what I saw :shock:

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Oh well, I was just hoping to catch a few white trout anyway :roll:
So I went over to the DI Pier about 6 and got my wading gear together (just lures).
Started fishing just after 'safelight' just west of the DIPier.
Saw just a few scattered mullet and ladyfish in the surfline and jumped a few of the skipjacks (on a silver spoon) as I proceeded southward.
The water in the Gulf was fairly clear with a 1 foot SW swell breaking gently on the bar and beach.
Winds were NW at less than 10 and it clouded up right at daybreak.
As expected, the swells and winds from 'Gustav' had changed the location of the bars and tidal pools along the beach.
At the first point (about a half mile from the DIpier) the water was just too shallow to expect much 'fishingwise' especially with the tide falling rapidly.
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There was a break in the dunes there that showed the extent of last week's maelstrom
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Waves had completely overswept the island in places and the sand had been pushed into Pelican Bay.
I walked that inside beach along Pelican Bay and came across a more fishable looking spot I apropriately called "Bucket Point"
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I could see mullet rolling along with some needle fish which eagerly followed my spoon.
Near the end of a retrieve I saw the needlefish start jumping out of the water and a huge wake arose and beelined for my spoon like a 'heat-seeking missle'.
THUMP! and I was on baby :cheers:
It didn't take long for me to realize it was an oversized redfish that bulldogged several 40 yard runs of my 8# line.
It took at least 15 minutes to subdue the beast who was then kind enough to pose for me before getting a spaghetti tag and a good release :mrgreen:
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No points or groceries, but I was charged up after that battle.
I figured there might be some smaller reds around and waded out casting a DOA shrimp near the mullet schools.
That paid off with this 17" red
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A little while later I spied what looked like a redfish tail sticking out of the sun reflection on the water.
I cast the DOA a little ahead of it and THUMP! I was on again 8)
Only this one ran more and shook it's head more :?
Finally I got a good look at it and eventually landed it... :oops:
A 24" wide cow-nosed ray had impaled itself on my DOA :lol:
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After another successful C&R I headed back over to the Gulf beach to try there again.
A bit farther down I found another point that was just what I was looking for...
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In about a dozen casts of the spoon I landed 5 nice specks (16"-19") before they got wise to me and split.
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After that the ladyfish moved in and that was all I could catch there.
With noon coming on and the sun now heating up the nearly beezeless air I started heading back north, but decided to detour to the Pelican Bay side for the return trip.
"Bucket Point" still looked fishable so I decided to try some Gulp baits.
A couple of thing about Gulps I learned:
1. pinfish and baby jacks LUV the curly tailed ones :evil:
2. 10 month old Gulp shrimp are good for only one fish at best :roll:
Still I caught a couple of specks (released) and several white trout (up to 1#).
Just before leaving there, I spied what looked like a blue mullet swim by :shock:
My first thought was it was a flying fish, but then said "Naaaaa."
As I started back I saw a familiar blue spot on the water heading for the backside of the point.
When it came into the shallow water it spooked and jumped up on the beach :shock:
No doubt what it was now!
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As if to put icing on the cake I stopped by my sis' house to check the dock light again.
Since the day had been hot & dry the breaker reset. I guess the overnight shower at the island had shorted the plug.
Also I checked their crabtraps and got 30 nice bluecrabs (threw back several spongers) to bring home for a boil.

What a day it had been, I even got 3rd place for the 14" white trout in the ACFA tourney :mrgreen:

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Thank you Lord!

P.S. Where were ya Gumbo?

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mickey999
Seasoned Fisher
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:52 am
Location: Village of the Damned

Re: Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by mickey999 »

Nice report ,great pics,I hope to make a roadtrip up there someday. :driving:

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DeezNuts
Seasoned Fisher
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:59 am

Re: Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by DeezNuts »

great report, doing it proper in the real south!

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BRunner346
"WE RUN IT"
Posts: 3262
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 8:10 pm
Location: Miami

Re: Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by BRunner346 »

great pics and report :toast:
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"There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot."

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WhoDey
KING MACKEREL
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Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 6:39 am

Re: Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by WhoDey »

Sweet report man.
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PhishingPhanatic
BLACK FIN TUNA
Posts: 6785
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:52 pm
Location: 204 Miles From Long Key

Re: Sat Sep 6 Pelican (Island) Spit report

Post by PhishingPhanatic »

Great report
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