 Fishing
for Specks, Reds and Flounder with Gary Davis
Trolling for Monster Reds
EDITOR’S NOTE: Editor’s Note: Gary Davis
has fished the Mobile Delta area around Foley, Orange
Beach and Fort Morgan, Alabama, all his life. He knows
where the speckled trout, redfish, and flounder will
migrate – almost before they know themselves.
As a full-time fishing guide, Davis makes his living
knowing what tackle and what line produce best throughout
the year.
 At
the mouth of Mobile Bay, just off Alabama’s coast,
out in front of old Fort Morgan, there’s a sandbar
that comes up from deep water known as the Deep Sea
Bar. Throughout most of the year, you can catch giant
redfish on top and along the edges of the Deep Sea Bar
using Spike-It grubs on 20-pound-test Mossy Oak Fishing
Line. However, at the end of March, the redfish have
moved off the bar and are holding in 40 feet of water
on the south end of the old lighthouse island. To catch
these fish, I’ll troll a Mann’s Stretch
2000 crankbait that dives down 25 to 30 feet or deeper,
depending on how fast your boat is going. I’ll
use the Spike-It markers to put red along the gills
and the lateral
line of this big crankbait. I’ve found by painting
the red on the crankbait, I get more strikes. I usually
troll at about 2 knots with 20-pound-test Mossy Oak
Fishing Line. When I first started trolling, I used
30-pound-test, but then I found that Mossy Oak Fishing
Line is as strong at 20-pound-test as the other brand
was at 30-pound-test. Too, the smaller diameter 20-pound-test
Mossy Oak Fishing Line enables my grubs to get down
quicker and deeper than they’ll dive with that
30-pound-test line.
Even when I’m throwing the lure for redfish,
I want to fish with as light a line as I can fish with
that has the strength in the line to land  a
big red. The redfish we’re catching will weigh
from 20- to 30-pounds each. I usually have two to three
anglers each day I fish, so we can keep three to four
of those big reds, one redfish per angler of that size
per day. Redfishing is pretty tough here in April, but
generally I can find one big red for each person in
my party. I’ve also caught a good number of these
big reds with live shrimp or sheepshead around the rocks
at the lighthouse.
To fish with Gary Davis, you can contact him at 251-942-6298
or 251-943-6298.
Tomorrow: Bottom Hopping for
Flounder
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