I thought it might be a good idea to use this down time at the end of the year to recap the highlights and lowlights of the year. Let's start with the lowlights. Feel free to add others and to contribute your memories, significant catches or whatever you'd like to share.
Remembering the friends we lost is both painful and important. I'll mention two of them, Harley Rogers and Garrett Slaughter. I got to know Harley once I moved down here in 2018 and spent many enjoyable hours in his company on the rail. Harley was THE master fisherman of the Gulf Shores pier and while he did live a long life doing what he loved to do, it was still sad to see him go. I didn't get to know Garrett well, but I do know that he was well-loved by many who did get to know him out on the octi and in the community. His loss was especially shocking and tragic. He will certainly be missed, too.
2019 was a year, for me, characterized by meeting wonderful new friends and building on past friendships. Thank you so much for your kindness, generosity and friendship - everybody. When we're able to get back together on the rail in 2020, it's likely to be different, because of the new pier construction, safer (for the same reason) and familiar because we'll pick right back up where we left off. Whenever that time presents itself, it will be great to see you and spend time on the rail with you again. Let's just hope for good weather, and a fast resolution to the building challenges that face the construction crews doing the renovation.
So here are some of my recollections, from 2019, by species.
Sheepshead - This was probably my best sheepshead fishing year because I devoted more time to it than in previous years. I ended this year with a set-up that incorporates a larger test leader (about 20 lb. test) and an #8 treble with fiddler crabs, primarily.
Slot reds - It was another good year for slots. I caught them on live LYs, baby hardtails, cut bait, live and fresh-dead shrimp and even gotcha plugs. Fishing for them was good from the octi, near the bathrooms and in the surf. For a while there, you just couldn't go wrong.
Spadefish - One of my goals for this summer was to spend more time targeting spadefish. I did, with mixed results. They seemed to be more finicky this year -- but it was probably me being more impatient. I'll keep fishing for spadefish in the summer until I get good at it. And after that, as well.
Spanish Mackerel - I caught bigger ones in 2018, but I caught as many Spanish as I wanted this year. I had success tipping my white jig with a ladyfish strip and also using small LYs.
King Mackerel - The king bite was "hit or miss" -- without the "hit". On the days when kings were in, so were the sharks, making it unlikely that you could get a fish over the rail intact. Still, there's nothing like a king strike!
Pompano - I caught my first pomp on Jan 2 and had some luck on them throughout the spring. I thought that it was a decent year for pompano. The most recent one was caught on Gulp Ghost Shrimp. I'll be interested to see if that's a "THING" or not in the Spring.
Speckled trout - The Spring speck bite was pretty good on live shrimp and then baby LYs. Once the pinfish moved in, there was less of a chance of getting a good bait down to them. But it wasn't unusual when they were biting to catch a few good ones.
Whiting - January produced some huge whiting. They were picky, though and sometimes ONLY wanted fishbites and shrimp, other times only wanted live shrimp and then other times only wanted ghost shrimp. This fall hasn't produced, for me, the monsters that yanked on my line last year and at the first of this year. But the year's not quite over yet and I suspect that a real cold snap will get them going again.
Flounder - It's probably the most disappointing season ever, was 2019 for flounder. I caught a few all season, as bycatch, mostly because fishing for them was just so slow and the fish were mostly so small.
So here's an early toast to 2019 and all of the memories it brought. Whether it's broken hearts, broken lines, tossing out a live bait or a one-liner, we leave 2019 behind but keep the valuable memories. I hope that your year was as wonderful as mine! Have a great holiday season and a safe and Happy New Year!
