Thread: Fort Morgan surf fishing

Originally Posted by pokenfish

I have a place at the six mile marker, its still there at about 20 to 30 yrds out. High tide no problem low tide tough but doable. If its really low put your pole holder on the bar or cast from the bar.

Pokenfish, quick question. We stay at a place off Beach Shore Drive (between mile 7 and 8). Every year we've stayed there, I have the hardest time figure out how to "read" the beach. To me it seems like the first cut or trough is quite a few yards off shore (to the point where I have to wade out to my chest and chuck the big rod just to get a bait into the trough). Once I do that, I fish my 7' rod from the beach, but it feels like I'm just fishing over a gently sloped area (not any kind of a trough or cut). Everything I've read in the past seems to indicate that the first cut should only be like 30 yards off shore, but I've never found that to be the case. All I've found is a gently sloping bottom that doesn't seem to really drop off until I'm neck deep (and I'm 6'4"). Am I missing something, or is the first cut really that far out between mile 7 and 8?

Anyone else with experience with this part of the beach please feel free to weigh in. This has frustrated me for years as I feel like I am missing something, but unless I'm an idiot (according to my wife it's highly likely), the first cut is way beyond the reach of anything but my 10' rod and that's only after wading out quite a bit.

Hello, mforbessi. I understand your question about the first bar first hand. We have been going to the northern Gulf Coast for a few decades. The last dozen yrs. or so, we have stayed on or near to Veterans Road, using VRBO. The first bar, it turns out, is fluid, from month to month and year to year. On the Ft. Morgan area of the coast, first bars have been stable for a few years, and then been changed to the point to where I am fishing a new beach from May to October. We target Pompano, Flounder, and Whiting; all else caught are some sort of bonus's we get for being there. For those few specie we target, you may only need to fish IN the trough, and not worry about casting past the first bar. We have luck on the bar top, on the inside slope of the bar, and what CarlF says about the water in front of your feet. If I have swimmers around, wearing sunscreen in the water, my expectations are lowered, so there is that. I like google maps to zoom in on the beach before we go down. It is updated more than once a year, I know, from past experience. Two months back, there was a fine hole, with deep water and a break in the first bar for current. It was 1/3 mi. east of Veterans Rd., and last week it was gone from google maps, and now has a straight line bar. It seems to me that surf fishing is always about adjusting....I love it. Not sure I answered any of your questions, though I hoped I helped. Smooth drags to ya.

Originally Posted by mforbesiii

Pokenfish, quick question. We stay at a place off Beach Shore Drive (between mile 7 and 8). Every year we've stayed there, I have the hardest time figure out how to "read" the beach. To me it seems like the first cut or trough is quite a few yards off shore (to the point where I have to wade out to my chest and chuck the big rod just to get a bait into the trough). Once I do that, I fish my 7' rod from the beach, but it feels like I'm just fishing over a gently sloped area (not any kind of a trough or cut). Everything I've read in the past seems to indicate that the first cut should only be like 30 yards off shore, but I've never found that to be the case. All I've found is a gently sloping bottom that doesn't seem to really drop off until I'm neck deep (and I'm 6'4"). Am I missing something, or is the first cut really that far out between mile 7 and 8?

Anyone else with experience with this part of the beach please feel free to weigh in. This has frustrated me for years as I feel like I am missing something, but unless I'm an idiot (according to my wife it's highly likely), the first cut is way beyond the reach of anything but my 10' rod and that's only after wading out quite a bit.

Bodebum is pretty much spot on with the first sandbar and how to fish it. The sandbar does change depending on storms or hurricanes. Sand may fill in the tough making it one smooth bar all the way out. You can see this when you are at the beach and the waves break only once then come ashore as opposed to breaking twice once at the first bar then on shore. This is especially pronounced at low tide. The sandbar that has a 11/2 to 2 foot rise in it (beach side) is ideal area to fish the slope on depending on the tide. I will add that when the water is clear and if you see a break in the bar down the beach fish the slope on the break. I fish the same way you described. I have my long pole out past the bar and use my short pole for the near shore species. This has worked for me in the past. I hope this helps, but the man to ask is pier#.

As Bodebum explained, Google Earth is your best friend when fishing the surf. Sometimes fishing just in front of the house your staying in can be productive but if it's not, you have to adjust and find a place the fish are using. Use Google earth and learn to read the surf. Lots of good info on that subject on the internet, just Google "Reading The Surf". By the way, I stay on Surfside Drive when I come down there, but rarely fish that area because as you stated there is very little meaningful structure in the surf there. However that could change on any given day depending on the mood of the Sea Gods.

Originally Posted by bodebum

Hello, mforbessi. I understand your question about the first bar first hand. We have been going to the northern Gulf Coast for a few decades. The last dozen yrs. or so, we have stayed on or near to Veterans Road, using VRBO. The first bar, it turns out, is fluid, from month to month and year to year. On the Ft. Morgan area of the coast, first bars have been stable for a few years, and then been changed to the point to where I am fishing a new beach from May to October. We target Pompano, Flounder, and Whiting; all else caught are some sort of bonus's we get for being there. For those few specie we target, you may only need to fish IN the trough, and not worry about casting past the first bar. We have luck on the bar top, on the inside slope of the bar, and what CarlF says about the water in front of your feet. If I have swimmers around, wearing sunscreen in the water, my expectations are lowered, so there is that. I like google maps to zoom in on the beach before we go down. It is updated more than once a year, I know, from past experience. Two months back, there was a fine hole, with deep water and a break in the first bar for current. It was 1/3 mi. east of Veterans Rd., and last week it was gone from google maps, and now has a straight line bar. It seems to me that surf fishing is always about adjusting....I love it. Not sure I answered any of your questions, though I hoped I helped. Smooth drags to ya.

Thank you Bodebum. If you don't mind, I have some follow up questions. If I can get it to work, I've created a very crude cross section of the beach set up we typically see. see attached. The question I have is what is the first bar and what is the area I should be fishing. Primarily going for spec, flounder, reds. Other species are welcome as well. Typically we wade out and cast the big rods into that first cut/trough with a shrimp on a fish finder rig with 4oz pyramid weight. Then we return to shore and fish our smaller rods with jig heads and plugs and tins and spoons over that gently sloping area. Never had a ton of luck doing that though. Any advice any of you can provide would be greatly appreciated. we head down in just a few days and anything I can do to better understand what the beach is presenting us and what we should be targeting with that set up would be ideal.

Also always, a great board with lots of LOCAL information. that's what makes it different from general surf fishing boards.

with the current sandbar you would want to fish were you had the arrow pointing down from the beach for pomps and whiting in that trough. With your long pole on the other side of the first sandbar or the right of your picture. But with the rough seas coming later this week things might change. Don't be surprised if you get nothing but catfish your first couple of days fishing, depending on how dirty the water is.

Originally Posted by pokenfish

with the current sandbar you would want to fish were you had the arrow pointing down from the beach for pomps and whiting in that trough. With your long pole on the other side of the first sandbar or the right of your picture. But with the rough seas coming later this week things might change. Don't be surprised if you get nothing but catfish your first couple of days fishing, depending on how dirty the water is.

I saw that the rain/storm chances were up for the next week or so. What will that do to the fishing? will the seas get too choppy for fishing? I don't fish enough to know what the different weather patterns bring when it comes to ability to fish or species most likely to be caught. I'm not interested in catfish. Not very fun to reel in and not fun to take off the hook.

Originally Posted by pokenfish

with the current sandbar you would want to fish were you had the arrow pointing down from the beach for pomps and whiting in that trough. With your long pole on the other side of the first sandbar or the right of your picture. But with the rough seas coming later this week things might change. Don't be surprised if you get nothing but catfish your first couple of days fishing, depending on how dirty the water is.

PI think that may be the problem. In years past we have had to wade out quite a ways just to get bait into that first cut using the big rods. To get it to the second cut would involve swimming to the second bar. It's a good ways out there. Any suggestions besides a kayak?

Here is a picture of where I think you are fishing. It is about 65 yards from the beach to the edge of the front edge of the first trough. If I was fishing that area I would wade out and cast into the suds on the backside of the trough and I would fish the narrow trough close to where it widens into the hole shown directly south of Surfside Drive. I would put my big rod as far out as I could in that hole close to where the narrow trough empties into it, either on the east or west side.

Originally Posted by Big Dawg

Here is a picture of where I think you are fishing. It is about 65 yards from the beach to the edge of the front edge of the first trough. If I was fishing that area I would wade out and cast into the suds on the backside of the trough and I would fish the narrow trough close to where it widens into the hole shown directly south of Surfside Drive. I would put my big rod as far out as I could in that hole close to where the narrow trough empties into it, either on the east or west side.

Thanks so much. If you look at that image, the house we stay in is just above the first "o" in "Google". Just to make sure I understand, you are saying wade out with the big rod and try to put the bait on the back side (gulf side) of the first trough and put it on the backside where the trough narrows (guessing to take advantage of the funnel effect). So while the big rod is out there, where do I fish the 7' rod? Just stand on shore and throw mirrolures and spoons and whatnot? Or put a shrimp or pork rind on a jig head or buck tail and drag bounce it across the bottom?