- FISHING GROUND ZERO by
Al Rogers
- Buras Captain Hangs Tough
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Capt. John L. Taylor has endured a lifetime of setbacks in the last five
years. When doctors told him he had terminal lung cancer he continued to
work, running charters and managing one of the most popular lodges in Buras,
La. While continuing to put clients on fish and entertain guests from across
the country, he made regular 800-mile round trips from Buras to Shreveport,
where he underwent a grueling greuling series of chemotherapy treatments.
Then came a divorce that pushed his emotions to the limit. The world
as he knew it seemed to be falling apart. And it did, literally, when in
August of 2005 a hurricane made her first landfall on this usually quiet
village in the lower Mississippi River Delta region. The eye of Hurricane
Katrina passed directly over his lodge, obliterating everything in sight.
Homes, several marinas and the town's only grocery and gas station were
reduced to small piles of rubble. There is no language to describe what
happened here. And few saw it. While images of New Orleans were beamed to
televisions around the world, it paled in comparison to "Ground Zero."
No one could get in and there was nothing recognizable left. There were
no signs of life - nothing to salvage; nothing to rebuild.
In a matter of hours, Buras had been reduced to a barren wasteland...
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- The San Antonio Stroll by Bink Grimes
- Try this step for big fall specks!
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- A blowup resembling a July firecracker got everyone's
attention, especially mine as the braided Power Pro line relayed the magnitude
of the monster through my forearms - this was no redfish. Redfish cannot
slurp a bait and make the distinct sound that comes from a trout attacking
its prey from the bottom up. This was a behemoth speck.
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- The dark dog-walker came back depressed, leader
wrapped through both trebles - it had done its job. The look in its red,
three-dimensional eyes was much like that of former Texans' quarterback
David Carr during his first five years with the team - dazed and confused.
- Sure, I lost a big one, but what a day it
was - my first time to do the San Antonio stroll. Littered
with clumps of live oyster beds throughout its muddy floor, San Antonio
Bay is a minefield of reefs on the banks of the tiny town of Seadrift.
The open bay is suspect to stiff winds; however, when light winds persist,
fishers connect the dots from reef to reef and find quality trout...
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- Biloxi's Back Bay by Capt. Robert Brodie
- Get ready for fine fall fishing!
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 October is a magical time of the
season for coastal anglers, and here in south Mississippi the cooler temperatures
are welcomed with open arms. Not only does October kick off the fall fishing,
a transition period begins where as all sorts of fish begin to congregate
in some of the larger coastal bays. One in particular is the Back Bay of
Biloxi, an area where I grew up living the dream, and was lucky enough
to spend the first 40-years of my live hunting and fishing its bountiful
waters.
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- Although progress surrounding the big bay has
put an end to the likes of duck hunting, it's still a major player in south
Mississippi for producing great catches of fish practically year round.
Slow trolling, live and dead bait bottom fishing, as well as popping cork
fishing is popular in this body of water...
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- Gulf Coast Closeup - by Vernon Summerlin
- New Orleans' North Shore
-
 For the last few years my wife,
Cathy, and I spend a week on the Fort Morgan peninsula west of Gulf Shores,
Alabama. As a kid from L.A. (lower Alabama), I spent a lot of time at Fort
Morgan when my dad was on the commission charged with restoring the old
fort. There were two fishing piers then but have since been destroyed,
as were many of the buildings including the old hotel. Now there is a museum
at the fort that tells its history - more about that later.
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- I love going back there for the nostalgia (as a kid, I had the run
of the place) and, more importantly, to catch fish I missed back then.
I fished a lot there as youngster with an ever back lashing bait caster
with black Dacron line pulling in croakers and pin fish - but I didn't
know about redfish and specks in the late 1940s. I do now and I'm making
up for lost time.
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- My favorite places to fish for specs and reds are Navy Cove, St. Andrews
Bay and the bay side beach north from Fort Morgan to the point at the mouth
of Mobile Bay. Another place I've fished, but not as often, is Little Lagoon.
Little Lagoon is another splendid fishing hole, especially for trout, that
extends from Gulf Shores west to the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge,
and it's not little, about 12 miles long. They had to call it something
and I guess they chose "little" because it's not as large as
Big Lagoon near Pensacola...
- OUR DEPARTMENTS...
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- Paddling Out - Thoughts
on Flounder - by Jeff Herman
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- Rod & Reel'n Offshore - Circle Hook Basics
- by Patrick Lemire
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- Equipment Notebook
- Install
a Grab Rail - by David Ayers
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- The Bay Naturalist
- The Import/Export Business - by
John Hook
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- The Fly Guy -
Late Fall Specks
- by Pete Cooper, Jr.
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- Tackle Time
- Old Dog - New Tricks - by
Colby Sorrells
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- Bait Hook
- Good Luck Charms
- by Jim Martin
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- From the Publisher...
- Besides all these great articles and departments, Gulf Coast Fisherman
is the only source for the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast.
Each issue carries three months of the Wells Daily
Fishing Forecast - with Monthly Fishing Calendars. Also, don't forget
about the Advance Planning Calendars in each issue that takes you out three
months past the current issue. This will provide what you need to intelligently
plan your fishing trips - hours, weeks, and up to six months in advance!
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- Top saltwater guides and fishermen use the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast - shouldn't you be using it ,too?...
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- "The fisherman that knows what the currents
are doing has the advantage - over fish and fishermen!"
- And remember - "Fish feed everyday, somewhere
" - Harold Wells
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- Gary Ralston
- Publisher
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- Home
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