Specs & Reds on Alabama's Gulf Coast

Life doesn't get any better than fishing with your family. Last week I traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama, to fish for speckled trout and redfishing with my son-in-law Dr. Joe Hudson and my son John Phillips, Jr. We had Gary Davis of Foley, Alabama, as our guide, one of the best inshore fishermen on Alabama's Gulf Coast in my opinion.On the first day of fishing, we went to Dixie Barlocated just in front of Fort Morgan. Joe hooked a redfish that Davis estimated as weighing more than 40 pounds. The big red came by the boat twice, but after 45 minutes of fighting, chasing and backing down on the red, the monster fish finally broke Joe's line.

Next we went out to the Fort Morgan lighthouse where we fished the lighthouse's back side with bull minnows. We caught Spanish mackerel and five redfish that would weigh from 8 to 10 pounds -- not bad for a morning's fishing.The following day we went to the newly-created Shell Banks artificial reef. In the first 30 minutes of fishing, John broke off a 6-pound speckled trout, and Davis and Hudson put three trout in the boat that weighed from 2 1/2 to 3 pounds each.

Moving away from the reef about 300 yards, we found a slick on the water. After making two casts to the slick, I caught a 4 1/2 pound speckled trout. As we anchored the boat, both John and Joe tied into big trout. By 11:00 a.m.we had 39 trout weighing 2 1/2- to 4 pounds each that filled two, 48-quart ice coolers.

Although 15 other boats fished all around us, no one caught the size or the number of trout we did. We had a secret bait.

I'll give you a hint -- it has a blue color, and it's not like anything you've ever fished for speckled trout. To find out what bait we used and to learn more about fishing at Fort Morgan, call Gary Davis at (334) 943-6298.