Fishing the Mississippi Gulf Coast

                It’s been a while since my last post but I will bring you up to speed from my last trip in January.   

To start the new year off I was sent to school for a month In Gulfport Mississippi.  First stop along the way I made my way through Alabama to see family and friends around Guntersville Lake but due to weather I was unable to fish my home waters so that will have to wait till next time.

Around Montgomery Alabama I was able to meet up with my long time brother and best friend from school, Tony.  We were able to have a good breakfast which made for a good pit stop before finishing the last leg to Gulfport.

Now when you think about fishing in January you think of cold water fishing like my post Until My Toes Say Its Time To Go Home, but what I found on the weekends were nice 60 to 70 deg temps for most of the time I was there until the cold snap at the end of the month.  The days I did fish were spent in a T-shirt and waders. 

Finally in Mississippi all checked in to my room and school I had a few days to do some scouting with google maps and just some driving around.  During the week it was all school and at night I would get to chat with my family on Skype which it was always a blessing to see the kids. It made me wish they were there with me to enjoy the adventure.

 

  

  With the first few trips in this new area I was skeptical about finding some fish but I changed up some tactics a bit and started reading some of the local forums like MSKayakFishing and The Bull along with talking to people I met while out fishing.   Out of everyone I met I was always greeted with kindness and respect from fellow anglers.  Everyone I talked to or contacted in any way were freely giving advice and help which started getting me zeroed into the fish I was looking for.

A few people I ended up fishing with lead me to an area around the Wolf River off a corner of Bay St. Louis.  With everything I have learned from the locals there I put my skills into action.  The first few days, I slowly fish the deep holes hooking into some nice sized Speckled Trout slowly jigging some Paul Brown Devils.  

There I met up with Jimmy and BJ.  Some great guys to fish with and on the way back in we got a little fun tow that saved us a bit of a paddle after a good day out on the water.

 

But I still needed to get my Red.   I hooked up with a few good ones that shook my hook so I looked for some more assistance.  This day I met up with Nate and he took me to an area that he has always had some luck.  This was a windy day but we went out that evening when he said the bit should turn on.  This go around we were chunking top water lures and we were about to give up when Nate hooked into his largest Red at about 33 inches.  Water temp was in the 50s and depth was at the 2 ft. mark.  Then on we just kept chunking and chunking the lures till it was time to go.   

That was my last trip out and I met some great people the whole time in Gulfport.  I will say that this an amazing area to see for the angler to experience and I’m sure that during the warmer months of the year this area would be excellent to fish.  I will have to wait for another time to get my Gulf Coast Red but at least I got to see a good sized Gulf Coast Red hooked up in January. 

Until The next trip and thanks again for all the help from some great people in Mississippi.