Editor’s Note: Captain Mike Wilson of Silverhill, Alabama, guides on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. I asked him what he’s catching now from mid-August – the first 2 weeks in September. This report will apply to all of the Upper Gulf Coast and tell you what you can expect to catch while fishing then. Wilson not only fishes the Gulf of Mexico but also Mobile Bay (http://www.mobile.org/includes/content/docs/media/Regional-Map-June-2017.pdf) and the rivers that feed the bay and the Mississippi Sound.

At this time of the year, a typical 3-person trip (myself and 2 customers) probably will catch 12-15 speckled trout and 25-30 white trout, and we may pick up a redfish or two per person. I had one trip just before mid-August where my customers wanted to catch white trout. After throwing back 25-30 small white trout, we still had 82 white trout in our cooler (There is no length or bag limit on white trout in Alabama). White trout are extremely good eating, if you eat them immediately after you catch them. However, they don’t freeze well. I don’t mean that the meat gets bad, but the meat does become soft and doesn’t remain firm. However, we’ve tried something new this year that seems to help that problem. We’ve stopped filleting and skinning the white trout to put in the freezer. Instead we scale them like you do a freshwater fish and fillet them with the skin left on the fillet. Then the white trout meat remains much firmer during the freeze/thaw cycle than when we filleted and took off the skin. Honestly, I think they taste better with the skin left on them.

Due to the very-hot weather at this time of the year, I generally pick-up my customers at 6:00 am, and most of my trips last until 11:00 am. I’m not a clock watcher, and I don’t stop my people fishing right at the 4-hour mark. Some of my parties will prefer to fish until 12:00 noon or after that. I provide fishing licenses, live bait, tackle, artificial bait and ice. My customers bring their own drinks, snacks, sunscreen, big hats and cameras because we’ll catch some picture fish.

To learn more, you can contact Captain Mike by emailing [email protected] or calling 251-747-6941. On Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/bamaslam.inshore/ where you can see his photos of the fish he and his parties have caught.

You can learn more about fishing parts of the Upper Gulf Coast from John E. Phillips’ books, the Kindle and print versions of  “Alabama’s Inshore Saltwater Fishing: Year-Round Guide to Catching More Than 15 Species” at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EZR046; the Kindle version of “Catch Speckled Trout and Redfish: Learn from Alabama’s Best Fishermen” https://www.amazon.com/Catching-Speckled-Trout-Redfish-ebook/dp/B00CWE3O6O/; and the Kindle and print book versions of “Fishing Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and Visitors’ Guide”  https://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Mississippis-Coast-Visitors-ebook/dp/B008DWLUZ6/.