Leaves are falling, the wind has a cold bite to it, the Gulf waters are clearer, and you've dug out all those thick long sleeve shirts and jackets. Must be autumn along the Gulf Coast. I know a lot of fishermen that put their boats up until spring and move to the woods. Well, I enjoy a day in the woods myself but during hunting season the waters of south Alabama are loaded with hungry specks and red fish. Flounder are still around and white trout and ground mullet can be had in large numbers and sheepshead are always a possibility.

 This month the specks will be in deeper water in the bay trying to gain a few pounds for the winter. You can catch specks using every method you’ve used this summer. Shrimp, of course, is always a good bait. Tight line, free line, and under popping corks will do just fine. Just go a little slower and deeper. Try plastics on the same rigs and at the same slower speed. My plastic’s box now is filled with the newer scent baits in shrimp, sand flea, and crab. I keep all colors and most sizes of these lures and seem to do very well with them. I use the two-inch shrimp for white trout with good results. The cut bait strips work great as well.

 Try all the in-shore rigs and man made reefs. Look for schools of bait and gulls diving on the warmer days. Weeks bay will do as well in the first part of November as it did in October. The bay will not be deep so watch out for the stuff that has floated down the rivers. Red fish, of course, will take shrimp, cut bait, small lys, as well as most plastics and spoons. Hard lures will work, too, as will top water in some cases.

 Fish all piers, docks, bulk heads, and any where else that may hold bait fish. Be careful, because sometimes those pesky flounder will steal your bait. I know that you hate that, especially when the flounder get to the four-pound range and start to strip your line off. This month will be a great time to get off shore a little if the wind will let you Sand Island will hold some red fish and large trout on good days. The light house will have large schools of ground mullet on the west side and some great red fish near the rocks and on the north side. When I go there I’ll carry light and heavy rigs. Catch small ground mullet and use them for bait with a heavy rig set in a rod holder as I fish with light tackle for some keeper ground mullet. The close in gas rigs will hold some great white trout this month. Again, those pesky flounder will be around trying to get your bait but that’s something that we just have to deal with on the Gulf Coast. Cut bait, squid, small lys, shrimp and plastics will fill your fish box with little effort.  The Dixey Bar will still hold some large red fish this month but if you want to move around a little try pulling a Mann 25 a good distance behind your boat as you move up and down the coast. Look for eruptions on sand and mud in the clear water. If you see the eruptions steer your boat around them and cause your Mann 25 to be pulled through the eruption. Most likely there will be some big red fish hunting for bait fish and small crabs that are causing the mud "balls" and when they hit that Mann 25 at full speed you’ll learn why they call them Bull Reds.

 All in all, this month is a great month for South Alabama fishermen. What can be better than less traffic and big gatherings of quality fish? Be safe and stay dry. Know Alabama’s laws on boating and fishing and every time you catch a red fish go thank a Marine Resource officer. They do their job very well, in my opinion. For more, visit backbayfishingwithdon.com.

~Capt Don