Fairhope After a Rainy Night

My plan wasn’t going back to Fairhope after the Feb 8 trip. However, we had some thunderstorms move through the night before so I was curious if the bite would be just as good after the rain. It turned out to be better. I lost count but it was probably around 20 or so speckled trout. Once I got to the American Legion I started to see mullet jumping close to shore so I proceeded to fish in shallower water which is counter to what I typically do in winter. This strategy paid off. I found most of the fish close to bulkheads and between piers. I did fish the ends of the piers and caught a few but the majority were in shallower water, probably 3-4’ deep. The bait of choice was a 5” Slam Shady using a bait caster with 30lbs braid and 14 lbs mono leader.

This was almost a perfect afternoon of fishing. The temperature was moderate and the wind was a slight north east wind. There was one heartbreaking moment though. I hooked what looked like to be a 25” plus speckled trout. It surfaced and it’s head looked huge. With the strong line I was using I can typically power fish away from structure. However, It started pulling the kayak towards pilings and I made the decision to reverse. During the process I had slack in the line and it came off. It was frustrating but I found my “Walter” in Fairhope.