Southwest Winds Started the Bite on Low Tide in Mobile Bay

I was encouraged before this morning trip to Fairhope, Alabama as it was on a major peak of a falling tide. My hopes were dashed when I got to the boat launch. There was a northeast wind and there wasn’t much water in the area. The drive fins of my Hobie Pro Angler were hitting bottom right at the boat launch. I contemplated coming back in the afternoon for the incoming tide but decided to grind it out. About an hour into the trip the winds changed to the southwest and this triggered the bite. With a steady wind the Eastern Shore started to resemble an incoming tide and more water started to come in from the South.

The water was on the muddy side so I went with purple and chartreuse paddle tail. I was catching quality trout in the 16-19” range. They were mostly around the end of piers. I found a school of small trout stacked in an area and left them after about 3 consecutive trout were undersized. I did switch to the Slam Shady and caught 2 nice speckled trout, one around 18” and the other around 22”. The larger trout bent the hook so went back to the purple and chartreuse that was rigged on the other reel and caught a few more, even one trolling back to the launch. I had the best hookups casting against the wind the same as yesterday. All told it was about 16 speckled trout. Back at the boat launch the water level looked to be about a foot higher than when I left.