Fishing Report for May 1, 2010 in Orange Beach, Alabama

    April was a good month for fishing in Orange Beach.  Things are still a little behind schedule because of the cold winter, but the fish have been biting.  The speckled trout, especially toward the end of the month, became more predictable and easier to pattern.  Although there were some days of unfavorable winds and unusually cold temperatures, I was able to find specks just about every day this month.  The major spawning period for speckled trout is the full moons of April and May.  Water temperature affects when the trout spawn more than anything.  Although there were some eggs in some of the trout that I filleted around the April full moon, there was really no sign of a major spawn.  The large females that I would normally catch during the month of April just weren't where they should have been.  Hopefully, that means the next full moon will have them spawning like it's Woodstock.

    Upper slot sized redfish also began staging around the Perdido pass area and feeding in the afternoons on the outgoing tides.  These are fish that have grown up in the bay waters and are going to live the rest of their life in the Gulf.  These fish range in size from 8 to 20 pounds.  It is actually out of the ordinary to catch these fish over 15 pounds at this time and place, but the big boys have been there.  After the next neap tide, the reds should really begin to get fired up and plentiful around Orange Beach.