Tuna Fishing Overnight Trip

May 13, 2011 in Action Charter Service, Fish, Fishing Report, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Tuna

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words and if that’s the case then this one speaks volumes. We left out on Saturday morning with a live well full of pin fish, Cigar minnows, Croakers, Hard tails and some menhaden. Our first stop was as usual for some other kinds of offshore bait like small White snapper and Small Vermillion snapper. After getting the live well so full that you can’t see into it but about 6” we went on out to try some deep water bottom fishing. From this point on it seemed that we were on a mission that could do no wrong. When we stopped on our first hole the 4 pound Mingo’s (vermillion) Snappers were on fire. Everyone was catching 1 or 2 on each drop using a small piece of squid on a two hook rig. However, the best thing was that for every 5 or 6 Mingo’s we were getting a nice 6-8 pound Scamp on a live pinfish or croaker. Unbelievable, could it get any better than this? We did this on every hole we stopped on all the way out to my secret Amberjack hole. As we approached the AJ hole my guys rigged up quickly for the battle that was fixing to happen. They cleared the deck of the two hook rigs on the Electric reels and got out the heavy lined 6/0 reels. Once we pulled up into position and I gave the command, it only took 45 minutes to get our two day bag limit of the 35 to 60 pound Amberjacks. We never missed a beat. As everyone were high fiving each other I headed on out around 4:00 p.m. to the offshore deepwater oilrigs for some tuna fishing action.

We arrived with anticipation and excitement of what was to happen next. It certainly didn’t disappoint. As soon as the lines were in the water we were on. A small Black Fin Tuna and then another, and then another and another. After a few laps around the rig we saw what we came for, the Big Yellow Fin Tuna busting the water on top just out from the rig a little and heading right to us. As the tension built up we crossed over the school of fish and all eyes were on the lines. “Fish On, right rigger!” then “Fish on Left rigger!” OH Yea! They were biting! We fished into the night, jigging next to the rigs as the seas built to 6-8 feet. We got up the next morning around 3:30 a.m. and started it all over again. Before it was over we had 4 Yellow Fin Tuna, 25 Black Fin Tuna, over 40 head of Scamp, around 180 head of Jumbo Mingo’s and 24 Amberjacks Totaling a little over 2,000 lbs. Wow!

Deep Water Delight

May 6, 2011 in Action Charter Service, Alabama, Fish, Fishing Report, Gulf of Mexico, Orange Beach

Tuna Fishing, Grouper, Scamp, Mahi Mahi, and fish galore from the Emerald Spirit Fishing Charter with Action Charter ServiceOnce again we are riding the Emerald Spirit out for a day of fishing in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. We had 10 hours to get it done in the same fashion we usually have 12. The first stop was on the rocks offshore for some Vermillion Snapper and white Snapper with the chance of getting some other good bait fish with them. The first place I stopped was on fire. We caught real nice Mingos and whites one and two at a time. Before you knew it we had limited out for the Vermillion Snapper at 10 per person. After that we decided to go a little deeper and try some Amberjacks and maybe a Scamp or two. I traveled about 3 or 4 miles, just enough time to let everybody get something to drink and let the deck hands regroup for the jacks with heavier tackle. We arrived to the hole and prepared to drop four lines at a time. You are allowed to keep one fish per person so with seven anglers I figured it wouldn’t be long for each person to tag out and pass the rod off to the next guy. Boy do I love it when a plan comes together. We dropped four baits and immediately were on with four big Jacks. We tagged out with the rods to the next anglers as the fish came in and in no time we were done, limited out.

They brought up Yellow-edge Grouper, Snowy Grouper, Scamp and to my huge surprise some of the most Monster-size Mingos we’ve ever caught. No kidding. They were 5-6 pounds a piece.

So I told them to grab the two hook bottom rigs and drop them for some Scamp right there on the same spot. Sure enough we caught a few but it wasn’t what I knew we could do so we moved to our third hole of the day which was even deeper than the last, now we are in 290 – 310 feet of water.  As I rode down to the next spot I was remembering the last time we fished there last season and it dawned on me that we caught some deep water Grouper there. I told the deck hands to get ready for some of those and we’ll try it. When we got there every one was baited up and ready to drop. You have to be ready to drop when I tell you, especially in the deeper water like this because it’s sort of like precision bombing, everybody has to go down at the same time to avoid tangles and to assure you hit the target. We dropped and it didn’t take long to see we hit the target good. Everyone got fish on and I knew we made the right decision. They brought up Yellow-edge Grouper, Snowy Grouper, Scamp and to my huge surprise some of the most Monster-size Mingos we’ve ever caught. No kidding. They were 5-6 pounds a piece. It was a good thing the deck hands used up some of the other b-liners we had for live bait earlier because I would have died to have to throw those back. That’s when I realized it was time to go home. Three stops and we put the mash down on them. It doesn’t get any better. I can’t wait till next week when we go on our first overnight Tuna trip. The reports are great offshore and there are plenty of nice fish, we’ll check it out.

Emerald Spirit Maiden Fishing Voyage

June 1, 2009 in Action Charter Service

She was a lean mean “fishing machine” as we headed out on our overnight maiden fishing voyage aboard the new Emerald Spirit.  The excitement had built as the month long anticipated trip had finally arrived.  Some anglers came to the boat the night before as they pulled into town to find last minute preparations taking place.  They went to purchase a Saltwater Series Tournament ticket and were off to get a good night’s rest for the 36 hour fishing marathon.

About twelve men gathered at daybreak to board the new vessel.  She gleamed metallically as the sun rose awaiting her captain and crew to charter into unknown territory.  The first stop brought us Mingos and a few Scamp.  We caught Red Grouper, Gag Grouper as we fished out to the rigs where we got Amberjack.  As the afternoon went on we got our evening Tuna as we grilled on the Big Green Egg.  We shut down about 2 a.m. for a few hours rest and then were back up after the Tuna for the early morning catch.  When the Tuna quit biting we moved on to more Amberjack and Grouper, Scamp and Mingos to arrive back at 6 p.m. with 1200 pounds of fish (see picture).  It was a great first trip for an experienced captain and crew.

When we arrived at the dock we were so pumped up exclaiming how much fun had been had, how much food eaten and how it had been the best fishing trip ever.  We weighed in for the tournament and ended up with three fish on the board, an 11 pound Trigger, which currently still holds 1st place; a 55.6 pound Amberjack which was third and a 4.8 pound Mingo which is big for that species. 

Come on down and catch fish with us – GUARANTEED FUN!
Captain George Pfeiffer
Action Charter Service
888-558-3889

Fish, Weather and Anglers’ Excitement Are Warming Up

May 12, 2008 in Action Charter Service, Alabama, Fishing Report, Gulf of Mexico, Salt Water Series Tournament, World Championship Red Snapper Tournament

Fishing out of Orange Beach Alabama is building to an all time great high.

Red Snapper are more abundant than ever before and there has been a few 90 plus pound Wahoo brought to the weigh in scales for the Salt Water Series Tournament. We have seen some big Amberjack being caught in the 35-45 pound range as well as some 50-75 pound Yellow Fin Tuna. The Black Fin Tuna are biting well also.

On our last few offshore trips we have been bringing in some Scamp in the 15-18 pound range as well as some 4.5lb Vermilion Snapper (Mingo). Trigger Fish are making a good show along with big White Snapper in the 3.5lb range.

The Inshore action is doing well with the Cobia showing up, some weighed in at 90.3 lb, 86.5 and more. Spanish, King mackerel and Red Fish are biting along the beach. There are plenty of Cigar Minnows starting to bunch up in schools on the bottom.

So far we’ve seen an improvement in every species and it looks like we’ll see even more in the future. The weather is warming up every day and is expected to reach as high as 90 degrees today. We are all looking forward to the opening of Federal Waters for Red Snapper on June 1st. The season will be open until August 5th. There will be the “World Championship Red Snapper Tournament” going on the entire season for Red Snapper. Check out our web page and the photo gallery for pictures of some “Big” Red Snapper and Call or E-mail us for a chance to win $25,000.00 in the Tournament.