Capt. Mike Moore of Strictly Business Fishing Charters in Biloxi wants to provide an opportunity for anglers to go fishing any way they want on his Strictly Business, a 38-foot Bertram sport-fishing boat for offshore fishing, and the Strictly Too, a 23-foot open fisherman for inshore fishing.
In March, Moore started offering a family fishing trip, the Biloxi Shrimping Trip, on the Sailfish, which does either inshore shrimping and educational trips or takes families on light-tackle fishing trips for three to four hours with everything provided.
Here’s a look at what you can catch on the Gulf Coast during May.
Inshore
“This month, I’ll be fishing the public wrecks just south of Deer Island with live shrimp, a sliding cork and a 2-foot leader line coming off my main line to catch speckled trout and redfish,” Moore said. “You’ll have to reach the wrecks before the local fishermen do. We leave about 30 minutes before daylight and fish until 8 a.m. for the specks and the reds here in deeper water than they’ll be holding the rest of the summer. We’ll fish just off the wrecks.”
In May, Moore prefers to fish between 12 and 13 feet of water. As the water warms, he’ll move up to 7 feet.
“I’ll be using 8-pound-test line and 2 feet of either 10- or 12-pound-test leader and a No. 7/0 live-bait hook,” Moore said. “I’ll hook live bait up to a medium-action rod with 20-pound-test line, cast that bait out and fish it on the bottom.
“The speckled trout we catch will be from 13 inches long to 2 1/2 pounds with the redfish 27 inches and larger.
“Once fishing pressure heats up, the specks and reds usually will move up, and we’ll change our tackle and start fishing for ground mullet and white trout. Catching 20 to 50 ground mullet or white trout after we’ve caught our limit of speckled trout and redfish isn’t difficult.”
Offshore
May’s known as cobia month in the Biloxi area. Moore pulls his Bertram out to the Horn Island bar or the Squash Channel Barge, anchors up and waits for the cobia to arrive.
He uses live bait and outriggers to spread out his baits, so he has a wider path of bait for the cobia to find and eat.
“We fish live baits on top (just under the surface) and on the bottom,” Moore said. “We use kites while we’re anchored to try to get the cobia to take a live bait farther away from the boat.”
With cobia fishing hit or miss in May, you may not see a cobia, or you may catch four. To keep his trips from being washouts, Moore fishes on the bottom, which gives him the chance to catch cobia, and the bottom lines generally also will produce redfish and shark. There’s always some type of action going on near shore for the big-boat fisherman.
“In May, the king mackerel and Spanish mackerel also turn on,” Moore said. “The first set of rigs, about 25 or 35 miles offshore, are productive for king mackerel. To catch numbers of kings, troll with Drone spoons and planers. I prefer the No. 3 Drone spoon in blue or hot pink.”
To catch monster kings that may weigh 30 to 40 pounds each or more, catch hardtails around the rigs, bait up with them and fish drift lines behind the boat.
“We bump the boat in and out of gear to slow-troll the hardtails for the monster-sized kings,” Moore said. “Also, farther offshore on the deep rigs, you’ll have an opportunity to catch marlin and yellowfin tuna. In recent years, the big yellowfin and blackfin tuna have provided a stable fishery for Biloxi anglers who catch them every month of the year. While we’re going to the offshore rigs, we’ll usually put out lines for wahoo, and the wahoo fishing really starts to heat up this month.
“The Horseshoe Rigs — about 70 miles due south of Biloxi — are a great place to catch wahoo, especially during the summer months. The grouper and amberjack will be holding at 130 to 180 feet, and the bigger bait you use, the better your opportunity of catching big grouper. You also can catch monster king mackerel there.”
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