Lenny Maiolatesi, captain of the Fighting Chicken, based in Ocean Springs and docked at David Harrison’s Marina, fishes offshore all year. Here, he shares with Sportsman readers tips for hooking up in offshore waters this month.
“June is the best month for fishing offshore out of Ocean Springs and Biloxi because of the choices of species anglers can catch,” he said. “At this time of year, we’ll have four or five swordfish trips, several tuna trips and a couple of amberjack and grouper trips.
“Red snapper will be in season this month, and plenty of lemonfish (cobia) and dolphin (mahi mahi) will congregate here.
“We like to get on weedlines at this time of year, depending on the Loop Current, and catch numbers of dolphin. Also, in June, we have a good shot at catching white and blue marlin and tuna by running kites, generally on two-day trips. If you fish for marlin in June, you may catch blue marlin 25 percent of the time, but at least you’ll have the opportunity to see them.
“When we put our kites out, we’ll catch almost anything that swims. We use live bait, like hardtails or small bonitos, under the kites, but live flying fish usually are the best baits for kite fishing.
“At night, you’re likely to catch dolphin and tuna. Also, swordfishing is a great sport where you may hook up to a couple each night on the good structure out of Biloxi.
“Right now, swordfishing has picked up off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In the 1970s, the longliners nearly wiped out our swordfish. But in the last nine years, longlining has been banned in several sections of the Gulf Coast, and our swordfish have returned to this region.
“When we’re targeting swordfish, we fish our baits above 1,000- to 2,000-foot-deep water, right on the surface all the way down to about 500 feet. Generally, I put my deepest bait where I pinpoint the thermocline, and run four to six baits between 500 feet and the surface. Swordfish baits include squid, flying fish and live bait, like hardtails. I also use submersible lights to attract swordfish. Last year, we caught three swordfish after seeing them swimming in the lights and freelining the bait without a weight on it.
“Also, we caught at least one swordfish on each swordfish trip last season, and generally got three bites a night. On an overnight fishing trip, we’ll fish for tuna, wahoo and marlin during the day, swordfish at night and then pick up snapper and lemonfish on the way home. The Mississippi Gulf Coast has a great fishery.”
Capt. Scott Simpson
Capt. Scott Simpson of Long Beach captains the charter boat Impulsive, which docks at Long Beach Harbor and fishes inshore year-round.
“I fish the Mississippi Sound from the oyster reef south of Pass Christian to Cat Island, Ship Island and many inshore areas in between,” he said. “In the early morning, I’ll use topwater baits, like the MirrOlure She Dog, the MirrOmullet and the Top Dog, and generally get bites from trophy trout that will weigh from 2 to 7 pounds each.
“We’ll be fishing these baits from the shoreline, out along the flats and around the cuts and the gullies leading into or away from the islands. My favorite colors are gold/chartreuse back, orange belly/black back and pearl/chartreuse back.
“When the sun rises, I generally fish a soft plastic with 1/4-ounce jigheads. I like to fish the Strike King 3X Glass Minnow, the D.O.A. Shrimp or the D.O.A. C.A.L. Series 3-inch Shad Tail under a popping cork, but will remove the cork if need be. I fish with live shrimp and finger mullet when I can get them.
“We catch our bigger trout on topwater baits early in the morning, but after the sun rises, we usually can produce trout that weigh 1 to 3 pounds each on plastic baits. We also catch redfish 2 to 10 pounds each mixed in with the trout. Sometimes we catch redfish on fresh-cut dead mullet along the shoreline. However, I prefer Strike King’s Redfish Magic, a gold spinnerbait with a rubber grub tail.
“I fish the incoming and the falling tides. If I can locate bayous with sloughs coming into them, I’ll fish the mouths of those sloughs on the falling tide for the redfish. We’ll also catch trout and an occasional flounder there. Along the shorelines of the islands are great gully systems with shallow sandbars, and the redfish will hold out on the edges of those cuts along the shallow drop-offs.
“In June, the water’s warm enough to wade fish, and our barrier islands provide some of the best wade fishing on the Gulf Coast. The more-avid fishermen prefer wade fishing in knee-deep to waist-deep water.
“When the water becomes extremely clear, we can sight-fish for redfish. When we sight-fish for reds, we use the D.O.A. Shrimp and the Strike King Redfish Magic.
“If you like inshore fishing for specks and reds, June’s the best time to come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
For more information about Capt. Scott Simpson, visit http://myweb.cableone.net/captscott, or email capscott@cableone.net.
To learn more about Capt. Lenny Maiolatesi, visit www.fightingchickensportfishing.com, or call 228-326-3180.
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