Photos

July Sport Fishing Girls

Capt. Sonny Schindler presents July's Sport Fishing Girls.!

By Capt. Sonny Schindler

June 30, 2014

012 (3).jpg — Sport Fishing Girl Meagan with a nice seatrout caught off Cat Island while fishing with Capt. Sonny Schindler, of Shore Thing Charters. Cat Island is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, but falls under the jurisdiction of Harrison County, Mississippi. All images in the following gallery are from fishing trips with Shore Thing Charters, unless otherwise stated.Capt. Sonny Schindler

015 (2).jpg — Again, Meagan with another Cat Island speckled trout. It doesn't seem to matter the time of year, anglers can find protected cuts, oyster beds, bayous and flats holding seatrout around the islands. Captains such as Sonny Schindler frequent Cat Island because it feels minimal fishing pressure and offers fantastic fishing no matter which way the wind blows.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Michelle landed this "doormat" flounder while fishing in the Louisiana marsh, south of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. If you check out a map of the Gulf Coast, you'll notice that it's often a shorter (and quicker) run from the Mississippi Coast than many Louisiana ports to get to prime eastern Louisiana marsh areas.Capt. Sonny Schindler

biloxi 033.jpg — Speckled seatrout — competing with red drum — vie for top spot as most-popular gamefish along the Gulf Coast. Dacy landed this trout from the Louisiana marsh, about 12 miles south of Bay St. Louis.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Lightning struck twice for Dacy, as she landed another seatrout in the Louisiana marsh, south of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Even though speckled trout are available from New York to Texas, hot spots include Virginia, Florida, Mississippi and Texas.Capt. Sonny Schindler

biloxi 080.jpg — Besides flounder and "specks," mouth-watering numbers of red drum prowl the Louisiana marshes. Often, those reds are happy to oblige an anglers such as Rozanne (pictured) with a tussle. Rozanne landed this marsh redfish on a spinnerbait tipped with a soft-plastic.Capt. Sonny Schindler

008 (7).jpg — Cindy landed this young speckled trout in a cut near Cat Island, Mississippi. Seatrout often hang in deeper holes, from 4 to 8 feet deep, says Capt. Sonny Schindler.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Less than 10 miles from Long Beach, Mississippi, Cat Island is a short run to excellent speckled seatrout, flounder and drum fishing. Lizzie shows off twin sheepshead catches from Cat Island.Capt. Sonny Schindler

010 (7).jpg — Amilee landed this typical-size seatrout off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Most spotted seatrout weigh one to three pounds and are 14 to 20 inches long. A six-pound fish is considered large, especially in Mississippi waters.Capt. Sonny Schindler

003 (3).jpg — Katie landed this tripletail in the shallow waters of Mississippi Sound. This brown, unassuming fish gets its name from rounded dorsal and anal fins extending almost to the tail, appearing to have three tails.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Rozanne landed this flounder near Bayou Caddy, Mississippi.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Rozanne and Mary show off a tripletail catch near Waveland, Mississippi. The daily bag limit of tripletail is three fish, measuring at least 18 inches total length, in Mississippi state waters.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Lisa landed this big Gulf speckled trout in Louisiana marsh waters. Large fish (longer than 24 inches in length) are sometimes called "gator" trout, in particular, large females carrying eggs are called "sow" trout.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Meagan with a nice seatrout from Cat Island, a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Rozanne shows off a big trout from the Louisiana marsh. The salt marsh is tidally flooded, flat in elevation, brackish, and mostly dominated by salt-tolerant grasses. There's not all that much biological diversity, when compared to other marsh ecosystems, but it's still a factory for inshore fish species.Capt. Sonny Schindler

013 (3).jpg — Dacy shows off her Louisiana seatrout catch while wade-fishing in the marsh.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Mary landed this seatrout off the coast of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Common predators of the spotted seatrout include dolphin (mammal), alligator gar, tarpon, sharks and barracuda, plus birds such as cormorants and pelicans.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Meaghan and Kelly, from New Orleans, with black puppy drum catches from Bay St. Louis. Check out this video to learn some interesting fish facts about black drum.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Mary and Rozanne with a tripletail caught near Chandeluer Sound.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Kelly with a black drum she caught off the beaches of Mississippi. Big black drum like this one are sometimes available to sight-fishing anglers in the shallows.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Cousin to the black drum, this redfish met its match with angler Kelly. Kelly landed the red drum near Waveland, Mississippi.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Meaghan with a slot redfish catch near Waveland, Mississippi. Plentiful in the marshes of Louisiana and Mississippi, the redfish population in "inside waters" depends on the success of the last three spawning years. Once fish grow past three years, they often join schools of spawning bull redfish offshore.Capt. Sonny Schindler

A second shot of Meaghan with her nice redfish.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Meaghan with a big blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) she caught in Bayou Caddy, Mississippi. Mississippi blue crabs are most abundant in the warm summer and fall months, though they are harvested year-round.Capt. Sonny Schindler

The muddy, brackish waters of Mississippi hide massive black drum. Meaghan had a little trouble handling her catch before releasing it. The best natural bait for black drum is half of a blue crab, an abundant crustacean in shallow Gulf waters.Capt. Sonny Schindler

copy of img_0916.jpg — Lisa with a big seatrout she caught in Louisiana. With so many photos of seatrout, drum and flounder, one might ask, "Does the Gulf have any offshore fishing?" These next gallery images answer that, taking us to the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Jessica landed this amberjack while fishing over the famous Midnight Lump. One of the most famous structures at Midnight Lump is the Sackett Bank — it rises from the bottom of the Gulf to crest about 200 feet below the surface. This massive structure covers roughly 2 square miles and lies about 18 miles south of the Mississippi River mouth and 5 miles north of the Mississippi Canyon.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Kristen landed this amberjack while fishing south of Venice, Louisiana, with Paradise Outfitters.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Kristen caught this scamp grouper reef fishing due south of the Mississippi River. Scamps are identified by their brown color and elongated caudal-fin rays, plus yellow around the corners of the mouth. They are often caught around offshore reefs in the Gulf.Capt. Sonny Schindler

Stephanie landed this amberjack, south of the Mississippi River, with Paradise Outfitters out of Venice, Louisiana. The greater amberjack is the largest of the jacks and the most sought after by fishermen. It strikes fast, fights hard and often dives for the bottom, says the IGFA.Capt. Sonny Schindler

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