November Fishing Report from Capt. Randy Boggs

Inshore there a quiet a few flounder still around. King and Spanish mackerel are still biting trolling inshore.

Red fish have shown up around the bridge and rocks at Perdido Pass and just outside the pass. These fish are being caught trolling with planers with spoons behind them.

Fishing continues to be good offshore in the 100’ plus depths for vermillion snapper which are being caught on cut squid and small pieces of cigar minnow. There has been a huge showing of trigger fish. A lot of the fish are short but there are plenty of keepers mixed in with them.

The grouper and scamp are beginning to bite in the 200’ to 300’ depth range. Live baits seem to be working for the scamp, and smaller pin fish and larger baits for the grouper.

The black fin tuna have shown up at the rigs and are being caught at night on diamond jigs. There have been good reports of yellow fin tuna caught trolling ballyhoo or chunking.

Capt. Randy Boggs

Reel Surprise Charters @ SanRoc Cay Marina

www.reelsurprisecharters.com or www.sanroccay.com

There’s always something going on

I hear people say there isn’t anything to do on the coast this time of year. I don’t agree. There is always something going on somewhere. All you have to do is look.

This past weekend, our neighbors to the east on Perdido Key had a martini festival. This was the third annual, I somehow missed the first two and I am sorry I did. It was actually a lot of fun. More than 20 booths from liquor distributors were set up in the shopping center around The Jellyfish Bar in Perdido Key. Each booth had at least two different versions of a martini to sample, most had three. For the price of a ticket, you could sample any of the tiny martinis as often as you wanted. What a great festival.

Alcohol wasn’t the only thing available. There were also barbeque plates, fine art, water, soft drinks, extreme bartending demonstrations and entertainment. A live band played most of the afternoon and then came the fun part, The Gulf Coast Bartender Competition. Bartenders from across the Gulf Coast set out to prove they were the best on the coast. It was a big deal. The winner received $500 and the proceeds from the sale of the martinis created for the competition. These martinis were auctioned when they were made and some went for more than $50.

It was a great way to spend a warm, beautiful November afternoon. I left just before the winner of the competition was announced, so I can’t tell you where to buy the best martini made on the coast. All I can say is that all of the bartenders were very creative and some of the presentations were very entertaining. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach restaurants were well represented and their concoctions went for a pretty high price.

The proceeds from the festival and golf tournament go to local charities. Here’s to martinis and good causes. Cheers.

post provided by Luanne Burnett

Oysters, oysters and more oysters

The Gulf Coast is the best place in the world for fresh oysters. The Gulf States supply about two-thirds of U.S. oysters. So, we know what we are doing when it comes to eating and preparing the delicacy. For oyster lovers, the next two weekends are the best time to be on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

To start the bivalve celebration, the second annual Oyster Cookoff at The Hangout in Gulf Shores is Saturday, November 7. The free event features teams of chefs and individuals competing in four categories – Barbeque, Gulf Coast Cajun, Classic Rockefeller and Create Your Own. While sampling the luscious fare, you can watch the LSU and Alabama game. What more could you ask for on a Saturday afternoon. A team of three judges will determine the category winners. The first prize is $1,000. The favorite of public attending the event will receive a People’s Choice Award.

If that isn’t enough oysters for you (it isn’t for me), Saturday, November 14, make your way out County Road 10 to the Tin Top Market, Restaurant & Oyster Bar. The first Bon Secour Oyster & Wine Festival will take place on the grounds from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be live music, wine samplings from Sonoma and Napa Valley and all-you-can-eat baked oysters. Admission is a bargain at $10. There is also a competition for teams with a grand prize of $1,000 and $500 people’s choice prize. The categories are Classic – Oyster Rockefeller and Oyster Bienville, Barbeque and Open. This creates more great oysters to sample.

If you aren’t already here, make plans to come on down. We’ll try to save a few oysters for you. If you haven’t eaten fresh oysters from the Gulf of Mexico, you are in for a treat!

post provided by Luanne Burnett

Blue Angels homecoming in November

Each November the Blue Angels come home to roost. After a hectic show schedule, they come to their home town to close the tour. This year’s homecoming event is November 13 and 14 at Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The Blues fly over the Pensacola area twice a year, once at Pensacola Beach in July and then at the Pensacola NAS in November. The latter is my favorite. There is something about watching the show from the tarmac of the base that makes me really feel involved.

Admission is free. The gates open at 8 a.m., the show starts at 9:30 a.m. and the Blue Angels are scheduled to fly at approximately 2 p.m. With thousands of people converging on the base, you would think it would be a traffic nightmare. But, with military personnel directing the traffic, it flows very smoothly.

According to a recent press release, this will be the last year for Fat Albert and the JATO demonstration. This saddens me. For those of you not familiar with the Blue Angles, Fat Albert is a Lockheed-Martin C-130T Hercules. The plane is operated by an all-Marine Corps crew of three officers and five enlisted personnel. Fat Albert has been thrilling spectators since November of 1975 with its jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) capability. Eight solid-fuel rocket bottles, four on each side, thrust the enormous plane skyward. The JATO bottles allow the aircraft to takeoff within 1,500 feet, climb at a 45-degee angle and propel it to an altitude of 1,000 feet in about 15 seconds. It is absolutely amazing to watch.

he team is researching several alternatives to the JATO. I guess we will have to wait and see what the 2010 team prepares for us. But, for this year, I plan to be on the base to bid farewell to Fat Albert’s JATO November 14.

Good Eats on the Coast

“Where do the locals eat?” When I have out-of-town visitors, this is the question I am asked most often. They want me to take them where I eat. When I head towards the beach, I get confused looks, but some of the best food to be found is right in the middle of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

When my brother and sister-in-law visit from North Mississippi, they claim they are coming to see me, but what they are really after is the tasty gulf seafood. To be more specific, oysters. They visit a few times a year, so we have had the opportunity to sample the oysters at numerous restaurants. Their favorite for fried, baked or raw is The Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores.

For a great seafood lunch or dinner, some of the old stand-bys in Gulf Shores can’t be beat. Desoto’s Seafood Kitchen and Doc’s Seafood Shack both offer very affordable lunch specials. For a great view of the gulf while you dine, Bahama Bob’s, Sea and Suds, The Pink Pony and The Hangout will fit the bill.

There are only a handful of restaurants in the area that I haven’t lifted a fork in. (Don’t worry, they are on my list of must-eat-there places.) Because there are so many great eateries in the area, my favorite changes almost monthly. At this moment, I am sticking with one of our newcomers, Cobalt. Sitting on the water’s edge in the shadow of the Alabama Point Bridge in Orange Beach, this restaurant has so many things going for it. The food is excellent, the atmosphere is somewhere between casual and elegant and the view is fantastic. I have had the fresh catch (grouper) blackened and the seafood pizza. Both were very good, but my favorite was the peppercorn encrusted prime filet. I haven’t had dinner with anyone at Cobalt that didn’t enjoy the meal.

The outside dining area of Cobalt overlooks Perdido Pass and a sunset dinner has the built-in entertainment of watching the boats come in from a day of fishing and the sun sinking over the horizon. There is also an outdoor bar, stage and plenty of room for sitting and listening to live music with your favorite cocktail. The restaurant opened in December of 2008 and has all the kinks ironed out.

I can talk for days about food and the great restaurants the Alabama Gulf Coast has to offer, but I’ll save some for another time.

post provided by Luanne Burnett