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This week on the Alabama Freshwater Fishing Report, host Nick Williams checks in with Darren Shirah for a detailed look at the Mobile–Tensaw Delta. Darren covers everything from early–season catfishing and mixed-bag limb line action to crappie bites in tiny feeder creeks and the annual shift toward cold-weather hunting opportunities. It’s a classic Delta week: low water, clear creeks, surprising saltwater visitors, and plenty of reasons to get outside.
Conditions Recap
Cold air finally settled over Alabama this week, with morning temperatures in the low 30s and even reports of light snow in the northern part of the state. Water levels across the Delta remain low, thanks to a combination of dry weather and strong north winds that have pushed tides out hard. Clear water dominates the smaller creeks, especially those along 225 and the eastern Delta. These conditions have concentrated fish in deeper pockets, pushed some surprising saltwater species far inland, and made hunting sign easier to read for those splitting time between the boat and the woods.
Mobile–Tensaw Delta: Catfish Lines, Mixed Bags, and Surprising Saltwater
Darren Shirah has been back on the limb-line grind, running lines for channel cats and blues with moderate success. While the catfish have been steady, the variety on his lines has been the real story: hardheads, gaff-tops, stingrays, and even schools of jack crevalle showing up as far north as Little Bayou Canot. Low rainfall has pushed salinity deep into the Delta, and it’s producing some strange but entertaining catches.
Bull sharks also continue to show up in places that don’t look like salt water at all. Darren notes anglers catching them at Cliff’s Landing on cut bait, and both he and Nick have seen them well upriver during low-rainfall years. Darren has even had sharks cut off hooks on limb lines in winter, which he suspects is more common than folks think.
Feeder Creeks & the Beetle-Spin Bite
Darren has also been putting in time with the ultralight. The bite has been unpredictable, with long stretches of slow fishing followed by explosive action when he hits the right hole. In one small ditch he and his son-in-law caught 42 fish—mostly bream, goggle-eyes, and keeper white perch—with nearly all of them coming from a single 10-foot-wide depression holding unusually clear water.
His go-to has been a simple, reliable classic: the beetle spin. Even without electronics, he’s been catching crappie, bream, and perch by covering water and keying in on transitions, especially in clearer creeks on the eastern side of the Delta.
Hogs, Hunting, and Winter Opportunities
As temperatures drop, hog activity is up across the swamp. Darren has been hearing and seeing hogs consistently, taking shots from the boat when they present themselves and relying on his .22 LR or .17 HMR rimfire rifles to stay legal on the Delta’s complex small-game rules. He notes that winter is prime time because dying vegetation pushes hogs closer to the riverbanks where they root for clams and tubers.
Nick shares similar experiences while scouting for ducks, noting that biologists appear to be running trap systems in sections that held pigs heavily last year. Both note how thick vegetation and tough terrain make boat-based hunting one of the most effective strategies right now.
What to Target This Week
Darren says it’s hard to go wrong right now. The crappie bite is strong, with fish stacked on deeper tops and structure, and anglers fishing minnows are doing especially well. The beetle-spin bite has been consistent for white perch, bream, and goggle-eyes when you find the right pocket of water. Catfishing remains steady on cut bait, and bass are just beginning to gang up with cooling water temperatures. With falling tides during daylight hours and a north wind pushing fish out of the woods, conditions are excellent for anyone wanting to head out this weekend.
