Mississippi’s Gulf Coast homes many fish species you can catch by surf fishing. Matt Mitchell of Gulfport, Miss. is an avid beach fisherman that we have asked to tell us how he fishes several Mississippi beaches.
Drones Help You Find Productive Beach Fisheries
Matt Mitchell explains that to find the gullies and holes holding fish on Mississippi beaches, you can ride down the beach and search for dark spots just offshore. “Or, you can do what I do. I take my drone, put it in the air and have it show me the water depths, the cuts, the oyster reefs, the grass flats, the deep gullies where trout and redfish will hold, the ditches just off the beaches that are concentrating fish and sandbars. Then I understand where to fish the surf.
“Using a drone has become more of a necessity for me and my fishing success. One of the biggest advantages of using a drone is in high winds or storms the beaches and the holes, the ditches and cuts just off the beaches change quite a bit. A drone enables me to see what’s changed after a storm, and I can take photos. Then I can compare my video from before a storm to the photos after a storm to learn how the beach and the holes along the beaches have changed. What’s neat about the drone and finding those holes is that you can catch a wide variety of fish holding in those spots. I catch redfish, Atlantic kingfish, ground mullet, croakers, speckled trout and other inshore species from Mississippi beaches.
“On Mississippi beaches, you can use drones to pinpoint places to fish, but you can’t use a drone to locate the fish, cast to the fish and catch them. If I pinpoint fish or places holding fish with my drone, I won’t fish those spots that day but will return the next day and fish those places. Another good source to find fish for surf fishing is Google Earth maps.”
Gulfport Beach
One of Mitchell’s favorite places to fish is Gulfport where he lives and its 6.7 miles of sandy white Mississippi beaches. As Mitchell explains, “Gulfport is home to many big ships with plenty of traffic coming through that area. Those ships give off a lot of wake that creates gullies for the fish to lay up in where they can hide and ambush bait. Many of those gullies are very deep. You can catch very-big speckled trout and redfish in these gullies and even take jacks in some of them.”
Mitchell mentions that as you ride along the beach, you’ll see dark spots out in the water that are the ditches and the cuts where speckled trout and redfish hold to ambush bait. Those deep, dark spots are where you want to target the fish because the specks and redfish are waiting on the bait to come across those sandy spots and those holes to ambush the bait.”
Biloxi Beach
Biloxi is known as the Seafood Capital of the World, and its beaches feature 26 miles of white sand. Mitchell explains that Biloxi doesn’t have gullies as deep as those found in Gulfport, but the region contains more oyster reefs that hold fish than Gulfport does. “Also the Biloxi area has numerous broken-down piers with just the pylons they once stood on left that hold fish, and you can fish from the beach out toward the remnants of those piers to catch numbers of fish. I believe the fish leave the oyster reefs and run into the broken-down piers and then run back out to the oyster reefs – especially during mid-day when the weather’s very hot. Beach fishing at Biloxi is best early and late.”
Pascagoula Beach
Pascagoula is a gathering place of nations as they come there to trade, build or buy ships from the largest shipbuilding company in the U.S. This shipyard is the sole provider of U.S Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S Navy submarines.
As Mitchell says, “This beach only has one oyster reef, but it has numbers of underwater rocks just off the beach. Due to this place having plenty of rubble in the water, flounder fishing is especially good there. My friends and I like to fish every other morning at Pascagoula, and we’ll generally catch 7-10, 14-20 inch flounder.”
Long Beach
In the early 1900s, after the logging industry cleared out the area’s pine forest, and radishes were planted in their place, Long Beach became known as the “Radish Capital of the World.” Today it’s home to many University of Southern Mississippi research facilities.
“Long Beach is a mixture of the type of structure that you’ll find at Gulfport and Biloxi beaches,” Mitchell reports. “Long Beach has deep gullies and numerous oyster reefs. This beach also homes many old pier pilings that aren’t visible above the water. You can fish from the beach to catch the fish holding along the pilings that once have held-up piers. Too, the deep gullies that come off the beach are places where the speckled trout and redfish lay up and wait on baitfish to come by.”
Bay St. Louis Beach
Bay St. Louis was founded by French colonists and their slaves. Mitchell says that, “Bay St. Louis has deeper water than you’ll find at Long Beach. This beach area also has numbers of rocks in the water, as well as sea walls. This hard structure will hold plenty of sheepshead and redfish, since they like to swim and feed along the two-mile seawall all year. Rocks also can be fished productively there. But I wouldn’t advise fishing those underwater rocks, unless you’re fishing a popping cork and keeping your bait off the bottom.”
Ocean Springs Beach
Mitchell says there’s not much depth to Ocean Springs beach, “but it does have gullies, cuts and grass patches. Especially during the spring, speckled trout will move up in those grass patches to lay their eggs. You’ll catch some nice-sized trout on those grass patches with live shrimp, live croakers or live mullet.”
Old Bridge Beach
Old Bridge Beach is known as some of the whitest sand on a beach anywhere. Mitchell reports that, “When this beach holds its redfish tournaments, I have some friends who go there to catch big redfish. Although the water in this area is shallow, there a few drop-offs. The big redfish run through those, chasing mullet. I’m not sure about how the trout or flounder fishing is there, but I do know that anglers who want to catch big redfish, target this Mississippi beach.”
Black Beach
At Black Beach, you’ll be searching for oyster reefs, but you’ll get hung-up often. Mitchell says that, “This beach is definitely worth fishing for trout. You can fish surface baits, popping corks and live lures bait that swim on the top of the water here successfully. Anglers have caught some really-nice trout here in the past two years, and the trout fishing keeps on getting better.”
Chandeleur Islands
This chain of uninhabited barrier islands is approximately 50-miles long. According to Mitchell, “This is a one-of-the-kind place where you can catch many species of fish – redfish, pompano, speckled trout and others. The beaches on these islands are flat, but there also are drop-offs. I’ve found that the best bait to fish here is a plain silver spoon that will catch pompano, redfish, speckled trout and Spanish mackerel.”
Mitchell’s Favorite Mississippi Beach To Fish
As Mitchell explains, “Of all the Mississippi beaches I’ve mentioned, I enjoy fishing Gulfport the most. I caught my biggest trout ever at Gulfport that measured 29 inches. I also caught my first tripletail (24-inches long that weighed about 10 pounds) and my first redfish there. Although a tripletail is most noted for setting-up to feed around buoys, tripletails also will chase bait along the beaches and the rocks. I like to fish the beach because I can take my family with me to play in the water and the sand while I’m fishing.”
