Ugly Fishing LLC

Mobile Bay laps against the Eastern Shore just a few minutes from downtown Daphne, and it is from this stretch of brackish, marsh-fringed water that Ugly Fishing LLC runs its charters. The company is built around one boat and one captain, Patric Garmeson, who guides anglers onto the bay’s flats, reefs, and channel edges in pursuit of redfish, speckled trout, flounder, and the fish that inspired the company’s tongue-in-cheek name: sheepshead.

Garmeson has fished Mobile Bay for more than three decades and has worked as a professional guide for over fifteen years. He is a former Alabama state record holder for sheepshead, a detail that shows up often in how other captains and local outdoors writers describe him. His trips are built around whatever species is biting best that week, which on Mobile Bay can shift with the tide, the season, and the water temperature.

Most charters chase a rotating cast of inshore and nearshore species. Redfish and speckled trout are the mainstays, with flounder, sheepshead, jack crevalle, and Spanish mackerel filling out the calendar depending on the time of year. Trips run year-round, and Garmeson works with both first-time anglers who have never held a rod and experienced fishermen chasing a personal best.

The boat itself is a Blue Wave 2400 Pure Bay powered by a 300-horsepower Yamaha outboard, chosen specifically for a bay that averages around ten feet deep but includes plenty of shallower water. The boat carries a Raymarine Axiom Pro GPS and fish finder, Lenco trim tabs for a smoother ride in choppy conditions, twin Power-Pole anchors for holding steady in skinny water, and a Motor Guide Xi5 trolling motor with GPS-assisted spot lock. Large live wells keep bait fresh when working piers, reefs, and seagrass beds, and the open layout leaves room to move around and store gear without crowding.

Trips depart from the Daphne area but the service area stretches well beyond it, covering Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores, Fairhope, Fort Morgan, Orange Beach, Spanish Fort, and Mobile, with the exact launch point chosen based on where the fish are biting and what the weather is doing that day. Family trips, corporate outings, and larger groups that need more than one boat are all part of the regular business, and Garmeson works to keep things approachable for anglers who are just learning to cast as much as for those chasing a tournament-worthy catch.

Garmeson’s reputation on the water has drawn some outside attention. He has appeared on Fox Sports Outdoors and Fox 10 News Outdoors, been a guest on the Salt Strong and Louisiana Inshore fishing podcasts, and contributed fishing reports and articles to regional outdoors publications. None of that changes what a trip actually looks like day to day: an early start, a run out to wherever the tide and bait activity point, and a few hours spent working structure for whatever is willing to eat.

Booking a trip requires a $100 per boat deposit to hold a date, with a small processing fee added for credit card payments. Trips can be arranged directly by phone or through the online booking system linked from the website. For anyone looking to spend a morning or afternoon on Mobile Bay without owning a boat of their own, Ugly Fishing offers a straightforward way to get out on the water with someone who has spent a lifetime learning its channels and flats.

Whether the goal is a cooler of fresh fish for dinner or simply a few hours away from the dock, the trips are shaped around Mobile Bay’s rhythms rather than a fixed script, which is part of what keeps regulars coming back season after season.