Thread: 1st timer

We be visiting gulf shores for the first time. We want to do fishing from the pier. Could anyone make any suggestions on baits to use/try, some of the best times to fish off the pier, and maybe what tackle and accessories to bring?

We are from Indiana and I fish competitive here, but fresh water and from a boat. I have zero experience fishing from a pier and limited experience fishing salt water. We will gave several kids with us and really not worried about catching giant fish. Just anything to keep them occupied.

Rules, regulations, license info would be cool. Also maybe some info on fish we could keep to eat.

Any help would be great!
Thanks!!
JRat

What time of the year are you coming down? If y'all aren't worried about catching bigger fish and have limited knowledge of pier/saltwater etc. I would just get fresh live/or dead shrimp and Carolina rig it. If you're using fresh dead cut it in smaller pieces. Smaller the presentation and terminal tackle the more successful you'll be. Stay away from the tandem Walmart rigs and you don't need giant hooks. I'd use a 12-15lb mono leader.

6.5-7ft medium action spinning gear is a good setup out there. I would strongly recommend on your first day just go out and walk the pier and observe. Ask questions and the search bar at the top right of this forum is your friend. Good luck.

a heavy-ish bass spinning rig will work pretty well for most stuff until you go towards the end, then you'll want to be using a little heavier gear (or at least have something with good line capacity). Like SNAKE said, carolina rig is pretty generic rig. You can buy shrimp at pretty much any bait store if you don't wait too long or they've restocked, including at the pier store. Depending on when you go, you can run into a spanish mackeral run which is a lot of fun. Looney jigs and Gotcha plugs are pretty popular. Also the straw rigs work well for Spanish. Lots of helpful posts on the forums already, search around and you'll see it here. There's a good rough-estimate schedule of when fish runs tend to be in an image form that floats around in most of the "Help" threads.

If your kids are very young, giving them a smaller rod (medium to medium-light) with a spinning reel (you don't want to use anything else or it will get ruined) and putting a ribbon rig or a sabiki rig is a solid way to entertain the younger kids. Ribbon rig is just a red ribbon running vertical about 18 inches with about a 3-4 inch wide net running the length of the ribbon and a big pyramid sinker on the bottom. Bait fish are attracted to the ribbon, they swim into it and you can reel up bait fish all day. And if people are out on the octi (the end of the pier) fishing for bigger stuff, they'll take free bait pretty regularly unless nothing is biting and catching bait is all the excitement they get . Sabiki rig is just aa 18-20 inch string of heavy line with 6-10 small flies with small hooks hanging off. It's used for catching bait just the same. Only thing with bait is to be careful with the crazyfish as they've got spines on their belly that hurt like crazy so you've got to show the little ones how to hold them first (just don't grab around the belly).

As for licenses, you can buy a pier-only saltwater license for Alabama for $11 I think it is. If you don't plan on fishing anywhere other than off piers (afaik piers on the backside of the hotels/condos count as well) it's a good deal, and it last for the whole year as well. It's here: Saltwater Recreational Licenses | Outdoor Alabama . Then you have to pay the day pass for the pier for each person. Gulf State Park Pier - Orange Beach, AL It's $9 for an adult to fish, $4/day if you don't fish.

And something I see people neglect to mention sometimes: If you plan to fish and it's a time of year where the fishing is good, bring a cooler with wheels. You'll see lots of people with pier carts getting all fancy. You don't need anything crazy, but if you plan to fish and are looking to keep fish it's a good idea to have a cooler with wheels. The pier is long, it's even longer when you're tired. And it's a free place to sit if you aren't stopped at a bench that has room/is clean.

I'm a novice (been 3 years in a row with my Dad and Brother, hoping this will be the 4th), but I like fishing and I read this site pretty often so I pick up a lot of stuff. But like I said earlier, make sure you look at some of the other threads, there are several that are multiple pages long with lots of good help to make rigging easier so you don't have to be completely lost. One thing you'll see a lot of is suggestions to stop by J&M Tackle if you get a chance. They're good with helping the noobies out.

geez, I rambled a lot.

Welcome to the forum my friend, it's a great place to be! Snake has the best idea, just walk the pier and look, listen, and do some chatting. If you are a fisherman, you will able to tell the googans from the people who know what they are doing. Usually the people who know what they are doing will have a beach cart of some sort. If you are nice and polite and wait until they land their fish they will gave you all kinds of good advice. Then you will have to sort through that "advice" and determine what will work for you and your your situation. If you are fishing with family or younger children, it may not be a bad idea to do some surf fishing or shore fishing in a isolated area. Your bass gear will work for most of the fishing that you will do down here, for a short time. Except for the hooks, line & sinkers, I would leave my bass tackle box at home. If you need anything, stop at J & M, in Orange Beach or Hooked Up in Gulf Shores and tell them your situation and they will help you out with out ripping you off. Good luck & tight lines to you, JRat, and keep us posted.

If fish are being caught, do what they are doing.......I have heard many times from rail standers why are the same people catching? When fish are there but not really feeding suttle things mean so much for catching (leader size,hook size,bait size)etc......sometimes it doesn't matter.....but when it does only a few that change up will be catching.....I have learned over the past few trips this and pay attentions it makes a world of difference ,just like your fresh water competitive fishing.....light minimal rigging is your way to go most of the time for better success.

Welcome from a fellow Indiana freshwater fishermen. You are going to love this site, Gulf Shores, the Pier, the people, and Salt Life! Plus one for what has been said. 6.5-7 ft medium spinning gear. Keep it simple go as light as you can Fresh shrimp and maybe small pieces of pink or orange Fish Bites. First stop visit the pier walk around talk to folks, ask questions, make friends learn the pier thing. Second stop J&M in Orange Beach, again ask questions tell them what you have with you and what you want to do. They will help you out and not sell you a bunch of junk you don't need. Bring a hat, sunglasses, sun screen, and good need nose pliers. Enjoy yourself this is the greatest place ever for a vacation!

Welcome to the forum JRay. Lots of good advice---use the search feature, go light, don't use braid, go to J&M Tackle, use fresh shrimp (never frozen) and if you see my cart with the yellow "Haywire" flag, come say hello and I'll help you and the kids get started. I look forward to meeting you.

Originally Posted by JRay1459

We be visiting gulf shores for the first time. We want to do fishing from the pier.
Could anyone make any suggestions on baits to use/try, some of the best times to fish off the pier, and maybe what tackle and accessories to bring?

check out the Q & A forum @ http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com/f39/
specifically http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com/f39/whats-biting-when-per-pier-r-9236/
and use the 'search' feature box in the upper right corner ;-)

Originally Posted by JRay1459

We are from Indiana and I fish competitive here, but fresh water and from a boat. I have zero experience fishing from a pier and limited experience fishing salt water.
We will gave several kids with us and really not worried about catching giant fish. Just anything to keep them occupied.

Rules, regulations, license info would be cool. Also maybe some info on fish we could keep to eat.

Any help would be great!
Thanks!!
JRat

Pier Rules @ Fishing and Education Pier | Alapark
Alabama Saltwater Creel Limits @ http://www.outdooralabama.com/sites/...%20B%26W_1.pdf
License info @ https://www.alabamainteractive.org/d...welcome.action

Welcome, hope this helps!

How old are your kids?

Originally Posted by JRay1459

We be visiting gulf shores for the first time. ... Also maybe some info on fish we could keep to eat.

When are you coming down?

Give a kid a Zebco combo rod-n-reel, tie on a Sabiki or a ribbon rig and they'll be entertained for a long while. They'll catch the bait while you fish. :-)