Thread: Fairhope Fishing

Hey everyone. I usually fish in Gulf Shores but have heard good things about the Fairhope Pier. Is this a good time of year to fish there in the late afternoon or evening? I live close to there, just never fished it.

I never had much luck there. Flounder fishing in October there is OK.

Was there last night and there was specks under the second light out. They were real timid and we only managed to catch 1 small one but there where some studs.

I've fished there in the cooler months at night time and hooked up on a nice sized red too bad the pier net broke and she got away. Usual suspects hard heads and croaker as far as I know.

Originally Posted by Kometsfan2007

Hey everyone. I usually fish in Gulf Shores but have heard good things about the Fairhope Pier. Is this a good time of year to fish there in the late afternoon or evening? I live close to there, just never fished it.

I went last night. Water is grungy. North and West winds do not help. There were no Specks or Whites this time, just 3 mouse Reds, a few small Croaker and 2 Ground Mullet. (Plus 999,999,999 baby Gaff-tops swarming the lights like locust. They ate the legs off the live shrimp, tried to eat the crappies jigs etc.)
But then... a small shark circled a light, picked up my Redfish chunk-bait, and swallowed it. I was about 50 feet from the shore. May have been 30", looked like a Blacktip. The 15# mono lasted about 5 minutes before zzzzttttt.
So, that was cool, and I've never hooked one that close-in before.

But wait, there's more: I caught a hardtail (yes) around daybreak. Only the 2nd time I've ever caught one at Fairhope. Naturally, I floated it under a cork and naturally, something exploded on it. The Baitrunner nearly jumped out of the rod holder on my cart, peeled the line so fast that it almost bird-nested, and went dead. 30# mono, 45 degree slice, and he ain't coming back. I have seen Jacks there before, and I think I know what ate that hardtail, and I think it was about 100 lbs based on it's attitude. Next time, punk... next time.

Just to add: more than a few peeps were Jubilee watching. Didn't happen here this time, but some reports of sporadic and localized events at Mayday Pier and parts of Zundell's beach over the past few days. Mostly shrimp, and there were some being netted at Fairhope while I was there.

Here's a good website to watch the conditions: Mobile Bay NEP - Environmental Monitoring
(1 e-dollar to that #hashtag guy)