Thread: Fishing Trip to Gulf Shores in March- HELP

Too this thread I wish to add is there a list for us googans or just plan visiting folks. If not I would like to see about creating one. It would be a work in progress. I not on here to promote a brand name . But use it to allow us googans a better ideal of what is needed. Also if the gets pinned to a section of the forum I dont know who well be allowed to edit it? But if i put something in wrong or need to add something please just send me a message.


For the Pier

1. Fishing license if you are just going to fish the pier you are covered when pay the daily pier fee. You can do this on line. They allow you to input the date that you wish to start and end.

2. Reels almost every body uses spinning gear. You want something that will hold 300 yds of 20#s Mono. A Penn Spinfisher V in the 7500 an up should work. NO BRAID!!!! If you hook a shark you have to break him off its against the law to bring them on the pier. If you get drug in to the piling you can break it off. What every you end up leaving behind will not be a mess for everybody else. A good smooth drag you will be setting lite then increasing it as the fight goes on . At the bite most fish run hard and you want to let them get that out of their system.

3. Line is Mono and poundage depends on what you are fishing for. I use most 15-20 cover most of your big fish (reds in the 20#s) and 8-12 will cover ever thing else. Last June in between catching big fish we started catching a fish that is called a spade fish. I was glad to be using gear that was probably to heavy but was able to put on the pressure to keep them from running into the pilings.

4. Rods I have seen everthing at the pier. For me I had a lot of fun with a 8'-6" ugly stick lite inshore SPS1186-2H its a heavy (12-30#s) its a 2 piece. I went it because i can use it here at home as much as I would for once a year ocean fishing. I went with 2 piece rods because are easier to load in my truck.

5. Coolers I carry 2 a 70 qts and a small one. The 70 is for your catch and bait. Respect what you have just caught keep it on ice. The small one is for drinks you will dry out before you know it. I also used this to bring down food from home to cook at our condo. We found the price of beef to be a little high and sea food cheaper. Milk was another that made the trip, lunch meat, chips.

6. Kart You say I have a ton of stuff A kart is a very good ideal. I just went to Home Depot and got a garden kart. Works great on the pier not so much om the beach. Zip tie plastic rod holders to the side. A couple of big(15-30#) rods a medium (12#) and a small (8#)

7. You have to use black swivels the mackerels will bite you off right at the line. Some good single strand wire in the 30# class. Some 3 or 4 treble hooks and i would get a box of a 100 I got some 2x strong worked fine. You will want to make these ahead of time. I'm putting some .25" pvc pipe in some foam. About 24" long and 20 or so piece. Foam on both ends would allow to hold 40 per made hooks. slide the swivel end in the pvc and stick the hook in foam. Learn the haywire.

This is a pretty good start I think.
Any Body that has anything please chime In.
I would like to see this pin at the top of the forum.

+1 to pin that last post!

Originally Posted by fish34

For the Pier

1. Fishing license if you are just going to fish the pier you are covered when pay the daily pier fee. You can do this on line. They allow you to input the date that you wish to start and end.
.

this is true for Florida's piers, but NOT Alabama....they do sell a out of state pier only license for 11.00 good for the year starting September 1st.....last day is August 31st
but that is pier only ....no good on the beach,jetties or anywhere else but the pier's in Alabama

http://www.outdooralabama.com/oaonli...rlicense10.cfm

Just to make sure everyone understands what the new licenses entail, the new pier license would cover only fishing from the pier structures. If you fish from the surf next to the pier, you will have to have a regular saltwater fishing license,

Now back to Gulf State Park Pier. Residents and nonresidents are required to purchase a fishing permit at Gulf State Park Pier in addition to the pier license. A daily adult permit to fish on Gulf State Park Pier is $8. So, if you’re a nonresident and want to fish on Gulf State Park Pier for one day, it will cost $10 for the annual pier license, a $1 issuance fee and an $8 daily fishing permit for a total of $19. For a resident pier fisherman at Gulf State Park pier, the total cost would be $14.
However, if the license holder comes back to the pier at any time during that license year (expires on Aug. 31), the only fee will be the $8 daily fishing permit

Originally Posted by ironman172

this is true for Florida's piers, but NOT Alabama....they do sell a out of state pier only license for 11.00 good for the year starting September 1st.....last day is August 31st
but that is pier only ....no good on the beach,jetties or anywhere else but the pier's in Alabama



Just to make sure everyone understands what the new licenses entail, the new pier license would cover only fishing from the pier structures. If you fish from the surf next to the pier, you will have to have a regular saltwater fishing license,

just to add because I asked,this only includes PUBLIC piers. NOT private piers such as four seasons.

Somebody want to talk about Kings and ribbon rigs?

Got mine at JM's. But I have seen that you can buy a pole that hold the ribbon part inside. Keeps it from blowing in the wind. Also seen a couple guys that had take some pvc pipe of some kind mounted a reel seat. Used that just for that. I keep 1 pole with that on it. Caught bait un did the bait. Put it back in the holder and hooked up on a bigger rod.

The catfish might be biting

So, my question is, if I want to fish the pier and the surf, will a regular non-resident saltwater license cover both or do I need two licenses?

Both with non-resident, pier only with pier license (and still an entry fee to pier either way.)

Repair work to pier is in our future; when is unknown.

#1 is incorrect. You need a fishing license on the pier. It's only $11 annually for all residents/ non residents. Then, your daily pass @$9 or $6 if you're a veteran. Out of state licences for any location is $52, unless you're a border state then the fee is the same as what Alabama residents have to pay in that state.
Either way, you need a saltwater license and a pier pass to fish the pier.