Thread: Walking and fishing the beach at Ft Morgan

New guy here and have enjoyed reading the info on the site. I'm coming down to stay a week at Ft Morgan on the 20th of October and was planning on doing some spec and red fishing. My thoughts are to walk and fish the beach from the Ft Morgan Pier to Dixy Bar using artificials such as gold and silver spoons and doa shrimp. Would appreciate what you folks think about that plan. Going to try the new Gulf Shores pier at least one day but I never really had much luck fishing off of public piers. Hopefully I can do better off this pier.

welcome!!! that is a good time to be coming, as far as beach fishing, I can't help.... but the pier would be my choice and is, at that time too
Gulf Shores

WELCOME BD!

My 'short list' for wade/beach lures for mid October includes a few spoons (1/2, 3/4, 1 oz), a few top water hardbaits (Skitterwalk, Zara Spook Jr, MirrOLure Top Dawg Jr) and jigheads (1/4, 3/8/ 1/2 oz) for 4" Zoom Fluke and 3" Gulp Shrimp (New Penny and Natural or Molting) instead of DOA.
And a Bubble Rig or two ;-)

You don't want to lock yourself in to walking just a specific stretch of beach.
IF the wind is wrong (north or NE) that stretch you mentioned will be rough and muddy rendering it virtually fruitless for using visual lures.
Watch the wind (speed and direction) and the swell state in the Gulf to gauge where you should fish on a specific tide.

Find a shoreline (or other location) that is favorable for the conditions you are presented with and your efforts will be more successful!

I hope ;-)

Don't plan to fish the Ft. Morgan pier, I've heard it's closed.

Thanks for the info Pier#R. I guess if the wind is from the north I could just go over to the Gulf side and fish the beach over there. I like walking and casting as you can cover a lot of water and usually catch a few in a mile or two. Never did that around Gulf Shores so I'll be feeling my way around this trip.

The 'No-Name Road' at the east entrance to Ft Morgan Park is decent access to the gulf side beach.
Also Mobile Street (6 miles east) is a great area to walk the beach...

Hope this helps!

The Gulf shores pier is a great place to catch fish most years in October. This pier is better than any I have fished in any part of the country and has the best group of people I have found anywhere. They are helpful and will share info if you are polite. I have traveled extensively and love pier fishing and this one is the best. I now fish primarily on a private pier at the Four Seasons in Orange Beach Alabama but that is because I am old and decripit and do not get around too well. It is limited to owners and guests. I still plan to make it to the State pier at least one or two days this October when I will be there for the month.

I fish the fort morgan gulf side beach down that way a few times a year...I'm not a local and certainly no expert...I have had great luck with spoons on spanish, ladyfish, blues when they are around and especially when they're mobbing baitfish nearshore. I always bring a light rod rigged with a spoon and throw that when I see it. Nothing more fun to me than fighting a nice ladyfish on a light bass rod. I have had specks hit plastic shrimps (been using gulps or zmax or doa). We have always caught a good number of whiting and some white trout with cut bait (though you're gonna have to deal with cats too). By far the most productive has been using live (or, until very recently live) shrimp. Sometimes they have em at that little store next to Beach Club down fort morgan road, or they have em at the marina (prefer the marina). I bring small aerators to keep them alive in a lidded bucket and we hook a lot of specks in the surf on gulf side with them as well as the occasional pomp, redfish, etc. If you have kids or newbies and want to do your best to increase odds I've never been disappointed with live shrimp and its worth the extra effort/equip to keep em hopping.

Welcome to the Forum, BD. We are only able to fish the Gulf on yearly trips for a week to ten days, and been doing it for more than three decades. Ft. Morgan is where we love to be fishing when we are there. Mr. Pier#r, and everybody else, can help you make informed choices to maximize your time and success rate. I have gained more knowledge about, and insight into, Gulf coast fishing in the time since I found my way to this forum, than I had learned in thirty years on my own. Our annual visit in May to Ft. Morgan this year was the most rewarding, ever. And I still feel my rank as a surf fisher is maybe on the Googan, but trying side. A large part of fishing the Gulf side of Ft. Morgan is some of the diversity of fish and fauna that is as much fun as catching fish. Really. Anyway, best of luck, and smooth drags.

As Pier#r would say, no need to fear the pier..... But the beach has been very good to me. The No name road is a great place to go if winds are not helping you on the point. Also my pic is from there, but it was spring time when the son holding the fish caught it.