Dauphin Island fishing advice

Hey everyone, my dad is moving back to mobile soon to take care of his parents. Living in Tennessee, he is out of practice as far as saltwater fishing goes. He isn't as tech savvy as me, so I told him I would find out some things for him. I'm also coming down around the end of may hopefully to camp with my wife and him in Dauphin island, and I wanna catch some fish! He has a boat so we can go out, but probably not too far or in too rough of waters. Where are some good places to start? I've seen where there are some artificial reefs nearby and dixie bar for reds. Are those good places? It seems like live shrimp are the best bait for a lot of things, is there a place we can throw a cast net to catch some so we don't have to break the bank buying bait? I've also seen where people use those doa shrimp under a popping cork so that might be the way to go? I'm really not picky on what we catch, just wanna have a blast doing it! Wouldn't mind catching at least one big red though. What is the best line to use? I will probably have a smaller setup on a baitcaster or spinning reel and a bigger setup on a spinning reel. Sorry for all the questions just wanna get all the bases covered! I would hire a guide, but I'm a poor college kid right now and can't really afford it! Thanks Guys.

Dixie bar and the reefs rigs around the island and fort morgan are all good fishing spots and even the jetties on the island are good spots. Depending on the kind of boat y'all might be able to go out to some rigs in the gulf on a calm day. Enough shrimp for one day isn't expensive at the tackle shops and live shrimp is probably the best bait for all around inshore fishing. Shrimp under a popping cork works very well and in deeper water a carolina rig or pyramid weight rig will work to drop it to the bottom. 15 lb line is a good all around line for things like that, but check the line capacity to make sure you will have enough line. The rivers all around there are great spots in the summer also. hope you get some fish