First full week in May, and full moon

We'll be in Sunday, May 3 for the week. I saw y'all talking about how great the sheepie bite would be due to the full moon. Can we kind of expect the same that first week in May? Trying to sneak one last trip in before you're shoulder to shoulder for the summer. Back in September, once everyone has to get the kiddies back in school. Oh, and second question? Are we likely to be able to find stone crab at Billy's in May. We got so lucky with them in December, but I'm not sure when we're likely to see them (hoping May!)

I'm afraid the sheepshead bite will be a dim memory by the time the full moon in May rolls around.

but the good news is there should be other good fish on the prowl ;-)

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Originally Posted by Pier#r

I'm afraid the sheepshead bite will be a dim memory by the time the full moon in May rolls around.

but the good news is there should be other good fish on the prowl ;-)

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Yeah, it's pretty much an early season deal for the hot sheepshead bite. They can still be caught later, but it's an exercise in patience - a patience that is usually abandoned when everyone around you is hooking up on kings and spanish!

Thanks Pier#r, I sure was hoping we wouldn't be too late for sheepshead. They sure are tasty!

Thanks eym, but we are fishing the Four Seasons pier, and while husband has caught a spanish, it's not as deep as the big pier even at the end. Flounder, sheepies, and the pompano I've still yet to catch is the norm there, and I think some reds and a few others mixed in.

Good luck hook'em, I was 150 yards east of the pier Monday morning (Apr 6) and there were some sheepshead running the edge of the beach sandbar (just like at the GSPPier and other locations).
As they move away into the bays and inlets other fish will assume those same feeding locations including pompano, flounder and whiting (already), and (soon) speckled trout, bluefish, ladyfish, blue runner, black & red drum, etc.

I hope ;-)
Bottom line the beach sandbars around that pier (like the GSPPier and other sites) are beginning to 'open up' a bit, and get deep enough to allow fish to feed in or around.

Thanks Pier#r. I think this trip? I want to mosey on down to the west of 59, and see what happens down that way. We always make a left and head east to Orange Beach, but I'm curious now to see what happens the other way. Maybe we'll find a new hidden gem.
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I think the bigger pompano are around right now, but not many are being caught from the pier. The reports I read of people catching decent sized pompano is in the surf east of Perdido Pass and on west beach and Ft. Morgan. I suspect that the beach, trough and sandbar shape around the piers has a lot to do with this. I was catching them this time last year around the pier with imported grocery store frozen shrimp and a few on jigs and I caught as many as people using fresh dead(never frozen). If I remember correctly the bar on the east side of the pier had moved to within a few yards of the beach by the first week of May. By the end of June there was just a very shallow flat extending from the beach almost to the restrooms on that side. The trough has re-formed somewhat on the east side but I didn't see any pompano caught there a couple of weeks ago. I see some spots with great potential on Google Earth aerial views but I'm not sure when they were taken and some are a LONG walk if puling a cart. Good luck!

Hey, hook'em, there are some very good fishing places west of 59, and many aren't crowded. Using Google earth will help. Find Mobile St., and the last road on the left before entering onto Ft. Morgan. Was once known as Grant St., now known as noname road. But be aware that noname is coarse. Good luck, and smooth drags.

Kind of want to check out accommodations down that way. Never been down there. Like to stay close to where we are fishing (that's why we've been staying at 4 Seasons) and need to check that area west of Gulf Shores out this trip.