Four Seasons Pier and Surf Fishing

Hi all! Love the forum and all the valuable info here! We are coming down to the Four Seasons condo the week of June 6 - 13, and wanted to be prepared. From what I have read the Four Seasons pier has shallow water under it now, and the fishing on it is not as good as it once was. We have 2 kids that like to fish as well, and am hoping to get lucky on catching something from that pier (they don't care what they catch :) ). On the other hand, I would like to run across some pompano, whiting, reds, and specks from either FS pier, the shore, or the GSSP. Based on what I've read as well, some of the set up I have is overkill and the bait I use is not good (frozen shrimp :bang). So the question I have is taking $50 to BassPro, what would you buy?

Here is what I do have:

bass rod and med/heavy rod both with braid line
10# and 20# mono for leaders
1/0 circle hooks
sabiki rig for kids and bait
Top Dog Jr


From what I read I should get:
Gulp hollow pearl shrimp
Gotcha's (if spanish are around)
BETTER BAIT!

What else? Thanks for the input and sorry so long winded!

You're off to a good start. You want fresh dead, never frozen shrimp, even if you have to buy them from the eating part of the seafood dept at the supermarket (the price is actually about the same). I'm partial to smaller hooks like #4 or #2 kahle---you only want to put a fingertip size chunk of peeled shrimp on the hook so the fish can slurp it right in. You'll want live shrimp for trout, so you'll need a live bucket and aerator.

Go to J&M in Orange Beach for your tackle---they'll give you no-bs advice. Good luck.

As far as the kids go, I would recommend a small hook and a piece of small cut bait. You will not need a heavy leader for this. There are usually still a few pinfish around the pier that they could catch (be very careful taking them off the hook - they are called pinfish for a reason........).

As for pompano, whiting, and reds, what is the best leader size and rig setup? Is 20# a good size or too big? Is a dropper rig or carolina rig better?

On the four seasons pier flounder will be your best bet. Get a minnow bucket with an aerator, and buy some bull minnows. Make a carolina rig with around a 3/4 weight and a small hook, throw it up and down the edge of the pier and drag it across the bottom slow. If it feels like you are hung that is a flounder , count to ten and set the hook. You can catch spanish, and we used to catch alot of kings, but the shallow water has hurt the fishing some.

I use 8# mainline, a small egg sinker, a swivel and a short 12# leader w/#4 hook for whiting.

Awesome thanks for the info! Would a 10# drop rig for pompano be too light? As for reds would 20# line and 1/0 circle do the trick? Thanks again!

fine and fine, but maybe overkill for slot reds.

All of the above is good advice and very accurate. Add a light spinning reel and rod combo, six foot works well. With the drag set correctly you can land some very large fish on 8# test line. The pier keeps a couple of rope baskets handy that can be lowered to land larger fish. The kids can have a ball with shallow water fish (pinfish are plentiful and maybe whiting, croaker, and ground mullet). Size 4 or 6 Kahle style hooks work well. The biggest mistake is oversize tackle. I spend a few weeks there every year and still enjoy it even though it has gotten very shallow.

Are there any baitfish that can be caught around there with a sabiki rig?

FishBites.