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[size=14pt]Alabama Gulf State Park is pier-fect place to fish[/size]
Published: Sunday, July 08, 2012, 1:03 PM Updated: Monday, July 09, 2012, 7:14 AM
By Michael C. Bolton
[img width=380 height=180]http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/11273138-large.jpg[/img]
The relatively new Gulf State Park Pier is spacious and hosts a lot of fishermen every day this time of the year.
Thousands of people from the Birmingham area will head to the Alabama Gulf Coast in upcoming weeks for vacation. Many of those are probably considering fishing while there. The Gulf Shores/Orange Beach/Dauphin Island areas offer a multitude of opportunities.
One option that's perfect for the landlubber is the Gulf State Park pier. This state-of-the-art fishing facility opened in 2009 and it juts nearly a quarter-mile into the Gulf. It offers excellent fishing without the stomach-churning woes that often come from fishing from a boat in the Gulf. It is also a relatively inexpensive way to fish.
The pier, which replaced the pier destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, has been a huge hit with fishermen. The old pier, which was built in 1969, was dilapidated and ill-designed but sufficed for the hard-core fisherman. That pier was just 825 feet long and 12 feet wide.
The new pier is 1,540 feet long and 20 feet wide. The pier has an octagon-shaped end that is more than 90 feet wide to provide plenty of room for a number of fishermen. The water depth at the end is roughly 26 feet deep -- plenty deep for fishermen to have access to a number of big fish species.
What pier-fishing regulars love most about the new pier is its design. There are restrooms located at the midway point of the pier. Previously, anglers had to walk back to the start of the pier to use a restroom.
Fish-cleaning stations are scattered along the pier's length to assist in cleaning fish and cutting bait.
An air-conditioned concession stand/bait shop with indoor seating sells prepackaged sandwiches and drinks as well as ice, bait and tackle.
"Anyone that liked the old pier will love the new one," said David Thornton, a pier-fishing regular who drives from Mobile to fish at least once a week. "The added length is twice as good as we could have ever hoped for.
"We catch a lot more king mackerel now. On the old pier, you could catch kings about 65 to 75 days a year but with the end of the pier in deeper water now, you can catch kings closer to 200 days a year.
"The pier has a lot more surface area and a lot more lights so it attracts a lot more baitfish now and that makes for a lot more fish to catch. Everything is bigger and better now."
Thornton said that like all types of fishing, catching fish from the pier gets tougher in July and August, but anglers are still catching jack crevalle, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, a few king mackerel and even cobia on the deeper end of the pier. Pier anglers fishing less deep are catching plenty of flounder, speckled trout, redfish, whiting, bluefish and a few black drum. White trout, croakers and ground mullet are also being caught.
Many regulars, he said, are getting excited that the tarpon have began their migration run.
"The other day when the water cleared after the tropical storm, three tarpon ranging from 35 to 80 pounds were caught," Thornton said. "There will be a lot of tarpon ranging from 60 to 80 pounds caught over the next few weeks."
To bring a tarpon on the pier and keep it requires a special permit.
John Giannini, who owns J&M Tackle in Orange Beach, is also a pier-fishing regular. He typically spends an hour or two fishing before going to work each morning. He said most bass fishermen coming to the pier already have the tackle they will need.
"A spinning rod or baitcaster with 10- to 15-pound test line will work on the inshore species," he said. "They need to bring some split shot, some ½-ounce egg sinkers and some No. 6 Kale hooks and that will work fine."
Any tackle needed can be purchased at the tackle store on the pier. Fishing rods can be rented for $1.50 per hour. Live and frozen bait can also be purchased there.
Novice pier fishermen can learn a lot and get a feel for what they will experience by visiting gulfshorespierfishing.com. The website gives daily updates on what fish are being caught, the best time of the day to catch fish and offers chats between pier fishermen. The site has weather-related information including Doppler radar.
What novice pier fishermen most need to know is to bring a cooler with wheels, Giannini said.
"It's about an 1,800-foot walk from the parking lot to the end of the pier and you don't want to be carrying a cooler and fishing rods in this heat," he said. "It's very tiresome. They'll want to bring ice and drinks too."
To fish the pier, an Alabama saltwater fishing license is needed as well as a pier fishing permit. The daily pier fishing permit is $8 for adults and children 12 years or older. Children 11 or younger are admitted free with a paying adult. Passes are available for a week ($40), month ($80), six months ($160) and annual ($320).
