Headed down for my second trip ever.

We were down last year near Thanksgiving and I had one day to fish and caught a bunch of croaker.
Had a blast.
Now I hear the whiting are around and that’s even better.

Been lurking here (Check it every single day) since last year and now the time has come to head down again, for a few days this time. I’ve used the search function a lot on this forum and have done my best to gear up in a useful way.

I am looking forward to possibly meeting some of the folks who post here a lot and put some faces to names.
I’ll be the shabbily dressed guy with the big beard and cobbled together pier cart. Hopefully y’all can learn me a few things....

Creeeeepiinnn lol welcome

I have been to piers all over the country and the people on this pier make it the best. Due to old age I rarely make it any more but am still a big fan. I just spent a month in Orange Beach at the Four Seasons private pier but I still like the state pier. The amount of walking affects my choice now.

Thanks for the welcome guys !
We just pulled in and got into our room.
We’re at the Grand Beach Resort Condos,...and I am happy that it’s close,...I can see the pier just off a short ways to the East.
I’ll be out tomorrow AM,...dunno if I’ll be up super early early, but some time in the morning. Heck, I think I’ll try walking down we’re that close.
Sweet,... the wife did us right when she picked eh?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SteveH

Thanks for the welcome guys !
We just pulled in and got into our room.
We’re at the Grand Beach Resort Condos,...and I am happy that it’s close,...I can see the pier just off a short ways to the East.
I’ll be out tomorrow AM,...dunno if I’ll be up super early early, but some time in the morning. Heck, I think I’ll try walking down we’re that close.
Sweet,... the wife did us right when she picked eh?

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So then, are you going to walk back to the condo with a full pail or cooler full of fish? Just wondering.

If you do walk, the hard wet sand is easy to pull the cart on... otherwise you'll develop calf muscles

Yup...that’s exactly what I did,..walk back to the condo with a cooler full of fish.
The walk to the condo down the beach road (in the bike lane) was about as far as from the entrance of the pier to the Octi.

I did it in the dark though, haha. Because I had a long day.
I got there around 8AM, just in time to miss seeing the guy haul in the slot red in the shallows. It was on the deck when I got there. Happened to set up next to Desarge, and we got along well. But the fish weren’t biting even though you could see a whole massive community of all types of them in the clear water. All had lock jaw.

But as the day warmed things improved. Then,...things REALLy improved when I met a guy named “Tater”. Man,..I think that guy is actually sporting gills somewhere hidden underneath all the clothes we all had to wear today. He showed me a few things, and BAM,...whiting started going into the cooler, along with a bunch of mullet too.
This site can’t accept pictures from me no matter how small I make them so I can’t post, but I had a Coleman full of keepers.

The wife and boy walked over to visit and the boy (seven) even took a swim in the frigid water on the way back. He’s a tough kid.

Well,...when the light started to dim, I decided to head to the cleaning station and then the walk back in the dark. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds,...really.
So an eleven hour day at the pier,...I’m beat. But all in all I had a great time, learned a lot, and will be back tomorrow,..afternoon that is.

Just finished some whiting and mullet sautéed in butter with capers and fresh lemon juice,...and a few cold beers.
A great day.