Heading to Perdido Beach for First time

I am spending the week at Perdido beach with the wife and kids starting on Saturday March 24th and looking for any advice on fishing(shore and headboat/charter).

I have fished the surf of North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, but never the gulf. My 9yr old son and I have done some great shore fishing and on headboats. He is young but won't shy away from being on the water for 10 or more hours. I looked at a few headboat recently in the area and honestly wasn't too impressed and some had too many poor facebook comments/ratings. I realize often people only comment when they are not happy.

So... any advice would be appreciated or recomendations. We are coming from Ohio where a mild January and February has made it for some memorable fishing on Lake Erie(I don't ice fish!)

Thanks ahead of time!
-Mike

Mike - Use the "search" feature at the top right of this page. I'm sure that there have been previous discussions on the subject. I'd help you with a suggestion, but I don't do head boats/charters.

Previous Post: http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...-please-13586/

Being red snapper and triggerfish are closed,I would recomend going on a four hour inshore trip out of Orange Beach because it's as good as it gets for sheepshead and pompano along with a permit or redfish mixed in here and there the time you will be here. The extended forecast is calling for warm temps and storms that week and sunny calm days are the best so look up the weather for 36561 to get an idea. The one thing against you about booking last minute to get a good weather day is there are a lot of schools on spring break including the county we are in. Most of the guides in the area are friends and customers of mine so I hate to recomend a particulal one because most are equal this time of year when the fishing is good. Heres a few,pick a name you like and call,the results will be about the same. If they are booked he or she will help you find a boat. Dave Brown 251 942 4037, Capt Bligh 251 747 0220, Doug Maines 228 365 2352, Kathy Broughton 251 747 7375.

Good recomendations John.
Ritchie russell is another vying for the coveted sheepshead guide of the year ;-)
https://www.russellsfishingcharters.com/

Thanks for that useful post, john g. I was supposed to be there last week with the Hobie, but something came up. That was the first news of inshore fishing I've run across. Was planning on making it the 23rd, but might wait until after spring break.

And now we got informed amberjack will close Friday. Damn fish are going to starve to death because there are so many, but in some peoples eye, I guess it's OK for them to die like that because it's natural........

Quote:

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Originally Posted by john g

And now we got informed amberjack will close Friday. Damn fish are going to starve to death because there are so many, but in some peoples eye, I guess it's OK for them to die like that because it's natural........

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Closing Amberjack to sportfishermen? That seems insane to me.

Anyway I appreciate all the advice. I think we are going to call tomorrow and try to get on the reel surprise head boat sometime next week. Since it is just my younger son and myself, it would be a little difficult to shell out $400+tip for 4-6hrs on a private boat. Since we fish almost weekly here on Lake Erie, I am well aware of the cost and time involved in taking a boat out and I am not complaining at all about their rates. It just isn't in the budget for this family vacation.

I packed a few medium action spinning rods with a few plugs and some weights and botton rigs. May try to fish from shore or a pier.

Fishing from the pier is a definite, just remember to wash your rod and reel off with fresh water after every trip. You never know what your going to catch at the pier more especially with the water temp on the rise.