July 20-27th

Been reading this forum for a while and really wanted to make it down to the pier a few days on my vacation in July. Unfortunately, my family booked a place in Dauphin Island and I doubt I'll be able to make the trip to the pier. If I am lucky I may get to drive over for a short period of time, but I'll need to figure out the ferry times and whatnot.

I'm curious, do many of you fish the jetties on the east end of DI? Alot of friends have told me the jetties are hard to beat for fishing...but where I am used to fishing in North Carolina they dont have accessible jetties to fish from. Looking for general advice so I dont waste time or hurt myself.

Great forum you guys have here, very informative. This year I bought alot of gear ahead of time based on all the great posts I've read, hopefully I wont just be soaking dead shrimp.

Welcome to the forum, thanks for joining!
Here is a link to the ferry schedule, come on over and fish the pier at least once.
Mobile Bay Ferry Schedule

Jetties on the east end can be great for flounder, reds, sheepshead, specs, white trout, croakers, ground mullet and even Spanish (if the water is clear).
Use live shrimp or fresh dead, don't mess with frozen crap. Live finger mullet or small croakers for reds, specs & flounder too.
Throwing spoons or jigs may produce.

Don't forget the beach on DI, especially the west end beach on the sound side.

How long is the trip from the center of DI to the pier? Generally the best time for me to fish is early morning, so getting to the pier and getting some quality fishing time will be tough if its more than 30mins or so.

Thanks Carl. I bought a few Gotcha's and spoons this year because of all the suggestions I've seen on the forums. I've never had luck with artificials in the ocean...but again I've never fished anywhere but in front of my beach chair in the surf.

From DI to the GSP Pier will take you at least an 1.5 hours, between taking the ferry from Di to Fort Morgan and then driving the 25 miles from there to the pier.
Not a very good option. The drive around the bay will take longer.

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Originally Posted by CarlF

From DI to the GSP Pier will take you at least an 1.5 hours, between taking the ferry from Di to Fort Morgan and then driving the 25 miles from there to the pier.
Not a very good option. The drive around the bay will take longer.

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That is really unfortunate. Doubt I can justify spending 3+ hours making a trip to the pier then :( especially if I cant get there in the early hours. I was really pushing for a rental in Fort Morgan, but with the kids and all my parents liked DI because its so quiet and less crowded than the Gulf Shores area.

Hopefully I can make the best of the jetties and surf fishing at DI. We are going to be really close to what looks like the old golf course on the gulf side. Best options I can see on Google for someone on foot seems to be Pelican bay (the long N-S sandbar island??), jetties, and rocks on west end. I hear wading is good, but with as little experience with the area as I have...I'd most likely come up with no fish and/or get stung or bit by a ray/shark/jelly. Will there be somewhere to buy live bait early in the mornings? If not, any suggestions for locations I can use my cast net to get shrimp this time of year?

Jemisons has all the bait you will need. They are located north of DI. The Golf course has some really good wade fishing for Specks and Flounder.

Welcome to the Forum, Mattb. As for Ft. Morgan, start your campaign for your next trip. There are areas of Ft. Morgan that are not crowded, very peaceful. Dauphin Island is great, tho, just take CarlF's advise and you should do well. Hope you all have good luck and smooth drags.

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Originally Posted by bodebum

Welcome to the Forum, Mattb. As for Ft. Morgan, start your campaign for your next trip. There are areas of Ft. Morgan that are not crowded, very peaceful. Dauphin Island is great, tho, just take CarlF's advise and you should do well. Hope you all have good luck and smooth drags.

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I caught the red in this picture on Dauphin Island beach just straight out from the pier. It was Good Friday this year. When I looked at the beach with google earth I thought there must me something wrong with this picture but when we got there sure enough the pier does not go all the way to the water.
An older gentleman was fishing down from us and he said yup. You used to be able to fish off the end and it was deep.
The point goes out a long way there and I don't know what kind of structure there is but there has to be a point somewhere. You might have to hike 1/2 mile or more but it could be worth it.
If I could pick where I'm going surf fishing it would be OBX but Dauphin Island is nice.
What about the pier on the end of the Dauphin Island bridge?

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Originally Posted by pierboy01

Jemisons has all the bait you will need. They are located north of DI. The Golf course has some really good wade fishing for Specks and Flounder.

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There is a deep hole at the golf course that is killer for flounder they love to hang out at the edge of the drop off use bull minnows on a Carolina rig just cast out and slowly bounce itback to you along the bottom just remember to give them time to eat the bait before you set the hook,or use circle hooks its almost impossible to miss a fish that eats a circle hook .

I'm staying just a small walk from that point south of the golf course. Is that the hole you speak of? Flounder and Reds in there I assume?

I hope you share a fishing report after you get back from your trip. I'm taking the family down, at the end of September, and we will be staying on the West side of DI. Plan on fishing as much as possible from the surf and a private pier. I just wish I could head to the pier for a day.

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Originally Posted by FishH2O

I hope you share a fishing report after you get back from your trip. I'm taking the family down, at the end of September, and we will be staying on the West side of DI. Plan on fishing as much as possible from the surf and a private pier. I just wish I could head to the pier for a day.

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Sounds like we are in the same boat. I was pumped that DI had a pier right by our rental until I looked it up on Google. What a let down to see it is completely dry. I've been fishing North Carolina on vacation every year since I was little, but never had a ton of success. Couple small fish here and there. Last year I went out on our pier for the first time and had a blast even though I just caught small sharks, blowfish, whiting, blues, and a few spades. Way more action than I see in the surf. This year I ordered some rattling Gotcha's and Mirrolure in hopes of fishing more actively rather than spiking. I'll definitely post a report and let you know if I was successful.

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Originally Posted by DANtheJDMan

What about the pier on the end of the Dauphin Island bridge?

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That would be Cedar Point Pier. I have caught some nice fish from that pier in the past.

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Originally Posted by DRH

That would be Cedar Point Pier. I have caught some nice fish from that pier in the past.

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Cedar Point Fishing Pier

I've gotten some nice buys at Walmart too ;-)

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Originally Posted by Mattb

I'm staying just a small walk from that point south of the golf course. Is that the hole you speak of? Flounder and Reds in there I assume?

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Its on the west side of the point.

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Originally Posted by Pier#r

Cedar Point Fishing Pier

I've gotten some nice buys at Walmart too ;-)

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You saying that pier isn't the best? Haha

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Originally Posted by Pier#r

Cedar Point Fishing Pier

I've gotten some nice buys at Walmart too ;-)

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Just like finding nice buys at Walmart, it is a lot easier to find something nice when there isn't much traffic. The secret to CPP is to go stealth in the wee hours of the morning, working the edge of the lights while being quiet about it. The specks there will vanish or get lockjaw at the slightest bit of noise.

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Originally Posted by Mattb

You saying that pier isn't the best? Haha

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Nah. Also just like Walmart, I always wind up going back. It is just so inconvenient to get there now and haven't been there in five or six years.

You guys are very helpful. Question about wade fishing... I dont own waders and I'd think it would be ridiculously hot this time of year to wear anything other than sandals. Will I be relatively safe wading with sandals/barefoot or should I invest in something more protective?

I prefer to use an old pair of shoes. Sandals are a pain to wade in, it's hard to keep them positioned correctly on your feet if you can keep them on your feet at all.