Newbie gear questions

A friend and I are heading to Gulf Shores the end of this week for a few days. We were hoping to try pier fishing, but really don't know where to start. We do quite a bit of freshwater fishing around home (Bass and Crappie mostly) and wondered if our gear would be usable on the pier. We don't know what type of fish we would be fishing for specifically...we just want to try it for the thrill of fishing something new. Anyway, my go to rod and reel around here is a 20 spinning reel on a 6' Med rod. I do have a 40 spinning reel on a 7' heavy rod that I bought a few years ago when we were in Fort Walton to fish on the beach. She uses a Zebco Omega Pro Z03 spincast reel on a 6' med rod.

u want a rod 6ft or better med heavy or better. The reel is where u will make it. U need a good reel that will hold over 250 yards if ur fishing spanish or kings. If u are bottom fishing the shallows then a medium action bass spinning set up will do the trick.

you can use your bass gear for Spanish and for fishing the shallows. I have seen a few Kings landed on bass gear but not recommended. Spanish you can cast jigs or other lures and your bass gear is perfect. Rinse you rod and reels at the end of each day with fresh water. Hope you and your friend have an enjoyable trip.

What about line weight? They're all spooled with 10 lb. line now. I plan on at least respooling with fresh line before we leave. But should I put heavier line on? I think my friend's Omega only holds 85 yards of 10 lb.

Also, do we need leaders? We've never used them as we do mostly shallow bass fishing, but someone suggested that we should.

Depending if your bottom fishing or trying for toothy fish like Spanish. Spanish require a wire leader. If ur just going to fish flounder or Redfish no leader is required. Id fish 12# mono.

I have 6lb on one reel I Spanish fish with. Spanish fishing you will need a leader either wire (coated) or heavy mono (40lb) and small swivels. I would recommend going by J&M in Orange Beach talk to one of the guys in there, tell them your plans and they will gladly point you in the direction you need to go.

^^^^^ Hartselle is right up the road from me ha

How about fishing from the beach? Anything special we need to know to do that?

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Originally Posted by lightnin4

How about fishing from the beach? Anything special we need to know to do that?

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Well, no and yes ;-)
Many times nothing special is needed (tacklewise).
But like real estate it's often about location, location, location!
Where to go, when to go, and how to put what (bait) where...

On to your other question:

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...my friend's Omega only holds 85 yards of 10 lb.

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That ain't gonna 'cut it' for many mackerel you encounter, especially kings.
I like 150 yd minimum for spanish (4#-10#) and 250 yd min for kings (12#-20#)

There are times you can 'get away' with 30# or 40# clear mono for leader,
but I prefer a light wire of thin diameter (12# Sevenstrand is great).
Often just a few inches is all you will need for a lure or small live bait.

I strongly second the motion that you pay a visit to J&M Tackle. They will set you up with what you need and they can do it to fit your budget. There might be a new, inexpensive rod and reel in your partner's future. The sales people are fishermen and know what to set you up with. Good luck with the fish.

if you want to make the best of limited time I would hire pier #er as you pier, jetty, and shore guide.

Thanks to everyone for the help. We will probably be visiting J & M Tackle during our stay. I know we'll try fishing from the beach near our condo early mornings and/or late afternoons. And we'll at least visit the pier to watch the fishing while we're there.

looks like im going to j&m's tuesday. im in the same "boat'' too i would love some pointers from you pier pros.im coming with my son and dad on tuesday through sat just to fish!!!we bass fish here in arkansas but have little skill in saltwater.i went to the pier last year and caught a nice redfish but i dont think they are biting now.what should i expect to catch off the pier next week?
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i used a sabiki to catch the LYs and put it on a good hook? is that somthing you guys do there all the time or is it too early for lots of baitfish?

Medium spinning reels that will hold 150 yds of 12 lb mono, 6'6'' rod, 40 to 50 pound fluorocarbon leader, very small spro swivels. You can use his set up to catch spanish that are biting now. You can throw Looney jigs, gotchas and bubble rigs to catch them.

You'll need a very small rod and small reel with 8 lb line to use a sabki rig with 8 to 10 size hooks(green heads). You can use this set up to catch bait.

You can use the bait to fish for larger fish like Kings and spanish which are biting now. You'll need a reel that will hold 300 yards of 12 lb Big Game Trilene maybe 15 lb. depending on how clear the water is. There is a link to tie your leaders on here that is helpful. You'll need those same swivels, 7 strand steel leader(surf strand will work fine) 20 lb to 30 lb depending on water clarity. Owner or VMC 4x strong, #4 treble hooks.

If the water is clear, smaller line and leaders will help you get more bites.

J & M tacke store can help you with these products. Wal Mart wil have some of the stuff.

Go out on the pier and observe for awhile. Then catch em!

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Originally Posted by sperry7773

i used a sabiki to catch the LYs and put it on a good hook? is that somthing you guys do there all the time or is it too early for lots of baitfish?

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The LYs were in a large school last week under the pier between the two platforms.
They should be coming back in even increasing numbers as the water clears and gets warmer.
Live bait seemed to turn more bites (for kings) than cigar minnows or lures, but that is not always the case. Especially when live bait is scarce.
Plenty were caught using sabiki rigs, but I was using a 3/4" mesh ribbon rig to target 4" LYs for larger spanish mackerel.