Vacation Fishing Advice

Howdy from Texas,

My girlfriend and I will be in town with family from the 19-26th of June. With not much planned, I was looking to get some fishing done in the early mornings and afternoons. I was wondering if any of you had some advice on what kind of tackle to bring along for our trip. With limited space in the car, I would rather not bring the whole arsenal of tackle in my garage. I was also wondering if you guys target the same fish we do here? (Specs, Reds and Flounder being the main 3) We have been slaughtering the specs down here on live croaker free-lined behind a shaker while wade fishing. Is it uncommon to see people wading from the public beaches? I read something about kings being caught from the piers as well. I have caught kings in the past but always while trolling offshore. I would love to hook into one if possible but have no idea how to go about it from a pier. Any advice you guys can offer to an ol' boy from Texas would be greatly appreciated.

As far as pier advice goes, you'll want to use the Search feature at the top right portion of these pages. I tell you this not to dismiss your questions, but instead to direct you down the straightest path toward a complete answer. There are dozens of things that you need to know, from species identification, to regulations, to bait, as well as rigging and what tackle to use for which species. All of that and more have been discussed in detail before and includes all you'd ever want to know about fishing on the Gulf Shores Pier.

Honestly it will surprise you King fishing is not rocket science here It's surprisingly simple Just have you an outfit that will hold a least 300 yds of 15-25 pound test line 7-9ft medium action rod 12-18 inches of wire leader connected to a treble hook and you are in business Get you a small sabiki rig to catch you some bait or get you some cigar minnows go to the end of the pier and throw it out along with everyone else and let it drift with the current and the wind and hold on You'll see what everyone else is doing and catch on quickly All of these items can be found at J&M Tackle As I said King fishing is not that difficult King landing on the other hand is a little tougher but you should be able to manage it Good Luck !!

Should I worry about getting a pier net/gaff or are people normally friendly about sharing theirs? Is there a communal net at certain piers? Also are there any piers in particular I should try to visit during our stay?

Nets and gaffs will be readily available with many willing to help you land your fish I carry both as do several others You shouldn't have a problem
Also have you an outfit with 200-250yds of 10-12 lb test light to medium action rod and a few bubble rigs for spanish and blues This is fun fishing which i think you'll enjoy also
Your Pier choice is easy There is only one Gulf State Park Pier You'll enjoy it

The following reels were the ones I was planning on bringing:
- Curado on an 8 ft light action rod
- Abu Garcia Ambassador on a 7 ft medium action rod
- Pflueger spinning reel on a 6.5 ft medium action rod
- a big baitcast Penn on a 5 or 6 ft meat stick


I've got a few other rods available if need be but was unsure what else I would need. For the bigger fish with live bait, how far will I need to be casting from the pier? I'm not sure if I've ever tried casting any distance with my Penn setup considering it has been used in the past for snapper fishing. Are the longer, more surf type setups required to get the bait out to where it needs to be?

A rod seven and a half to eight feet is plenty sufficient, but you probably want to put a spinning reel on it because it's hard to cast a conventional reel into the wind, and the best fishing tends to be when the wind is coming from offshore.

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Originally Posted by dps0609

The following reels were the ones I was planning on bringing:
- Curado on an 8 ft light action rod
- Abu Garcia Ambassador on a 7 ft medium action rod
- Pflueger spinning reel on a 6.5 ft medium action rod
- a big baitcast Penn on a 5 or 6 ft meat stick


I've got a few other rods available if need be but was unsure what else I would need. For the bigger fish with live bait, how far will I need to be casting from the pier? I'm not sure if I've ever tried casting any distance with my Penn setup considering it has been used in the past for snapper fishing. Are the longer, more surf type setups required to get the bait out to where it needs to be?

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What it sounds like you're describing with the "big baitcast Penn" is a reel made for trolling and drop-fishing. That's not a very efficient outfit for casting from the end of the pier. Technically, you could catch a king mackerel by letting your bait straight down, but I think that you'd be disappointed with the result.

You CAN use large baitcasters for kings, depending on your proficiency. I use a baitcaster with my king plugs. I use a Penn spinning reel for bait (live and cigar minnow) fishing. You don't need a really long surf-style rod to get your bait out there where the fish are, but a long cast does allow the cigar minnow (for instance) to cover more water.

What makes it fun for me is that if king mackerel aren't biting, then maybe spanish mackerel are! During the day, you'll see redfish or jack crevalle schools pop up and blast bait on the top. I keep a Krocodile spoon handy for them. Down the way, you may notice guys pulling flounder, spadefish, or whiting over the rail. I bring live shrimp and fishbites (synthetic shrimp pieces) along for some of those smaller fish. You can usually find something biting!