Fishing the area April 10-14

Hey All,
Newby to this board from up north. This looks like an awesome community with lots of knowledge and I hope I can gain some from you.

I will be staying on Dauphin Island the week of April 9th. I plan to fish the surf some and make one trip over to your pier for the day with my family.
I am looking for some suggestions for what equipment I will need for shore/ surf fishing and fishing the pier.

What I might catch while fishing the ocean?

Is there a way to know where on the surf one should be casting?

Is there a charter that might be worth taking the kids on?

Thank you in advance for any insight you can provide!

BedgerBen

You can get by with standard bass fishing tackle for pier and shore fishing.

Here's an April fishing forecast from last year (page 12-15)
https://issuu.com/gulfcoastllc/docs/...ine_april_2016

Try the east end or west end parks
West End Beach | Dauphin Island
or the 'Public Beach in the middle (run by the Park & Beach Board)...
Dauphin Island Park and Beach Dauphin Island Public Beach

Since you're staying on Dauphin Island, the kids would surely enjoy the Estuarium...
Estuarium | Dauphin Island Sea Lab

As far as charters they might like to check out a trip on 'The Duke'...
The Duke | Action Outdoors

Hope this helps and welcome to the forum!

Ben - You definitely want to go through archived posts by using the search box. Everything that you could ever want to know about fishing in the area has been discussed at length. Understand that the questions that you asked today get asked all the time, so just use search terms and enjoy the previous discussions on the various aspects of fishing the surf, pier and charters. Start with "What's biting when" and enjoy reading about fishing in the area! My advice is to become familiar with the different species so that when you come you'll be prepared to target them.

There are some great resources on you tube. Look for articles about reading the surf and the beach.