Inshore help for kids

Coming to orange beach 6/16-6/28. I will be renting a boat out the bay. Looking for a few spots. I grew up in St.Marks,Florida me and my dad fished hard core for 25yrs. I had my 2 sons and he passed away before they was old enough to go there and fish. They are very good at fishing fresh water from nets, lines to rods. With a little help on the area I can get the fish in the boat. I always loved it and u know they will. Looking for good inshore popping cork/jig/spoon action. Thanks in advance! Will be launching from close to the pass.

Light tackle in the bay will be memorable for the boys. Just do what you and your dad were doing. Being there is all that really counts. Welcome to the forum.

I used to fish the bays here a long, long time ago, but the grass beds I used to fish are long gone due to pollution, and seawalls and docks stand where I used to fish shoreline. If I were you, I'd hire an inshore guide for half a day to get an idea of what's going on.

Having said that, I know there can be good fishing around Perdido Pass bridge and, if the weather is good, out around the jetties at Perdido Pass. I know people do catch redfish on what we used to call the Middle Ground, but I'd pretty much have to show you on a chart where that is.

I bet Pier#r can help if he's reading this. (Yes, David, I'm throwing the ants on you.)

OK, I owe you one George ;-) lol

Joe, if you stick with the back bays (Terry Cove, Wolf, Perdido, Bay la Launch, ICWW) you should be able to find some redfish, maybe trout, flounder, etc.
Stick to the river mouth areas or just 'out of the way' underwater points with a nice dropoff.
Incoming tides in the morning, outgoing in the afternoon, probably not much use in fishing the middle of the day as it will be HOT anyway.
Live shrimp is the bait to beat (freeline or under a float), but sinking twitchbaits and even topwaters may work at times and grubs on jigheads too!

Hope this helps!
and welcome to the forum!

Does the bridge hold sheapheads? That's how we use to zone in on them in Florida. What about in the pass besides the jetties or the bridge? Carolina rig little off the jetties? How deep is the water out at the points? Thanks

In the cooler months, yes. They disperse and move into the back bays after the spring spawn though.
But now the bridge is dominated by pinfish, grunts, small jacks and other assortments of bait stealers.
Sometimes (this time of year) you can find trout, redfish, bluefish, blue runners, even flounder & pompano in the pass and around the jetties but the boat traffic often makes it unfishable unless you can find a quiet corner.
The water is more than 20 feet deep in a few places.

Hope this helps!

What about the old river? Where the Florida/bama line runs down the middle? Anyone around do much flounder gigging?

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Originally Posted by Joe 30007

What about the old river? Where the Florida/bama line runs down the middle? Anyone around do much flounder gigging?

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Ole River can be good fishing this time of year. If you were interested in fishing the river, I would head toward the Florida end where there is still some natural, undeveloped shoreline and some deeper holes. I was there last week and we had good success fishing topwaters just off the shoreline for speckled trout. I think we caught 5 and had that many more blowups, and that was on a short trip before we left to snapper fish. It can be hit or miss, but there are many great places to fish in Perdido Bay as well, which is easily accessible from Ole River on each end of Ono Island. One guy we spoke with had done very well at the mouth of Soldier Creek the same morning we caught our trout. Hope ya'll have a great trip. Just remember where you are and make sure you have the correct fishing license.

There are tons of submerged seagrass beds in Old River and lower Perdido Bay, There is also a artificial reef NE of Robinson Island. I hear it holds fish.
Lots of bait stealers this time of year, so live shrimp gets chowed by pinfish fast. Try topwater or DOA under a cork early.
Open up Google Earth and look for the dark areas, those are submerged grass beds.
Be careful east of Robinson Island and in eastern Old River, the grassbeds are no-motor zones, marked by signs & bouys. Marine Police will give you a ticket!

Go early, boat traffic is insane by late morning.

BTW, our sea grass mapping indicates that there are now more sea grasses in Lower Perdido Bay now than at any time since the 1980's.