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Wife has decreed that she will see what my addiction to the Pier is. She'll be fishing in the late afternoon or early evenings. Shallows, Draw or the Octi? I'll be loaded down with bull minnows, live and dead shrimps, fish bites and Gulp. Any recommendations?
She says she fished growing up. I just want to get her addicted like I am to speed up our timeline to move lol
Make sure you also have bubble rigs and Gotchas in case the Spanish and blues cut loose from the bathrooms on south. You will have lots of people out there scouting for you---just watch for who is catching what. It's really exciting for a newbie to watch fish hitting a bubble rig.
My wife doesn't fish, doesn't eat fish - none of that. She fell in love with the area and the friendly people. There's shopping, great eating places, and really good entertainment spots in the region. There's the proximity to the casinos at Atmore and Biloxi, if she's into that. More than anything, she needs to feel like Gulf Shores/Foley/Orange Beach and the surrounding areas feel like home.
When it comes to fishing at the pier - I'd go with what's familiar. I'd start with fishing for whiting with a Carolina rig with a small hook and a fingernail piece of fresh-dead shrimp. Fishing, to her, may not be casting all the time. That might be too much like work if the fish aren't biting from the very start.
Like Haywire said, keep a look out for the area just south of the bathrooms for signs of Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish and have an outfit rigged, ready to go.
Most of all - Y'all have fun! It's a great time of year to be outdoors!
Will: As windy and rough as it is right now (and will be for most of this week) I'd try the suggested, but keep in mind you want make her pier experience a 'good one'.
She will be far more comfortable, and have an easier time learning with the wind at her back, not in her face.
just sayin...
Try for whiting just off the beach breakers to your right when you first walk out onto the pier. Sherrie's bench is right there ;-)
A little farther out use a 1, 2 or even 3 ounce egg weight to keep you live shrimp just a foot off the bottom (this is NOT finesse fishing, but it gets more 'action' ;-)
Just before you get to the longshore sandbar you can cast out for ladyfish and bluefish.
At the mid octagon you can fish on the west side with the building blocking the wind. Throw bubble rigs but be careful of the pipes back under the pier there.
You can throw bubble rigs, etc. but the water will likely be VERY dingy and that much wind and chop makes it less effective.
As well live shrimp and bull minnows may not get you the gamefish you want. IF that is so, try 'smell' baits like FRESH dead shrimp, and cut up FRESH fish (use any pinfish, hardtails, ladyfish, etc. you catch for that ;-)
Hope this helps!
Don't forget the sabiki. Just getting bites and catching fish, no matter what kind, is important when trying to get someone "hooked". Hours on the water without a bite, because you are after "the big one" can sometimes be the worst mistake.
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Originally Posted by ShallowWaterAngler
That's true and a person can always tip the sabiki jigs with a really small piece of shrimp FishBites and catch a bunch of spadefish!
Getting to know the good folks on the pier during slow times would be the best thing, part of a family laughing around the picnic tables on the octagon
Thanks guys. I always have at least a half dozen bubble rigs and gotchas in the bag. I come down once or twice a month to fish with y'all. Lot of my friends have moved down there. My brother lives on Little Lagoon. Every time we come she burns up the various real estate sites looking for a house. I just want to make her trip better than mine are. She loves redfish so I'd love for us to hook a few in the trough.
Thanks again. See y'all next weekend.