Spring Break Trip, Looking for some help pier fishing

Hello,

I am obviously new to the forum. I am so glad I came upon this great resource of information! I just recently booked a spring break trip to Gulf Shores and I am very excited. I have never been, and never salt water fished before. I am planning on spending at least a half day or full day fishing at the pier. I am fairly familiar with freshwater fishing as I am from Texas, but I know nothing about pier fishing. I am looking for someone that would be gracious enough to help me fish one of the days I am there . I will be available March 10-15 to fish. Maybe someone that was planning to be fishing anyways. I cannot afford or have anyone that would want to go on one of the group charter deep fishing trips, neither would it make sense for me to buy equipment for my short stay at the beach to fish with. I would be willing to pay whoever it was that may be willing to help me for their knowledge, time, and use of their equipment and bait. Thank you so much for your consideration, I know that I would be pretty lost without your help.

reply or pm to figure everything out

Thanks,
Jordan

Welcome Jordan!

Hopefully the weather (and fish) will cooperate with your visit.
LOTS of firsttime folks come down like you are doing and have successful trips.
No need for a "deep sea boat" trip as most everyone on the pier is pleased to help a noobie figure it out.
Bring your bass tackle (or whatever) and we will try to help you.

:ring

come on down, several people will help you and point you in the right direction

Just watch out for the crazy people staring east with 3 ounce brightly colored jigs on... they are rude to everyone around them so the best thing is to fish as far as possible as you can from them.. :yippee: :spank: :violent

good luck though

Haha. Nice one Peaches.

If I'm out there, and I probably will be, you'll know me by the yellow "Haywire" flag on my pier cart. Be glad to show you what little I know, and I'll lend you a helmet to protect yourself from the cobia fishermen Peaches was talking about.

If you bring fried chicken and potato salad, I bet somebody will loan you a rod, too.

Hey---- finally one of you "locals" have disd the coibia "experts" .Nuf said ---
I'll be down next week for a month or so to catch what ever I can and meet some of you good people and reconnect with old friends. jjm

Btw, il have a jig on staring east..might fish fl piers more early spring though

I'll throw'em to the curb JJ.lets see here,30 fishable days x 8 hours per day x 10 people looking for them each day = 2400 hours or sixty,40 hour work weeks put in to catch a half dozen fish.Thats not my idea of catching.

[quote author=jjfish link=topic=2635.msg23792#msg23792 date=1360627893]
Hey---- finally one of you "locals" have disd the coibia "experts" .Nuf said ---
I'll be down next week for a month or so to catch what ever I can and meet some of you good people and reconnect with old friends. jjm
[/quote]

What the he$$ are you talking about disd the cobia experts?

John, you're the only one around here who draws enough water to state that position, but I have to agree. I'll hang around and catch Spanish while the people looking for those cocoa-brown crab-crunchers get bloodshot eyeballs and start speaking in tongues. Cobia are a challenge and a trophy, but I want more return for my time on the pier. I don't think I even own a cobia jig any more.

I'll have a jig on, jussttt in case. Lol

[quote author=john g link=topic=2635.msg23801#msg23801 date=1360631796]
I'll throw'em to the curb JJ.lets see here,30 fishable days x 8 hours per day x 10 people looking for them each day = 2400 hours or sixty,40 hour work weeks put in to catch a half dozen fish.Thats not my idea of catching.
[/quote]

Agreed!
And there are NO fish in shallows anyway ;-) LOL

Made a trip to Navarre last year. Guy stood on a bench all day looking east. Never made a cast. That's not for me.

jordan, i know Pier#r is too modest to say it himself so ill do it for him. He does guided pier and beach fishing trips he will supply tackle and his 40+ years fishing experience for a very reasonable price.

[quote author=Rich1 link=topic=2635.msg23819#msg23819 date=1360671778]
Made a trip to Navarre last year. Guy stood on a bench all day looking east. Never made a cast. That's not for me.
[/quote]

ehhh. I've sat in a deer stand all day many a time and never taken a shot. Same difference. Trophy hunting is trophy hunting.

What a wonerful array of answers to a simple question. That is what makes the pier and this forum so great!!!!
A stout bass fishing rod, a little inexpensive tackle and the right day can get real exciting real fast...hook up and hold on!
Watch and ask questions. Listen 10x as much as you talk. Remember the blind squrrel!

[quote author=crazynewts link=topic=2635.msg23836#msg23836 date=1360716974]
What a wonerful array of answers to a simple question. That is what makes the pier and this forum so great!!!!
A stout bass fishing rod, a little inexpensive tackle and the right day can get real exciting real fast...hook up and hold on!
Watch and ask questions. Listen 10x as much as you talk. Remember the blind squrrel!
[/quote]

+1! So many forums are mostly dead....couple posts a week maybe....questions not answered. But here you get your questions answered several different ways plus several more questions that weren't asked.

Hands down..... best forum goes with best pier.

you came to the right place. the locals are great and made us feel very welcome. even with my big orange colors 8) as said, ask questions and LISTEN.
we can't wait to go back(april 12-15 and for a week in june).

Welcome to the forum Jordan!
If you stop by J&M or one of the decent shops in the area they can usually offer a little advice too and some basic tackle. Set it up with Pier#r, and he'll get you on some fish.

Sorry we derailed the thread Jordan,it's hard for a bunch of clowns like us to stay focused.Did you get hooked up with #r ?If not,hold off buying any tackle until you get down because tactics and species can change with the weather.When you get down,spend a couple dollars and take a walk out to see whats going on.If the water is murky and no catching is taking place,hold off a few days until things clear up.But if things are happening,don't wait because the slightest blow or current change can shut things down.In a nut shell,we have two styes of fishing,bottom fishing and lure fishing.Sheepshead should be an easy target using live shrimp or fiddler crabs rigged Carolina style,or if the water is clear,you may have to use only a couple split shot on light line because they can get finicky.If you see people dropping strait down next to the pilings from the middle to the end of the pier,sheepshead or maybe flounder is what their targeting.If you see people fishing from the shore line out maybe a couple hundred feet casting dead shrimp on a Carolina rig,chances are they are searching for whiting or pompano.If you see people using big'ole poles and terminal tackle that resembles something you would buy in a hardware store,don't watch them.The other style of fishing in early spring is with lures for spanish and blues.Early morning,late afternoon is the best time,but they will bite through out the day when around in great numbers.If you see people fishing from the middle to the end casting got-cha plugs,bubble rigs,white jigs or spoons,spanish of blue fish is what their after.Some of the things you may already have that you'll want to bring:Cooler on wheels,8-12lb clear mono for your reels,split shot,egg leads,small hooks,knife,pliers, polarized sunglasses and a couple gallon bait bucket with "D" cell bait pump.This kind of sums things up and for 15 to $20 you'll be able to get enough bait,tackle and lures for a days fishing depending whats being caught.

Awesome post, Mr. John.

[quote author=john g link=topic=2635.msg23877#msg23877 date=1360759947]
Sorry we derailed the thread Jordan,it's hard for a bunch of clowns like us to stay focused.Did you get hooked up with #r ?If not,hold off buying any tackle until you get down because tactics and species can change with the weather.When you get down,spend a couple dollars and take a walk out to see whats going on.If the water is murky and no catching is taking place,hold off a few days until things clear up.But if things are happening,don't wait because the slightest blow or current change can shut things down.In a nut shell,we have two styes of fishing,bottom fishing and lure fishing.Sheepshead should be an easy target using live shrimp or fiddler crabs rigged Carolina style,or if the water is clear,you may have to use only a couple split shot on light line because they can get finicky.If you see people dropping strait down next to the pilings from the middle to the end of the pier,sheepshead or maybe flounder is what their targeting.If you see people fishing from the shore line out maybe a couple hundred feet casting dead shrimp on a Carolina rig,chances are they are searching for whiting or pompano.If you see people using big'ole poles and terminal tackle that resembles something you would buy in a hardware store,don't watch them.The other style of fishing in early spring is with lures for spanish and blues.Early morning,late afternoon is the best time,but they will bite through out the day when around in great numbers.If you see people fishing from the middle to the end casting got-cha plugs,bubble rigs,white jigs or spoons,spanish of blue fish is what their after.Some of the things you may already have that you'll want to bring:Cooler on wheels,8-12lb clear mono for your reels,split shot,egg leads,small hooks,knife,pliers, polarized sunglasses and a couple gallon bait bucket with "D" cell bait pump.This kind of sums things up and for 15 to $20 you'll be able to get enough bait,tackle and lures for a days fishing depending whats being caught.
[/quote]

This should be posted as the beginners guide to pier fishing.

[quote author=Rich1 link=topic=2635.msg23819#msg23819 date=1360671778]
Made a trip to Navarre last year. Guy stood on a bench all day looking east. Never made a cast. That's not for me.
[/quote]

probably GW.....he is kinda short


[quote author=dublthret link=topic=2635.msg23827#msg23827 date=1360700099]
jordan, i know Pier#r is too modest to say it himself so ill do it for him. He does guided pier and beach fishing trips he will supply tackle and his 40+ years fishing experience for a very reasonable price.
[/quote]

+1 on Pier#r

Thanks for all the responses. I am looking to either getting a guide or head out on my own and ask all of the guys at the pier for some help. I am excited and can't wait to get out there.
As far as targeting different fish: What should I fish for? Why do people choose whatever species over another? Catch and release or should I keep them?

What to fish for on any given day (or time) is a matter of preference and prevelance.
Some folks insist on king fishing in a snowstorm and some look for speckled trout in muddy water. :wall:
Some folks ONLY like to fish for a certain species or few species, and some are VERy selective about which they will eat. Either giving the unwanted away or putting them back.
It's up to you (within what the law allows ;-)

I like to ask araound (starting at the pier house) to see what is (or has been) biting.
Even getting an idea of what has NOT been biting can save time and help make up my mind where and how to fish.
There are too many variables to explain them all in a thread, but watching and doing what is successful is a great start for anyone new to pier fishing or fishing on this pier.

hope this helps!

I can give you some advice I had to learn when I started pier fishing.. Listen more than you talk. Take in every little bit of information and remember. It helped me a lot. Plus I wasn't on the forum when I started fishing the pier so I didn't know a thing. But defiantly there are tons of guys on the pier that will help you out.

My contribution consists of 1 thing -- fresh bait if at all possible. For most smaller fish (reds, trout, sheepshead, pompano, etc.) there is something to be said for getting live shrimp and an aerator even though it will be a pain (your crappie minnow bucket and aerator are fine, athough wash it when done or the saltwater will eat it away in a week). Fresh chunks of just-barely dead shrimp (not whole live shrimp) will work at times (on a hook or tipping a jig) when nothing else does. When I come down to fish I usually have to make as much out of limited time as possible -- don't spend hundreds on a trip and tackle, and then try to save pennies on frozen bait -- that makes as little sense as people who put $1.99 line on a $600 reel.