Inshore fishing along Alabama’s beaches is unbeatable, thanks to the abundance of opportunities our area offers. From charters and marinas to piers and miles of beaches, you’ll discover a myriad of spots to reel in a catch. While deep-sea fishing is a popular type of fishing for many anglers visiting our shores, you don’t have to venture too far off the beach to hook a keeper. The Gulf of Mexico boasts a variety of species that inshore anglers can pursue year-round in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
The only inshore species that isn’t available to catch all year is flounder, the tasty flatfish found in the bays and estuaries all along Alabama’s coast. To protect flounder during its late fall spawning run, the season is closed for the month of November. Other than that time, you can hook flounder anywhere inshore fishing Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
While most anglers catch flounder on jigs or bull minnows fished on the bottom, some people continue a long tradition of gigging flounder along Alabama’s beaches. Certain environmental conditions, such as calm or very little wind, make it easier to see the fish. At least halfway back from a low tide, a rising tide prompts the flounder to move into the shallow water to ambush bait fish. Sometimes, a neap tide will work, but a low tide doesn’t seem to work well in most areas.
Speckled trout will take a variety of artificial lures during the spring before the fish become finicky. Minnow-imitation plastic baits with a ¼-ounce jighead will work hopped along the inshore areas that include structure, especially oyster beds and grass flats. Shrimp-imitation baits under a popping cork also work.
When the weather gets a little warmer, the trout will transition to live bait. If you’re using live shrimp, take plenty because every fish in saltwater will eat shrimp. The larger trout may inhale a shrimp, but baitfish like croakers, mullet, pinfish, and menhaden are often preferred bait when inshore fishing Alabama beaches for this species.
Trout prefer water temperatures from the low 60s to the low 80s and will hang out on the flats in fairly shallow water. When the weather gets hot, the trout will be in shallow water during low-light conditions at dawn and dusk and move to deeper waters during the heat of the day.
Scouting is important for both surf fishing and inshore fishing. Look for sandbars within casting distance. These two species tend to live between the sandbar and the beach and will take bits of shrimp, sand fleas and ghost shrimp as well as FishBites. Head to the numerous tackle stores, where the staff will be happy to supply you with all the tackle and bait that you’ll need for your surf or inshore fishing outing.
If you prefer fishing with light tackle, nothing beats a day casting for the numerous inshore species available in Alabama waters around Gulf Shores in Orange Beach.