Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 10/16/24

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 10/16/24
By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Apparently we are leading a charmed life so far this hurricane season, but still have another month and a half to go. So don’t let up on those prayers quite yet! At least keep the folks much less fortunate in mind as the recovery from hurricanes Helene and Milton will continue for a long time. Our piece of coastline was even spared large, long period swells from Milton that usually accompany even distantly passing systems. But the waves were strong enough to cause issues for some swimmers at press time.
The water should quickly clear and remain near calm with mostly dry and cooler weather thanks to a series of fronts forecast to pass through our area during this fortnight. Right on que for late October when we normally see a drop in water temperatures as well.
Gulf water temps usually fall below 80 around mid October, and into the middle 70s by the end of the month on average.
This kind of change really triggers the fall bite into full swing as pelagic fish species have been on feeding binges to fatten up for their upcoming migration. Even many semi-resident species are on the move too as menhaden, their main food source begin to move out of the estuaries toward the Gulf for the winter. In particular flounder and redfish wait near the mouth of the bays to intercept these menhaden and mullet as they leave the relative comfort and safety of the coastal rivers and back bays.
Some of the largest and fattest flounder of the year are caught during these last two weeks of October before their season closes in Alabama. Flounder season already closed October 15th in Florida.
Slot-sized redfish continue to be available in the surfzone, feeding on baby LYs (herring) while bull red numbers are increasing almost daily at their usual haunts around Perdido Pass and the point near Fort Morgan. Late October is usually the best time of year to do battle with these oversized redfish which often exceed 40 inches long and weigh in excess of 25 pounds!
Lots of other species like mangrove snapper are at their seasonal high too. Mangroves are especially numerous along the rock jetty and seawall at Perdido Pass and Little Lagoon Pass, though many are still a little shy of the 12 inch minimum size limit for Alabama.
Also keep in mind that a Reef Fish Endorsement ($10 license) is mandatory to retain mangrove snapper in Alabama, and a non-stainless circle hook is required to catch any reef fish (no treblehooks).
What many anglers do often use treble hooks for is mackerel, Spanish or King. Whether fishing with live LYs or dead cigar minnows, a treble hook increases your odds of hooking these fast, aggressive feeders. Smaller treblehooks like size 6 or 4 are ideal for Spanish mackerel while using the small LYs as bait.
A larger treblehook, size 2 to 1/0 is used to target King mackerel with larger LYs or cigar minnows. It is amazing how big a bait these toothy critters will feed upon, even if they have to bite it in half to eat it. In fact, it is a standard tactic to stop reeling and open your bail to let a bait that is cut in half settle naturally. Quite often within a few seconds, a following fish or even the same one may pick up the rest of your bait to eat it too.
Many times these second chance fish are even bigger than the original which bit it half. Just be sure to give this fish sufficient time to turn the bait in its mouth to get a good hookup. This kind of action, usually visible to pier anglers, is another reason mackerel fishing with bait is so popular this time of year.
Of course lures are quite popular too, to the point just shear numbers of lures in various stages of cast and retrieve may hinder bait fishing at times. On the original pier, etiquette (and rules) reserved the down wind or down current side of the pier for bait fishing, with the exception of trolley rigs. But trolley rigs hold the bait in one place near the surface where other anglers who are casting can avoid it. Bait fishers who cast upwind or upcurrent should constantly monitor the slack in their line to avoid crossing or tangling other lines.
By letting the bait swim or drift with the current, the slack line is more easily monitored. And anglers casting and retrieving lures can help prevent tangles and line crossings by facing into the wind or current and throwing perpendicular to the rail. This creates a lane open for each angler to cast and retrieve their lure. T
iming of the cast can be critical too in order to avoid line crossings with your immediate neighbors. Wait a few seconds after your upwind or downwind neighbor has cast before you cast. This allows them to be close to halfway into their retrieve before your cast goes well out beyond their lure. By alternating casts with your neighbors the number of tangles or line crossings are well reduced, as long as everyone can cast reasonably straight 😉
Several good flounder catches were reported from the surf and McMillan Pier at Fort Morgan prior to the storms. That action should just become more dependable as the water cools through October. Old-school baits of bull minnows and finger mullet, and even small LYs or menhaden can be quite effective for flounder and redfish at times.
But you have to know the bottom and how to fish it to target flounder, otherwise you will just be fishing a lot of vacant water. Using three to five inch plastic grubs on a leadhead jig is a great way to cover more water in search of flounder and get to know the bottom features that attract them. This action will continue until flounder season closes in November.
Once most of the jack species (like ladyfish and blue runner) vacate the surfzone, this is usually a good time of year to fish along the beaches for pompano, whiting, bluefish, slot redfish, and flounder. There are a LOT of good sandbars now between Johnson’s Beach in Perdido Key and the western end of the Fort Morgan peninsula to bottom fish for these species. But lures may still work too depending on conditions and what fish are available at your location. Adjust your fishing to the conditions each day.
Reports from Perdido Pass are still spotty, with some decent spanish mackerel bites on mornings without a strong outgoing current or east wind. Keeper mangrove snapper (12 inch minimum length) are still biting best at night on live shrimp. Also, remember the Reef Endorsement and hook requirements. Back bay reports include some huge catches of white trout (Sand and Silver seatrout) at night, around lighted docks and piers including Fairhope Pier.
These are nice size trout 10” to 12”, with many weighing a pound or more. They have been feeding heavily in the estuaries all summer on abundant minnows and shrimp, and can be caught on small lures that imitate their prey.
White trout also strike a variety of live bait and cut bait, like fresh cut fish on a bottom rig. But they will soon be moving into deeper water as they follow their menhaden and small croaker food sources.