Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 12/12/24

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 12/12/24

By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

More winter like weather has been making its presence felt along the coast in the past couple of weeks. And it looks like a similar pattern will continue in this fortnight. We can expect rainy periods accompanied by onshore winds and building surf followed by cold snaps with clearing skies and eventually calmer water and warmer for a few days before the next storm. The Gulf itself is gradually getting colder as the water temperature continues to drop in stair-step fashion, now below 70 degrees. Inshore water temps in the shallower bays and lagoons have fallen even faster, now reaching the lower 60s or even upper 50s at times. But that is about typical for early to mid December, and the fishing seems about on par as well.
Flounder season reopened December 1st for both Alabama and Florida fishermen, and fortunately there are still some available near the passes and at the Gulf State Park Pier, though many are undersized, males likely. Both states have a 14 inch minimum total length on flounder and a daily creel of 5 fish. Most anglers though, would be tickled just to catch one or two of these tasty flatfish this time of year. Best bets for flounder are at the state pier, maybe even the Fort Morgan pier, and at the jetties and seawall at Perdido Pass, or possibly Little Lagoon Pass IF they get it dredged back deeper soon.
Another species pleasing to anglers this time of year is pompano, which have been consistent catches in the surf, especially for the fishermen along Perdido Key. Though there have been fair numbers of pompano caught in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and Fort Morgan, and even some from the Gulf State Park Pier. They just don’t seem to be as bunched up in Alabama as in Florida right now.
At the Gulf State Park Pier, whiting have been fairly common and likely the most consistent catch. More attention is now being paid to resident inshore species like whiting, pompano, sheepshead, slot redfish, speckled trout, and now, flounder since most of the spanish mackerel have skedaddled to Florida for the winter. The spanish have hung around in numbers later than average this year though, as limits were caught from the pier even during the first week of December. Catching a few stray mackerel is still a possibility this month for as long as the water temperature remains above 65 degrees and the small LYs remain around the pier, but each day the odds lessen.
That’s why most anglers, including the recently arrived sojourner snowbirds usually concentrate on the resident fish species. Fresh dead shrimp is the most popular bait and has been reliably available so far. Certainly these are better than frozen shrimp as far as being of high enough quality to usually draw the attention of fish in the surf. Live shrimp have been available regularly, as have fiddler crabs (for sheepshead), and bull minnows (for flounder). It seems however, more anglers each winter take the time and effort to gather their own bait in the form of ghost shrimp, especially when the water is calm and clear. These are collected either inshore or along the gulf beaches at low tide, usually in the morning to mid day. Their tell-tale inch high mounds can be more easily spotted then. Shallow, calm, and clear water affords the best conditions for slurping up these three inch long shrimp from out of their sandy tunnels in the bottom.
A few dozen should last all day either from the pier or beach, and they attract the widest variety of species. But they are extremely soft and fragile, easy to cast off the hook. So using a bait string like Magic Thread, which is available at most local bait and tackle shops is needed to help keep them on the hook. Ghost shrimp suckers are available at these shops too.
A relatively small hook, like the #4 kahle is ideal for hooking ghost shrimp, and the fish species that eat them. In calm conditions a light tackle presentation with a kahle hook on a Carolina rig or Fishfinder rig often works best to fool wary fish like pompano or whiting. And the fish practically hook themselves when the rod is placed in a sand spike rod holder with these rigs.
The best time to fish may be later in the afternoon until dark as the incoming tide brings higher water levels into the near shore beach troughs. Depending on wind and waves, or lack of them, the tide influx may well trigger a bite in these areas, especially on days experiencing higher tidal variations. The NEAP tide centered around December 22nd will exhibit very little water level change and less tidal current. That may well be a better time to fish in or around Perdido Pass to take advantage of the focused current in that area and the changing time of day for an incoming tide.
Bull reds have thinned out nearshore too, as the main aggregations have generally moved deeper into the Gulf following menhaden schools, their main prey. The only word about night fishing lately has been that it has been COLD! Of course there will be still be some straggler bull reds available from shore, especially at night with the falling tide, but the main push seems to gone through. Good news, is the numbers of solitary large black drum typically begin to increase in the surf zone as the water temperature cools into the 60s. For that reason alone using cracked crab (when available) for bait may be your best bet, as both red and black drum love crab, yet either drum species may eat fresh cut mullet too.
Inshore prospects are rarer too, but some good reports have come in about wadefishing Little Lagoon for flounder and speckled trout, and from the Inter Coastal Water Way (ICWW) between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach south and west of the new bridge construction area. Either of these spots (canal or Lagoon, or even Big Lagoon) might produce fish on live shrimp, but you may have better success by wadefishing with lures to cover more water and locate feeding fish.
MirrOlure’s MirrOdines are the standard hardbait for trout in the Lagoon, but the 52M series may be more effective this month as it mimics small mullet which may be on the menu more often with the menhaden gone. Of course waders are necessary equipment for anglers now that the water is so chilly. But there are still fish that can be caught, especially for those who are equipped to get into the water after them.