Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 2/4/26

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 2/4/26

By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Sustained cold and windy weather was the main factor controlling fishing success through the previous fortnight. Several boughts of freezing temperatures with howling winds even prompted temporary closures of the Gulf State Park Pier and other vulnerable public bathroom venues. As inconvenient as these closures are for shorebound anglers and sightseers, it would be much worse if the water wasn’t shut off preemptively. Besides who wants to go fishing when it feels like the North Pole?
As expected, the prolonged cold has lowered water temperatures significantly. Bay waters have dipped into the upper to middle 40s, while inshore shallow canals may have been even colder. This time last year (after the record snowfall) the water temperature dropped so quickly we had widespread fish die-offs (mostly silver mullet) in the canals, Lagoons, and back bays.
Hopefully that scenario will not be repeated this winter. Comparatively, near shore Gulf water temps have languished in the middle 60s, while shoreside the water temp has probably dipped below 50 at times. Not very many folks out swimming these days!
Of course the harsh conditions have affected the fish as negatively as the fishermen. While people endure these cold periods by layering up clothing or doning waders, fish, which are cold-blooded, simply adjust their metabolism to match their environment. So when the water gets coldest they slow down their feeding to conserve energy, get lethargic, and may even fast for days.
Another factor affecting beach fishing is low tides typically occur around mid day in winter. And those may be exaggerated by strong north winds and high pressure after frontal passages, pushing sea level down even farther. This drains many of the beach troughs to the point they are simply to shallow (and cold) to support even our hardiest native winter fish species. Whiting, pompano, drum, mullet and other winter staple species abandon these shallower holes in favor of relatively deeper, warmer, and safer water farther from shore.
This is where long rods and/or waders come into use. If you are fishing during morning hours try to find a location where you can cast out over the sandbar, or at least into a gap or slightly deeper area along the sandbar. This is where any outflowing currents from the troughs meet and push water away from shore over the sandbar. Any feeding fish usually accumulate in such locations to allow the currents to bring food to them. Utilizing longer rods and heavier weights will give you more casting distance from shore. Otherwise, you will need to pull on the waders and walk into the water to make the cast to get your bait where it needs to be.
Fishing during afternoons will usually mean there is a little more water in the beach troughs, maybe even enough to encourage your quarry to swim close enough to shore you will not need to get in the water. Then you can get away with fishing shorter rods, lighter tackle, and stealthier rigs too. And that usually translates into getting more bites from fish that are generally sluggish and even wary in the cold water. Afternoon is usually the warmest part of the day, allowing the shallow water to perhaps warm up a few degrees. And that can be enough to trigger a bite before sunset, or dark. Morning fishing offers opposite conditions with the coldest air and water temperatures of the day, which usually restricts the bite.
There may be a few notable exceptions of fish that will feed on a falling tide. Sheepshead are a bit more cold tolerant than other species, but they have an annoying habit of just eating algae in colder water, forgoing chasing a shrimp or even a fiddler crab on a jig. Bluefish schools around the Perdido Pass jetties or along the beaches may feed anytime simply because of their competitive nature and the general lack of prey like small fish. They are noted for eating live shrimp intended for sheepshead around the jetties or the State Park Pier.
Large black drum are usually hungry, any time and any where. They can be caught occasionally outside the sandbars and are noted for even eating small offerings of shrimp on a double pompano rig intended for much smaller fish. Drum may also be targeted from the shores of the Intercoastal Waterway (canal) along Highway 180, particularly either side of the big curve between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach near the new bridge. Half a blue crab fished on medium heavy to heavy spinning tackle is standard fare to target these big uglies in the canal from shore. While not regulated in Alabama, the big ones are not particularly good eating either. Large black drum have the unpleasant distinction of being infested with spaghetti worms, which are not dangerous to people, but aren’t very appetizing either. They are however, great candidates for catch, photograph, and release!
Speckled trout is another species canal anglers might encounter when the conditions are to their liking. They may be caught free lining live shrimp, but throwing lures is often more effective, if for no other reason the lure can cover more water.
Diving and suspending stick baits that get down 6 to 9 feet work best as that is the depth trout like to stage as they move up and down the canal. Little Lagoon in Gulf Shores, Old River and Big Lagoon in Florida also offer opportunities for catching specks, but all they involve wading and casting with various lures, even topwater plugs. Little Lagoon Pass is most noteworthy of a long history of speckled trout feeding along the dropoff just before dark on the incoming tide.
Pier fishing has been quite slow most days, with just the occasional good day (or two) with whiting before the Gulf gets rough and dingy for the rest of the week around cold fronts.
Breaks in the sub-freezing weather usually bring out the fishermen, who show up on the pier as much to so. cialize as share in the limited number of fish caught.
But it is a greatly diverse community full of good people. Sheepshead have been scarce at the pier and Perdido Pass seawall lately. But that should gradually improve as the weather moderates and the length of daylight hours gradually increase.
Live shrimp are always a good bait to have, though fiddler crabs are becoming more popular among those targeting sheepshead, especially with jigs. But the prime bait this time of year is ghost shrimp. They usually outproduce any other available live or fresh dead bait many times over on a given day. And gathering a couple of dozen to fish with does not usually take long with the morning low tide conditions. Presentation is often critical though, as these soft shelled shrimp easily cast off a hook, and a whole shrimp may be too much of a mouthful for whiting and pompano. Sometimes cutting them in half will produce more bites, and even large drum (black or red) will rarely pass them up. Flounder fishing is another possibility for pier and seawall anglers in the right conditions. Usually the water needs to be calm, or a least fairly calm with some visibility in the water. Dragging live bull minnows around the piling on bottom is a time honored method, tried and true. But like other live baits, minnows may not be available in mid-winter, so jigs with a strip of cutbait (mullet or fish belly strip) may have to suffice. Even the artificial Gulp shrimp work well, especially when used in tandem. So, despite the cold water and stretches of inclement weather, shorebound anglers still have plenty options to explore when they are prepared and make adjustments to the ever changing conditions.