Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 5/31/23

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 5/31/23
By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Even though the solstice doesn’t occur until later this month, it already feels like summer with morning lows in the 70s and afternoon highs in the 80s or low 90s, along with high humidity too. All this drives convective thundershower activity, which is influenced by sea breezes and land breezes as part of our normal summer precipitation pattern. The best chance of rain along the beaches is typically in the early morning, a couple of hours either side of sunrise. Then the threat usually moves inland midday as the land heats up quickly under the strong rays of the sun. Afternoon thundershowers can spark off another round of rain and lightning late in the day along the beach when strong outflows from inland thunderstorms roll south to the coast. Be wary of lightning, as conditions can change quickly whenever a storm is approaching. Like they say: “When thunder roars, go indoors!”
The Gulf water temperature also continues to climb through June, from the low to middle 80s. The inland bays are often even warmer because they are relatively shallow. The fish adjust to all this in a variety of ways depending on the species, and how the variable conditions of weather and water directly affect their ability to feed and reproduce. Fish like spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, and other jacks tend to feed heavily at first light in the shallow surf zone since the tide is rising and winds are generally light. After sunrise these species often abandon the shallow waters near the beach in favor of deeper waters nearby. There they find refuge from the sun’s strong glare and digest their breakfast while keeping a wary eye out for predators like sharks and dolphins.
There are some species that will feed during the day though, even when the sun is highest and brightest. Mostly these are smaller species like spadefish, blue runner, ladyfish, pinfish, etc. Though occasionally, speckled trout and slot-sized redfish may feed in schools late morning to midday if conditions allow.
Some fish feed again through the afternoon as shadows get longer and the tide starts dropping, especially when stimulated by a building seabreeze. As thunderstorms build over the inland areas of south central Baldwin County, that warm, moist rising air has to be replaced by relatively cooler, drier air over the Gulf and Bay. Once the sun sets, the pattern looses it strength and thunderstorms fade through the evening. Through each day with light winds, we see this pattern repeat to some extent.
In the early morning, when winds are usually light and the Gulf is relatively calm, surf casting a variety of topwater lures can still produce catches of speckled trout along with bluefish and ladyfish. The best spots are stretches of shoreline where the beach sandbar is far enough out from the shoreline to form a trough at least three to four feet deep. Look for any kind of activity like swirls indicating fish feeding, diving terns or gulls, or schools of mullet meandering just inside the sandbar along the drop-off slope. That would be the primary zone to fish. If casting perpendicular to or across the sandbar is not getting strikes, try wading out to the bar and cast parallel along it to keep your lure in the strike zone longer. Just keep a wary eye for stingrays and sharks. Once the sun gets up, the topwater bite will likely shut off. But you can still switch over to subsurface walkers, twitchbaits, or jerkbaits to catch more fish. Even plastic tail grubs on a lead jighead bounced off the bottom may garner some strikes from fish hugging the bottom. While the tide is falling through the afternoon, it is often imperative to wade out to the beach sandbar in order to fish the drop-off beyond. The same fish that were in the trough around high tide usually move out to deeper outside waters to lie in wait for food to be swept out to them by any rip or tidal current present. Some pompano will still available in the surf, but their numbers are dwindling after moving offshore to spawn around the June 3rd full moon.
Fishers on the Gulf State Park Pier can still enjoy a variety of options on any given day. If it’s not too rough, there may be speckled trout, slot redfish, flounder or even pompano between the beach and the longshore sandbar. Expect plenty of small bluefish, blue runners, ladyfish and other by-catch though, whenever using live shrimp. Live LYs (herring), “finger” mullet, or menhaden may work just as well for large specks in the shallows near the beach, while eliminating most of the by-catch.
To catch your own LYs, the red ribbon rigs are more discriminating as to the size baitfish you catch, as opposed to using a Sabiki rig. Hook the LY in the clear spot just in front of the eyes. This doesn’t seriously injure the baitfish, and it gives a better chance of hooking a fish that grabs the bait, usually head first to try and swallow it.
Farther out on the pier over the deeper water in the trough and middle platform, anglers can use tiny pieces of cut shrimp, squid or Fishbites on a #6 or #8 single hook to entice spadefish to bite. Simply tie the hook directly to your 8 or 10 pound monofilament line and add one or two splitshots about a foot above the hook as needed to allow it to slowly fall toward the bottom. Spadefish suspend in schools around the pier and are very curious and competitive when a likely looking food item drops into their midst. The bite is a light peck, similar to a bluegill or other panfish. But these “sea bream” pull twice as hard for their size, and may weigh one to three pounds at the pier.
Spanish mackerel are another popular target species from the shortened pier in June through the summer. Most are caught with Gotcha plugs, ¾ ounce white jigs, small spoons, plugs, or even Bubble rigs. The larger ones are usually caught on live LYs, dead cigar minnows or medium sized diving plugs. No matter the lure or bait, a piece of steel leader is needed to keep those razor sharp teeth from cutting through your line. Even heavy monofilament is not immune to being slashed.
The Angler Academy has resumed on the pier this month. It offers even rookie fisher folks the tackle, training, and tips to catch a variety of fish available from the pier for the very affordable price of $15. You can find out more about this fun program for all ages at alapark.com/parks/gulf-state-park/angleracademy.
The city of Orange Beach has temporarily closed off the part of Seawall Park west of the Perdido Pass Bridge in order to make repairs. The popular venue will still be open north of the bridge, but the fenced off area between the bridge and Gulf restaurant will be inaccessible until July or early August. Once the west side reopens, the north side will be closed to make repairs.
While this needed activity will impede some fishing near the bridge in the short term, the longer term prospect of having full fishing access restored at Seawall Park before beach dredging begins later this year will pay dividends. This fully restored venue will be even more important to anglers next year in lieu of the likely closure of the Gulf State Park Pier around the end of this year to begin repairs there to restore access to the “octi”.
Meanwhile, shorebound anglers should still have the same limited access to the west jetty which has been producing spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, and blue runners on a fairly reliable basis. However, that pattern may be disrupted during the NEAP tide period around June 12th. Good luck!