Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook 9-7-22

Pier & Shore Fishing Outlook
By David “The Pierpounder” Thornton

Several notable, though subtle changes in the weather herald the end of summer is not far in the future. A dry, continental air mass settled over the area at the end of August to give us a few days break from the plague of non-stop thundershowers.
Because the first few ‘dry fronts’ are not very strong, nor long-lived, we see a return to wet weather for a number of days before the next system pushes in. One uncomfortable seasonal by-product of these days with light or offshore breezes is a sharp rise in the number of ‘black flies’, “marsh flies”, “flying teeth” or whatever you call these relentless little biting buggers. They swarm on anything near the beach, and ‘bite’ after lighting for more than a few seconds. Insect repellent sprays with high DEET content are about the only thing that works. So beware! At least the tropics have been relatively quiet the past month, from our perspective. Let’s hope it stays that way as the historical peak of the season slips by around September 12th.
The water temperature has been about average (near 85 degrees) lately, and extremely calm for days at a time. This has allowed the seaweed in the surf zone to settle into scattered mats near and on the shore. Some areas are fairly clear of grass, while others may be smothered for a few days at a time. Searching different venues to find a spot to bottom fish is crucial to being successful. And there have been good numbers of ‘keeper-sized’ pompano in the surf along the edges of grass mats and sandbar drop offs, and more often over the sandbar. We should experience periods of stronger tidal flow through this fortnight, except near the NEAP tide period September 11-12. This coincides with a full moon, so no telling what affect these factors will have on fishing. Most days will see a falling tide until late afternoon.
One of the surest from-shore fishing bets in September is to target mangrove snapper. They are typically plentiful now around any hard structure like piers, docks, bridges, seawalls and jetties. Many have grown to legal size by now, which is 10 inch Total Length in Florida and 12 inch TL in Alabama. The creel limits are different too: 5 per day in Florida, but 10 per day in Alabama. They are fun to catch on medium to medium heavy tackle (10 to 15 pound class), and very tasty. Well worth the effort and aggravation of culling through a LOT of undersized specimens plus other bycatch species. This time of year the water is full of all kinds of jack species, plus voracious pinfish, grunts, and hordes of others. Since live bait works best for mangroves, it doesn’t take long to go through a bunch of shrimp. Sometimes using bull minnows or other 2 inch long live minnows will cut down on the amount of bycatch you have to deal with. But it still often a ‘grind’ to find a concentration of ‘legal sized’ fish, and replacing tackle after being broken off by these tenacious fighters that love staying close to any structure barnacle encrusted structure. Fishing 8 to 12 feet deep (if possible) may help your cause since the fish cannot usually see you from there, and may be less wary of biting your offering.
Fishing from the Gulf State Park Pier has been a ‘mixed bag’ lately, and down right “poor” at times when gamefish are simply not present. They may move farther offshore during prolonged calm periods when the water has been “too calm and clear”, or too many predators are around (sharks and dolphins), or simply too much fishing pressure. Early and late in the day are usually the best times to fish, and the right live bait (like live shrimp or small LYs) may give you an edge to entice hook wary fish to bite. Still, be prepared to get your fish out of the water quickly, before marauding sharks can zero in it. This is especially true for fishermen targeting spanish mackerel with the ever-popular Bubble Rig. The commotion of the splashing plastic float not only effectively calls up mackerel and other small gamefish like ladyfish, blue runners and bluefish, but it is like a dinner bell to sharks as well. Often a shark will stalk a Bubble Rig being retrieved from 5 or 10 feet below, and quickly strike at any mackerel that is attracted to the lure. And heaven help you if you hook a larger mackerel specimen which requires ‘playing’ the fish to get it tired. Often that attracts several sharks aggressively competing to make chopped chowder out of the hapless fish in seconds. IF the angler is lucky he gets his lure back, maybe with a fish head souvenir. But all to often the shark makes off with the lure and the angler is forced to rerig or retire for the day. It is a frustrating scenario that plays out all too often for pier anglers who hope the state will one day realize how much allowing this to continue has hurt the reputation of the pier as a destination fishery experience. It seems only logical these pier fishermen should at least be allowed the opportunity to do battle with or even land these super-efficient predators in return for all the havoc.
Beach fishermen have had their own demons to deal with lately, as calm and clear water have conspired with the over abundance of seagrass to hinder their bottom fishing efforts to target pompano and other species. Fortunately, the grass has been thinner in some locations allowing for these efforts to continue unhindered at times. Some surf fishermen even reported being able to wade fish with the “Goofy jig” setup along the edges of grass mats to target pompano. Just watch out for occasional stinging jellyfish. The bluefish bite at dawn remains fairly reliable on topwater baits and silver spoons, especially along the Fort Morgan peninsula, west to the fort. The only drawback is the action is too often short-lived. Especially if the sky is very clear (sunny), or when anglers are forced to leave because of an impending thunderstorm. Better safe than sorry though! Besides, many times following a thundershower conditions provide a ‘second dawn’ that may trigger another bite. Another option once the sun comes out, is to walk the beach and sightcast to redfish in the surf. A 4 inch Gulp Shrimp on a 3/8 ounce jighead can be quite effective in getting these shallow water reds to strike. Medium class spinning tackle (8 to 12 pound line) is ideal for this kind of action, providing great sport for these fine gamefish.