Why not take a summer fishing vacation in the dead of winter? Where can you go fishing during the winter months, catch plenty of big and good-eating fish, enjoy nice weather, eat delicious seafood and have a fishing trip of a lifetime? The answer is Orange Beach, Alabama.
By surf fishing from shore, you can catch giant bull redfish that often will weigh from 12 to more than 30 pounds. Go out a little further in the water at the Gulf State Park Pier, the longest fishing pier on the Gulf of Mexico. The pier stays open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and costs only $8 a day to fish, plus you must have a saltwater fishing license or a special saltwater pier-fishing trip license. Not only can you catch big bull redfish from the pier, but throughout most of the winter, you’ll be able to catch whiting and ground mullet, sheepshead, another hard-fighting, delicious-eating fish and an occasional flounder. You also can charter an inshore boat to go up into the rivers that feed the Mobile Delta on Alabama’s Gulf Coast where you can catch speckled trout, redfish and possibly flounder.
To go further offshore, you can charter a boat or go on a head boat or out on a party boat to fish for redfish for 4 hours or take a longer trip of 6, 8, 10 or 12 hours and catch not only redfish but also vermilion snapper, white snapper, lane snapper, grouper, amberjacks and triggerfish. Those who crave big-water action will find giant yellowfin tuna available that can weigh in excess of 150-pounds and wahoo of more than 70 pounds. On the overnight offshore trips, you not only have the opportunity to fish for these fish, but also swordfish, deep-water grouper, tilefish and other deep-water fish that most anglers seldom see - many of which are delicious to eat.
On Alabama’s Gulf Coast, you have so-many fishing options available, including the option of standing on the beach, the bank and the pier, sitting in a bay boat and fishing, or going offshore for 6 to 12 hours or overnight and fishing from a much-larger boat with bunks, a galley and shower facilities. Because of the many options, you can custom-make your fishing trip to suit you, your family, business clients or a small or a large group of friends. Also, from Thanksgiving through the end of February, all the hotels, motels, and condominiums at Alabama’s beach offer off-season rates. If you want to take your family with you, including some members of the family who don’t fish, Alabama’s Gulf Coast has a wide variety of other attractions, including a discount mall, Fort Morgan that has been used in every war that the U.S. has been involved in, except the Revolutionary War and the Gulf War, as well as a zoo, and some of the finest eateries in the South.
Take a weekend, a long weekend or a week’s vacation this winter where the weather’s cool but not cold, the emerald-blue waters are crystal clear, and you can walk along sugar-white, sandy beaches barefoot, often in January and February. Plan a winter fishing adventure to Alabama’s Gulf Coast right now. For more information about how to make your winter fishing-trip dreams come true, you can learn more about fishing the Gulf State Park Pier, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by calling 251-948-7275. Also you can see videos of what’s being caught at the pier by going to the pier webcam at www.alapark.com/gulfstate/Gulf State Park Pier. To learn more about fishing guides and charter boats, lodging accommodations, restaurants and entertainment on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, call 800-745-SAND (7263), or visit www.orangebeach.com. You also can get a fishing report three times each week by visiting the “What’s Biting?” column at www.orangebeach.com/fishing/biting/. To have your catch cooked at a local restaurant, go to Top 25+ Nightlife & Bars in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach and check the box that says, “Will cook your catch.”
Media Contact
Kim Chapman (800) 745-7263 or kchapman@gulfshores.com