Red snapper season opened this past Friday, October 1, on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, and Captain Butch Tucker of the head boat, the “Zeke’s Lady,” brought-in on Saturday not only a box full of red snapper, but also a boatload of smiling faces.
Most charter boats take from six to more than 20 fishermen offshore to catch red snapper during the fall snapper season that started October 1 and runs to November 22. But if you come to Alabama’s Gulf Coast and don’t have six or more in your party, you still can go offshore and catch red snapper, vermilion snapper, triggerfish and the other reef and pelagic fish that are fun to catch and delicious to eat. Most marinas have head boats, designed to take individuals or parties of less than six offshore fishing for 4-, 6- or 12-hour trips. Oftentimes you can get on a head boat by simply being at the dock before the charter leaves at 8:00 am. But to ensure you get a fishing trip on one of these boats, call the marina one or two days ahead of time to book a spot.
Captain Butch Tucker of the “Zeke’s Lady,” based at Zeke’s Landing Marina in Orange Beach, Ala., says, “We’re looking forward to a wonderful snapper season this fall. We can keep red snapper on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until 12:01 am on November 22, and we should be able to get a limit of snapper on both 4- and 6-hour fishing trips. Besides red snapper, our fishermen generally catch triggerfish, grouper, a few scamp, white snapper, lane snapper and the occasional amberjack and king mackerel. On a 6-hour trip, we may run as far as 22-miles offshore. On a 4-hour trip, we’ll usually run 12 to 14 miles.”
Tucker can take up to 60 people on his boat but on most trips, he’ll have 45 or less. “On the 4-hour trip, because there are more and bigger red snapper on our artificial reefs and natural bottoms than any other species of fish, our parties usually catch numbers of red snapper,” Tucker explains. “The majority of these reefs haven’t been fished all year, because of the oil spill last spring, so the reefs are loaded-up with snapper.”
On the “Zeke’s Lady,” anglers will fish a single- and a two-hook rig. During snapper season, anglers will be fishing with dead cigar minnows and whole squid, which are the prime baits for big red snapper, as well as other species of fish. Big head boats usually can fish in seas of 5 foot or less.
“Children are out of school on the weekends, so entire families can come down on the weekends to Alabama’s Gulf Coast to fish the fall red snapper weekend season,” Tucker suggests. “Too, many school children soon will be having their fall breaks, providing more fall fishing opportunities for families. Most anglers weren’t able to fish the Gulf Coast this summer, because of the oil spill, so many of them are anxious to start fishing this fall and catching fish to take home to eat. We’re really happy about the fall season.”
Head boats like Tucker’s, often bring-in 20-pound-plus red snapper. “During the Red Snapper World Championship, one of our anglers caught a 28-pound red snapper, and I’m confident that we’ll catch some 20-pound-plus snapper this season,” Tucker emphasizes. Tucker’s 6-hour trips leave the dock at 8:00 am and return to port by 2:00 pm. For this trip, anglers have to be onboard no later than 7:30 am. The 4-hour trip leaves at 3:00 pm and returns to port by 7:00 pm. Anglers have to be onboard by 2:30 pm. To book a private charter on the “Zeke’s Lady,” call Captain Butch Tucker at 850-380-3321, or contact him through Zeke’s Landing Marina at 251-981-4044, or visit the website at www.zekeslanding.com.
Also this fall at Gulf Shores, the 39th Annual National Shrimp Festival, free to the public, will be held October 7-10 at the main public beach and will offer over 300 arts and crafts vendors, two musical stages, featuring major national recording artists and local favorites, and a Children’s Activity Village. To learn more about the Shrimp Festival, call 251-968-4237, or go to www.nationalshrimpfestival.com. For more information on fishing guides and charter boats, lodging accommodations, restaurants and entertainment on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, call Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism at 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/.