Wolf Bay, AL and Orange Beach

[Travis C.]

We just booked a house down there for a week that is on the bay with a private fishing pier in June.

Anyone ever been? I haven't and wanted to get into some fishing. May take my subermisible light if it would be beneficial to hang off the pier as well.

Thanks.

[j19bill]

Ive left out of Zeak's marina in Orange Beach to go offshore fishing. I would definitely check it out in the afternoon to see what is being brought back.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[Travis C.]

Thanks for the info.

The plot thickens. I had thought the house was booked but now looks like we can't get a hold of the lady who was leasing the place. :mad:

[j19bill]

Hope it all works out for you.

Sent from my Droid Bionic complete with typos and sarcasm.

[Travis C.]

Got it squared away finally.

Has anyone ever fished around Orange Beach or Wolf Bay more specifically? Will definitely be fishing inshore while on vacation.

Thanks!

[spottedbass]

Just got back from Orange Beach. I fished the Four Seasons Pier though, no inshore fishing. We did put a hurt on the sheepshead and one keeper red fish. Brought home 7 vacuum sealed bags of fish.

[Travis C.]

Just got back from Orange Beach. I fished the Four Seasons Pier though, no inshore fishing. We did put a hurt on the sheepshead and one keeper red fish. Brought home 7 vacuum sealed bags of fish.

Awesome, how does the license part work? I have never fished salt before. So I may spend some time fishing in the bay and the on the actual gulf side too.

[spottedbass]

There are several different license options. I bought an annual saltwater pier fishing ONLY license for $11. You can get one of those and go to the Gulf State Pier and whack some fish. In June you will have a lot of different fish available to be caught.

You can go here to buy your license and find out what all is available.
http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/

[Travis C.]

Cool thanks for the info.

How high is the pier off the water? I am only planning on packing fly gear.

[spottedbass]

You won't be able to fly fish from the pier it's too high.

[Travis C.]

You won't be able to fly fish from the pier it's too high.

Thanks, I will probably fish off the beach and the pier at the house we are staying.

What species do you think will be present in the bay and/or gulf side?

[spottedbass]

Not sure on the gulf side as far as fly fishing goes. If were you surf fishing with your bass gear, you would catch whiting, ladyfish, possible red fish, maybe pompano and if you could cast a spoon a long distance you might even catch a spanish mackeral.

If you fish at night under the lights on the pier in the bay, you shold be able to catch some speckled trout.

[Travis C.]

I am not opposed to taking bass gear since the wife and kids may want to fish too. They will need at least one other rod option than the fly rod. Just never fished salt so I figure the fly reel would be easier to wash out.

I may take bass gear it will all depend on how loaded down the SUV is. The flyrod is in a case that fits under the seats.

Rogues, Poppers and what else for lures?

[spottedbass]

I am not going to be much help in the bay. For the kids in the surf just a simple carolina rig with a small hook (size 4 Mosquito hook is what I use) and for bait buy some frozen shrimp. Use just a piece big enough to cover the hook. There are lots of bait stealers out there if you use anything any larger. I use 6 lb and 8 lb. line. If you have another reel you can put 10 lb. line on, get you some cotton cordell silver spoons (3/4 oz and 1/oz.) You can cast them a mile. I like to cast them in the surf as far as I can and work them back quick across the top of the water. These works really great if you see bait being chased. Just throw in the the action and hang on.

I have used my bass gear down there for years without any problems. Just each time when you are finished fishing give them a good rinsing in the shower.

[Travis C.]

Awesome, that is great info.

I should be fine with taking regular gear then. Since we are staying on the water I may be able to fish a lot more than initially thought. Reading all this thread gets me pretty pumped to fish on the beach much less actually catching anything..LOL.

[Travis C.]

Can't wait to get down there rest, relax and catch a fish or two. Thanks for the advice and help guys.

Will post some pics when I get back.

[spottedbass]

Have fun. It's one of my favorite places to visit and fish.

[Alphahawk]

Have safe trip.


Regards

[SaltySportsmanTV]

Good luck with everything & safe travels I look forward to seeing your updates!

[txnative]

Don't forget, I get a share of the fillets of anything worth eating if you catch it on the gear I lent you. Have fun, be safe, and be ready for big ol' fishies when you get back.


Chris

[Travis C.]

The family had a blast on vacation and a return trip will definitely be made again. I thoroughly enjoyed Orange Beach over any on the east coast of Florida.

Now the fishing...

I ended up fishing 2 days and 2 nights in Wolf Bay never venturing into the Gulf. Took a bunch of big baits, my striper/hybrid box, live bait rigs and my trout magnets....yes trout mags to the Gulf. As it turns out they out produced all the others that I brought. The magnets plain wore out the small Croakers and small Sand Trout. Brown slowly crawled along the sand and red caught the Croakers. White twitched caught the trout.

After having fun with the magnets, I put out some cut bait and caught a lot of Sail Catfish. Don't know much the biggest ones weighed but man they were like solid bowling balls of weight. The first night a big one snapped my 20lb leader in half after a long tugging battle. Then the last night using a huge piece of cut bait on the 8/0 hooks I latched onto something that may have been a shark. It immediately peeled line as I picked it up out of the rod holder. I set the hook I felt a big fish then nothing and had it cut the braid.

It was a great trip especially for a first time in the salt. I expected nothing and was rewarded with good fishing.

To top everything thing on my last day trip to the pier there was a dolphin running bait next to it. All could do was sit and watch instead of fishing. Amazing to see such a huge creature that most imagine just porpoising out in open water actually being a predator. It would swim out to the end of the dock, turn, then chase bait to the bank. Several times there would be bait skipping and resulting in a major blowup at the bank. I videoed it but will have to see the quality first before posting.

[Travis C.]

Average size of the Croakers:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii40/MrCarney1979/IMG_7350_zpsc54b79a4.jpg

Average size of the Sand Trout:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii40/MrCarney1979/IMG_7355_zps3e555da8.jpg

Caught a couple this size of Sail Cats and several smaller:

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii40/MrCarney1979/IMG_7357_zps603a4cb5.jpg

I am not sure how many fish were caught total it wasn't epic by any means but it was definitely fun and pretty steady. Seems like about every cast or two resulted in a sail cat or bites on the cut bait. While nothing was huge, I'd go back to fish it again.

Here is a pic from my pier at the setting sun over the bay. This was enough to make me want to go back without any fishing involved.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii40/MrCarney1979/IMG_7322_zpsa214be58.jpg

[Alphahawk]

Sounds like a great trip. Good pics.



Regards

[Travis C.]

Sounds like a great trip. Good pics.

Regards

Thanks!

I sent Jeff the pics of the fish with a short summary. Thought he'd get a kick out of his magnets tricking salt fish.

[txnative]

The rod and reel in the pic of the catfish look mighty familiar...


Chris

[Travis C.]

The rod and reel in the pic of the catfish look mighty familiar...

Chris

Thanks for letting me use it. Those two cats like the one in the pic definitely bent in over real good several times.