Alabama’s Gulf Coast Is Oil-Free and Open for Business
Red Snapper Time at Alabama’s Gulf Coast
Red sn apper season begins June 1, and Alabama’s Gulf Coast homes plenty of waters where anglers can catch snapper. “Because Alabama’s Marine Resources Division (MRD) and the local fishermen and conservation groups have built artificial reefs for the last 60 years off Alabama’s Gulf Coast, we’ve got plenty of places to fish and an abundance of snapper to catch,” Vernon Minton, director of the MRD, explains.
Yes, the oil spill off Louisiana’s coast continues to spread out in the Gulf of Mexico. However, fisheries scientists agree that the oil spill has not affected the fishing along the Alabama Gulf Coast. There’s also no oil on the beaches in Alabama, and anglers are enjoying outstanding fishing. A report from Trish Carlisle, a concessionaire on Gulf State Park Pier, in Gulf Shores, Ala., explains that, “Some of our anglers are catching triggerfish from the pier, and scientists consider these fish deep-water species. We’re also catching king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, flounder, pompano, whiting, ground mullet, speckled trout and redfish.”
Captain Gary Davis, who fishes out of Fort Morgan, Ala., in Mobile Bay, reports, “Speckled trout fishing is as good as we’ve ever had it, and Mobile Bay has plenty of speckled trout and redfish ready to be caught on all the state’s inshore reefs. We’ve been catching some 4- to 5-pounders.” 
During the month of June, anglers will crown red snapper king. So-many red snapper live off Alabama’s Gulf Coast that a party of six generally can get their limit of red snapper easily along with numbers of triggerfish, mangrove snapper, white snapper and vermillion snapper in a 4-hour trip. Captain Troy Frady of the charter boat “Distraction” reports, “We have so-many families coming to the beach who have been asking for shorter trips, that many of the captains have started offering the less-expensive 4-hour trips. Also, the 4-hour trip is a great way to introduce young folks and anglers who’ve never fished the Gulf of Mexico before to this style of fishing. We like to fish light tackle for bigger fish and to give our anglers bigger fights.”
This month many of the bigger charter boats will go offshore too for white marlin, tuna, wahoo and dolphin (mahi mahi). For more information, visit www.reelfishingalabama.com, or call 1-800-745-SAND (7263).
Tomorrow: Anglers Come from Everywhere to Enjoy the Productive Fishing at Alabama’s Gulf State Park Pier
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