Gulf State Park Pier Opening Week

[Pier#r]

Getting to see and fish the brand new 1540' pier for a day was great!
But getting to see and fish the brand new 1540' pier for the whole first week was PRICELESS

My wife and I arrived in Gulf Shores Sunday evening for a week of rest and fishing.
Here's the view from the front porch of the house


Needless to say (after a 58 month wait) I was anxious to see the pier (up close) and get out there when it opened.
My wife said I was like a kid on Christmas morning sneaking a peak under the tree as I was up at the crack of dawn to walk the beach to the pier

Dawn was 'coolish' for late July with clear skies and a light northeasterly breeze.
There wasn't a soul on or near the pier, it was a surreal scene with the waning cresent moon hanging over the pier...


The view from the beach was awesome...


And looking back toward the pier just before sunup and the lights turned off...


A GREAT sunrise over the Pavillion...


Walking back I saw a few ladyfish and mullet near the shoreline.
About 50 yards from the beach a 4 or 5 foot shark blew up on a school of mullet
It was really cool, but happened so quickly I couldn't get a shot.

I spent the rest of the morning trying to occupy myself (and not think about getting out there too much
So I took a drive to Alabama Point and looked around a bit...


Then stopped to castnet some bait on my way back.

Our plan was to go to the pier for the opening, then do lunch and I would fish the afternoon.
We got to the pier at 10 till 11 and I realized my camera was still at the house
We got back just after the gates opened and went up the gangway...


Right away I started seeing some familiar faces (John Gaines & Whitzell Wood) and a few others farther up the line waiting to get on...


I caught up with some old friends on the pier too (Cher & Otis say HI!


If nothing else the view is breathtaking the first time you walk through the 2nd platform...


Lou Villanova caught the first fish we saw landed (a sennet)...


Some of the 20-25 anglers on the end were already pulling up some flounder when we got out there...


Saw this guy catch a nice flattie...


And didn't realize right away it was "Cotton" (a guy I had traded emails with for years)...


It was great to finally meet him and his (now famous) son Nate face-to-face...


We hung around the end for a bit and I got to thank Trey Meyers (Asst. GSPark Dir) for all their hard work and a job well done...


Not long after we saw the first king mackerel get hooked up...


And landed...


A real nice king...


Walking back I spied a familiar shape...


I knew I'd be back!
Thank You Lord, we got our pier back!

[Pier#r]

After a shower, lunch and a nap I got back to the pier about 3pm.

I visited with some old friends and checked out the inshore possibilities.
The words "target rich environment" came to mind as I saw plenty of flounder being caught in addition to seeing a school of speckled trout
and several schools of black drum with a few redfish mixed in.

I started with a jig and soon connected on a slot redfish that was followed by a black drum one of the nearby kids pulled in on dead shrimp.


Their dad said it was the boys first experience fishing in saltwater.
They were having a blast with the drum, so I gave them the redfish.

A little while later I connected with a nearly identical 18 1/2" redfish


Over the next few hours I caught 5 slot reds (C&R on two), several black drum, two flounder and a 16" speck (given away).
Not to mention several reds that came unhooked and a couple of breakoffs on the 6# mono.

Here's my "Money Shot"


I tried on the end (a couple of hours) for kings but the frozen LYs (Scaled Sardines) I had never even got a sniff from the mackerel or bluefish I saw caught

But I knew the next day would bring more opportunities
Thank You Lord!

[Pier#r]

I woke up Tuesday about 4am to get over to the pier to catch some mackerel. And it did not fail me
Soon after I got out to the end John Gianinni (J&M Tackle) hooked up a nice mackerel assisted by his two kids (Hannah & Hunter).
They had a spanish mack that went over 6 3/4# (just about a pound shy of the AL state record)


It was one of those mornings on the pier you dream about.
Clear skies and water, light winds and a small crowd with PLENTY of fish action


The whole end of the octagon was not crowded at all... (pan to the right to check the whole scene)


It didn't take my buddy Gary "programmer" to get his pier mojo back with the help of a silver eel.
Nice king Gary


Just about everybody out there was hooking up to good fish!
I luved this guy's form when he bowed up
I flashed back to my early days on the old pier when someone would do a similar move
and Hollis Ledlow would yell out "Tighten down! Don't give em a inch!!"


Just after 7:30 it was my turn, FINALLY a 19 1/2# chunk


Within an hour I caught another 16#
So here it was 8:30 and I was done for the morning.


Time to clean the fish and get back to the house for shower, nap & lunch
They have two GREAT fish cleaning stations at the middle platform.
Both are large enough for at least two angler to clean fish at the same time.


While I was there this guy nearby caught a nice flounder...


And I watched a large school of bluefish tearing up the water...


There had been 35-40 nice spanish and at least 50 kings caught by 9am when a tide line came through (from the east) and slowed the action dramatically.
Also a few hundred flounder (no exaggeration) caught

After a well deserved rest and lunch, I got back out about 4 pm with two dozen live shrimp and a cup of FRESH dead from Frith's B&T.
The school specks were bunched up in the shallows and very cooperative.
I caught seven in about an hour (missed numerous ones too).
I gave the first two away to a man with a group of kids who just mentioned they wanted to taste some fresh fried fish

I stayed until just after dark and picked up a few more fish (flounder, drum, blues, ladyfish) but no more specks.
Can't complain though, here's my 'PM Money Shot'


It'd been another GREAT day on the pier, with three left to go

Thank You Lord

[Pier#r]

Dejavu all over again
Great weather with clear sky, warm temp, a little more humid with a 10 knot SW-WSW (onshore/sideshore) wind.
Sure made for a great dawn



Worth another look at sunrise...


John G introduced me to the Orange Beach Police Chief
Nice fella and he caught two nice kings that am...


Mike Gianinni was there with his daughter to catch her a king.
And they did



What a cute smile


For some reason a barge and crane cruised by about mid day
They went up to the beach and soon left with a single old piling on the deck


Anyway, the fish bit right through the whole thing: Kings, big spanish, sharks, blues & even a brief tarpon hookup.
We snobbled up a school of jack crevelle that hung around for a while.
There were a few huge bull reds mixed in. The hoop on the net is 36"


I finally hooked and landed a king late morning (about 41 inches).


Gave it to a guy that hadn't caught one yet, and headed to the house for lunch, shower, nap and a 'cool one'

There had been a good number of kings landed Wednesday am by a few more anglers than on Tuesday.
Several dozen by mid day, and the afternoon run picked up with the seabreeze with another 25 or so caught.
Flounder fishing was still good, but not near the numbers that were landed on Tuesday.

Another fine day. Thank You Lord!

[Pier#r]

The morning king run was pretty good.
Thunderstorms over by Ft Morgan had the SW (onshore) wind blowing just right and I think the cloud cover helped keep the king bite going well into the morning.
There was a good crowd on hand at dawn...


Red sky at morning, kings take warning!


Some CARAZY stuff went down that morning...

This young man hooked a nice king on a Gotcha on the upwind corner of the pier.
He'd strung the line in the dark and didn't realize the line wrapped around his rod between the 2nd & 3rd guides near the tip.
The king's run nearly cut through the rod.
To his credit he played it well (on 12# mono) and we wrapped a piece of Gorilla Tape around the rod to help keep the line from cutting any more.
That fish was meant to be caught despite all this and a double gaff rope wrap up snaffu at the end
Anyway, a GREAT catch


This young fellow hooked up and fought his king like a seasoned veteran


Come to find out it was NOT HOOKED
His treblehook had caught the hole in the swivel of HIS OWN leader that had been cut off about an hour before.
The fish hung around that long (with the steel leader hanging out of it's mouth) until he caught it


I hooked a decent king about 7 am, but somebody had breakfast before I did


There were plenty of young kids getting king hookups right beside the old guys too


Kenny (the guy who caught THE FIRST KING) Vance's son...


This guy had his two boys out there and the both scored kings


Proud papa...



All in all, there were about 20-25 1/2 kings landed in the morning along with some more nice spanish.
The flounder bite was way off from the previous days, but still a few were caught from the end.
And the bluefish were gnawing at the pilings again!

At 9am I went up to the pierhouse for the Grand opening ceremony.
It had already been a great day for fishing.

Thank You Lord

[Pier#r]

Anybody and everybody that had anything to do with the pier rebuild (or claimed they did) was there or thanked
The State Park Director was the MC


Andy Andrews claimed to be the first millionare to live under the new pier...




Dept of Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley


And (of course) Gov. Bob Riley


The Bass Pro Shop guy recognized Otis Bullard as the 1st paying customer on the new pier Monday.
They loaded him with a new alum.cart, ice chest, spinning combo, etc.


Even though he wasn't feeling his best, he was gracious as always.


Dave LaGasse of LCI Inc (the company that built the pier) was on hand...


And they presented several really nice engraved rod & reel combos to some of the people involved.
Including Mr. Hugh Brayon (longtime Director of the Gulf State Park)


Then they "cut the ribbon" and it was over


I found Otis in the crowd to congratulate him...


The press was buzzing the governor...


But thanks to Ken Cooper (http://www.OrangeBeach.ws) for insisting I hang around there for a photo op


I got to tell the Governor thanks to the state of Alabama from all the pier fishers who'd been disenfranchised by Hurricane Ivan.
And I asked him to bring his kids back next time so we could get them all hooked up with some fish out on the pier

I still haven't washed that hand




It was pretty neat to be there and see it all go down.
http://www.orangebeach.ws/2009/News/200 ... ublic.html

And thank You Lord, we got our pier back!

[Pier#r]

After a shower, lunch and a nap I was ready to get back out there.
Lemme tell ya, this pace is NOT for the faint of heart.
I'd endured a couple of years of training (walking out to Pelican Spit to fish) in anticipation for this week


I heard somebody remarking about all the blood trails on the new pier deck, saying it looked like a crime scene.
We call this one "Remora CSI "...





The kings bite picked back up with the afternoon seabreeze.
I got to fish with some 'new' people and several of my old buddies too,
including "Pug" Beemis who caught a pair of nice kings (and looked good doing it)




Even I caught one (whole this time).


Thanks to Claude from LA for the assist, and the cool jigs too...


It had been some kinna day to remember,
and I thank the good Lord for that

[permitchaser]

where is this pier kings are hughe .

[BRunner346]

great story telling, report, pics, the whole nine yards. nice catches as well. wish i was there!

[IM CHUMMING]

great report, cant wait to see more thanks for sharing

[bolo]

Great report. A lot of old school guys fishing there. The pier look great and to see so many fish caught. It is awesome to see the state to get involved and to see them so proud of it.

[snakehead terror]

Great pics. Glad to hear that a great pier has been rebuilt

[Pier#r]

Thanks guys! Here's the final entry:
July 24, 2009 Fri- GSPPier Day 5

My buddy "Rusty Hook" and his wife (Pam) came over from Mobile to fish with me this day.
We started at daylight...



The blues were eating every snobble bait and flounder bait put in the water from one end of the pier to the other
Still they are fun...



Another great sunrise on the pier (aren't they all



Only a handfull of kings were caught all morning, by over 50 anglers.
The bluefish REALLY dominated the morning bite and soon I raised the white flag (surrender) and tried my luck at flounder fishing with Pam and DeWayne.
We did OK with 6 keepers (a few throwbacks) a 17" black drum, and a BUNCH of break-offs and cut-offs to the bluefish
It's a loooong way down to the water...


The kids sure kept us entertained though it was slow




We took a break about 11 and met up in OBch for lunch with my wife.

Rested and well fed, we were back out on the pier about 4pm.
I soon spied another ole buddy and he was "bowed to the MAX"


John Giannini was out there with his kids (Hannah & Hunter) and they each caught a king



"Rusty Hook" and "STackett" both scored nice spanierds...




There were a fair number of spanish and at least 10 kings put on the deck in the late afternoon with this one being one of the biggest



But like Charlie Brown on Halloween Night, all I got was 'a rock'
Still it had been a fantastic week of fishing and fun
Once again I thank the Good Lord and I can't wait til next time

[permitchaser]

wow with a pier like that its just like fishing from a boat nice smokers ,trout ,red fish etc where is alabama i want to go there

[IM CHUMMING]

seems like people really take care of those old school reels almost every pic has an old ass reel

[BigBoiFishing]

Thats a beautiful pier, the cleaning stations, huts, the width and the Octagon. A lot of Spinfishers...thats what those reels are, right?

[snakehead terror]

seems like people really take care of those old school reels almost every pic has an old ass reel

I was about to say that

[DeezNuts]

No trolly fishing

[bubbafishin]

Imagine if the Deerfield trolly brigade made a trip to that pier, and i like how everyone has a nice old reel way to go on the reports and the catching

[Filletnrelease]

A fantastic read. Felt like I was there. I hunt in Alabama, looks like I may be fishing there too. Thanks for the great piece of work and you should be writing for a fishing Mag. if your not already.