Orange Beach
Perdido Pass, Zeke’s Landing, Cotton Bayou and Rabbit Island launches. The shortest run to the eastern reef zones and the deepest charter fleet on the coast.
Alabama Gulf Coast Fishing — Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island
Alabama has about 60 miles of Gulf coastline and one of the largest artificial reef complexes in the Gulf sitting off it. That combination is why a state with a short coast lands more red snapper than almost anywhere else. This section covers the ports, the reefs, the inshore water and the species that make the coast work.
Gulf Fishing Alabama
The Alabama Gulf Coast runs from the Florida line at Perdido Pass west to Dauphin Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Offshore, the bottom is sand and mud until it is not — the state's artificial reef program has scattered structure across roughly 1,300 square miles, and that structure is what holds fish. Red snapper, grouper and amberjack sit on the hard bottom and wrecks between 60 and 300 feet. King mackerel and cobia run the beach and the passes. Inshore, the flats and bayous behind Orange Beach and Gulf Shores hold speckled trout, redfish and flounder year round. The fishing is genuinely different in each of those three zones, and the boats that fish them are different boats.
The Ports
Gulf Shores
Gulf State Park Pier, Little Lagoon, Bon Secour Bay and Fort Morgan. Inshore flats and the western reef zones.
Dauphin Island
The western end of the Alabama coast, at the mouth of Mobile Bay. The run to the offshore grounds is longer, and the inshore fishing around the island and the bay passes is its own thing.
Fort Morgan
The tip of the peninsula west of Gulf Shores, facing Dauphin Island across the mouth of Mobile Bay. Surf fishing, fall bull redfish, and the public launch closest to Main Pass.
Gulf State Park Pier
The 1,540-foot pier at Gulf Shores. Pompano in the near surf, Spanish mackerel mid-pier, king mackerel and cobia off the end — no boat needed.
Species
Red Snapper
The reef fish the whole coast is built around. Short federal seasons, hard bottom and wrecks in 60 to 300 feet.
Cobia
Spring migration along the beach and through the passes. Sight fishing with live bait or jigs.
King Mackerel
Nearshore trolling and live-bait slow trolling off the passes, heaviest in fall.
Grouper
Deeper structure and live bottom. Gag and scamp on the offshore reefs and wrecks.
Offshore — Reefs, Wrecks and Rigs
The offshore fishery is a structure fishery. Natural hard bottom is scarce, so the artificial reefs carry the load: sunken barges, bridge rubble, concrete modules and deliberately placed pyramids, plus the standing and toppled oil and gas platforms further out. Captains run to named spots — the Trysler Grounds, the Nipple, Don Kelley South, the Hugh Swingle reefs — and the names are worth knowing because they tell you what kind of bottom you are over. Red snapper and grouper hold tight to the structure. Amberjack and king mackerel work above it. The Edge and the deeper drops past 300 feet are a different trip again, and not every boat is set up for them.
Inshore — Passes, Flats and Bayous
The inshore water is where the coast is easiest to fish without a big boat. Perdido Pass and the jetties at either end of it concentrate bait and everything that eats it. Little Lagoon behind Gulf Shores is shallow, clear and made for kayaks and skiffs. Bon Secour Bay and the rivers feeding it hold trout and redfish through the winter. Wolf Bay and the Ono Island shoreline fish well on a falling tide. Speckled trout, redfish and flounder are the three you will catch most, and the guides who run these waters do it in 20 feet of water or less.
Seasons and Regulations
Two agencies set the rules you have to follow on this coast, and they do not always agree on how to describe them.
- Alabama state waters — inside 9 nautical miles. Set by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). This covers licensing, state seasons, bag and size limits, and the inshore fishery.
- Federal Gulf waters — beyond 9 nautical miles. Set by NOAA Fisheries. This is where the red snapper season lives, and it has been short and has moved year to year.
We link to both agencies rather than restating their rules, because a season date copied onto a page is wrong the moment it changes. Check the source for the year you are actually going.
Gulf Coast Fishing Questions
- Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) — Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
- NOAA — Weather + solunar data
Data last reviewed: November 5, 2026