# Great Vacation



## JimD (Nov 27, 2007)

Sorry for the late post. I don't have any real excuse, I have just been a bit lazy. 

My wife, 4 year old grandson and I were down in Orange beach at 4 seasons from May 16 through the 23rd. We had a blast again this year. It was even more fun since Alex my grandson joined us. He had so much fun. The first afternoon on the pier, he had 6 fishon the pier before I had a chance to even try to catch one. I tied on a sabiki rig and told him I was going to catch a bigger fish than his. I was hoping it would be much smaller, and that is what happened. He got such a laugh out of that and enjoyed out fishing grandpa. The fishing was great until the wind picked up. Thursday, we did not catch much to speak of and Friday we decided to stay off of the pier and go do some non-fishing activities. It was all good and the time was enjoyed by all of us.

Here are some of the pictures...

Alex and his first saltwater fish.










Fish number 2










Hey grandpa, when are you going to catch a fish. I got you beat bad. (number 3)










Their getting bigger grandpa. You still don't have a fish? (Number 4)










I've still got you beat grandpa. (Number 5)










Hey grandpa, are you going to catch a fish? I bet my fish will all be bigger than your's. (number 6)










Hey grandpa, you call that a fish. I have bigger fish in my fish tank at home.










Here's an example of some of the more serious fish. These 3 were caught on consecutive casts. The wind was blowing hard and I had to turn my baseball cap around backward. I had already lost one cap.










Night time fishing off of the pier was like this.










I hope you enjoyed the pictures. It really was a great time. I enjoyed having Alex along and he and I both will have some great memories. All he has done since getting home is talk about all the fish he caught and all the things he got to do. He also loved chasing crabs at night. That was hilarious. He's ready to go back and so am I.

Take care.

Jim


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## M L (Nov 16, 2007)

Great story. I own a condo at Four Seasons. I think it's great place to vacation and the pier makes all the difference. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested in renting. Tell us you are a PFF member and we'll give you a 10% discount.


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## saltfisher1 (Oct 8, 2007)

Looks like you guys had a great time...Congrats on the catch.


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## spottedbass (May 22, 2009)

What did you catch the redfish and sheephead on? When we were down there last year we didn't fish any at night because I really didn't know how. So what and how did you catch the trout? Did you catch any spanish or king mackeral? Also about how deep was the end of the pier. I know last May is wasn't very deep. We were lucky enough last year to catch some spanish mackel for supper and we also eatsome of thelarger spades we caught. Those spades are really good.


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## JimD (Nov 27, 2007)

Oops, I kind of failed to mention what they were caught on.Most fish were caught on live shrimp. 

I was hoping to get into some spanish and possibly a king, but none were caught the week I was there. The water was pretty clear at the start of the week, but with the winds that came in on Wednesday and the rest of the week, it got kind of muddy. 

You should check the pier out at night. If the water is clear and the surf is not up, there will be thousands of fish under the pier. That is not an exageration at all. There were fish from very small up to about a 12 foot shark after dark. 

The pier is not in deep water, even at the end of the pier. It actually seems to be on a bit of a sandbar. 

The trout were all caught off of the very end of the pier and all on the suface, some on gotchas, some on a pink Conner pompano jig fished very fast at the surface, some on a topwater popper and some on live shrimp floated at the surface. I constantly had to change what I was using to get their attention. While floating the shrimp, be ready for the bull red that just might pick it up as he cruises by.

The other reds and black drum (no sheepheads) were all caught about half way out on the east side of the pier casting out quite a ways to a spot between the first and second sand bar. Good polarized glasses and clear water will help you to see the spot. It looked just a bit darker that the surrounding water. It was the hot spot for me all week during the daylight hours.

I hope this helps.


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## spottedbass (May 22, 2009)

Thanks. My 12 year son loved fishing off that pier. He caught tons of spades, a couple of flounder, a couple of small reds, a puffer and my daughter had a blast catching a skate.We also caught several big catfish.All those fish are real fun on medium spinning bass gear and 8lb line. 

I don't know alot about fishing saltwater, I am a bass fishermanin Tennessee. We usedgotchas, straw rigs, spoons and frozen shrimp. Hopefully we'll have as much fun in October.


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## JimD (Nov 27, 2007)

I'm sure you will.


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## mpmorr (Oct 3, 2007)

Great post Jim, the smile on that boys face says it all.:clap


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## Orangebeach28 (Jun 3, 2009)

That pier is private right? Could you have any luck surf fishing next to it?


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## JimD (Nov 27, 2007)

Yes it is private and you might have luck fishing next to it, You may have to wade out a bit to get past the sandbar.


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## supatooma15 (Mar 6, 2009)

Man, Your camera takes fantastic pics. Crystal clear, Looked like the little guy had a ball.Good for him.:clap


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## JimD (Nov 27, 2007)

Thank you. The pictures were taken with a Canon 50D and 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens.


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