Dauphin Island Jetty Fishing In December

Dauphin Island jetty fishing in December is supposed to be good for bull redfish, so I decided to hit the rocks Sunday afternoon to see if the reports were as purported.

I started late and didn't bother checking the tide until I has halfway there.  As luck would have it, the tide was slack and just beginning to run out into the Gulf.

I planned to fish the pier at the parking lot near the boat launch, but when I got there, I was disappointed to see that the pier was closed to fishing.

Apparently the hurricane did it's work on the wooden pier and caused just enough damage to make it unsafe for fishermen.

I drove past the pier to the parking area for the beach and easily found a space.  Winter time in the Gulf makes for easy parking!

It was quickly becoming evident that the fishing was going to be slow.  No one was fishing off of any of the jetties.

Since I made the 15 mile drive to the rocks, I decided to at least wet a line give it a try anyway.  

I brought a 9' rod that was loaded with 20 pound Cajun Red line and about 4 feet of 30 pound fluorocarbon  leader.   I had a 4 oz. barrel sinker above the swivel and a 4/0 Owner hook snelled to the business end.

I brought along a couple large frozen mullet for bait and was going to buy some fresh mullet at the local bait shop, but when I learned that the tide was against me, I opted for using frozen mullet instead.

I trudged to the end of the longest jetty, cut of a chunk of mullet steak, tossed it as far as I could into the deepest area, and started taking pics of the surroundings.

There was a lot of boating activity and more beach goers than I expected but I was the only one fishing from the rocks.

I kept losing baits so I down sized my offering and started catching smaller fish.

As the tide started to go out, I managed to catch 6 whiting, three croaker, and one small sail cat.

The last croaker I landed was only about 5 inches long so I hooked it in the lip and tossed it out in hopes of catching a big redfish.

I's like to report that I landed a bull red but I didn't.   I spent the next 45 minutes or so drowning the croaker without another bite and because the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping, I decided to pack it in and head back to Tillman's Corner.

Although I didn't slay the local fishery, it was good to get out and enjoy the winter afternoon at Dauphin Island.

I hope you enjoy the pics and short video.

Till next time, Tight Lines.