Along Alabama's beaches, you will find a plentiful marine bounty and quite a few of those fish are a great option to add to the table for dinner. For the price of an Alabama fishing license, someone can have a great meal while enjoying what our coastal waters offer.
During the summer, inshore anglers with access to a boat or kayak will find multiple species, such as speckled trout, redfish, flounder, and many more species when fishing in the inshore bays and marshes. Redfish on the half shell on the grill and flounder stuffed with crab meat are among some of the best seafood dishes you can have and can cost a pretty penny in any restaurant in the area.
For the freezer filler, you can find white trout by the dozens in almost any tidal creek or river. In the winter months, you can still find redfish and trout, but sheepshead and small black drum become more abundant as well. Due to the diet of sheepshead feeding mainly on crustaceans and shellfish, they take on a small bit of a shellfish taste to the meat, which will please any seafood lover's palate.
You can catch those same species from land, as well as pompano and whiting, while fishing in the surf and canals. Pompano can be found running the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, typically showing up from March when the waters start to warm up through the summer months to November when the water starts to cool down. Pompano filets are firm white fish that already have butter added to them. It can be cooked in a variety of ways, but some good recipes come from ceviche, blackened or baked whole.
Whiting can typically be found year-round while fishing deeper holes that line the surf’s edge while using shrimp or the available sand flea or ghost shrimp. Whiting – also known as Kingfish – is also a great option and offers a mild, flakey white filet that, when harvested, will please even the pickiest of seafood eaters.
Another great option for the fisherman looking for table fare is to go offshore in search of snapper, tuna, and mackerel. Thanks to Alabama’s fantastic artificial reef system, there are many great habitats for fish. While most of the coast prefers saltwater fish, this area also offers a large number of freshwater fish to be caught. All the local rivers and creeks have an abundance of bass and bream, with some pockets of nice crappie to be caught.
Alabama Beaches boast a variety of fishing types and areas for the angler looking to bring home a few fish to eat. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are the perfect place to catch your next dinner!
After you've reeled in your haul, head to one of our Cook Your Catch restaurants. The chefs at these eateries will prepare your fish however you want, so you can eat it just how you like it!
