Find the Best Inshore Fishing Action at Dauphin Island

Lower Alabama’s Dauphin Island has it all: beautiful beaches, fertile coastal shallows, immediate access to deep water and a wide range of gamefish that either reside there year-round or frequent the area seasonally. All of this makes it a fantastic landing spot for anglers planning their next fishing vacation.

What makes the fishery in the Dauphin Island area so incredible is the constant exchange of estuarine and Gulf waters, which creates an ideal situation for many inshore species to thrive. Visiting anglers have the opportunity to pursue speckled trout, redfish, tripletail, Spanish mackerel, sheepshead, flounder and more along the surf, as well as in adjacent Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound.

PRODUCTIVE WATERS

Dauphin Island stretches some 15 miles from east to west, providing long stretches of beach for anglers that enjoy fishing the surf. The western portion of the island is more remote and uninhabited. It sports beautiful white-sand beaches, and the Gulf water lapping along its southern perimeter is often chock-full of fish.

The northern side of the island is surrounded by Mississippi Sound, another target-rich environment comprising seagrass flats and many oyster reefs and sand bars that attract tons of baitfish and predatory inshore species.

Other fertile waters await in Mobile Bay, situated off the eastern end of the island between Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan, two historical landmarks from the Civil War. This wide-open estuary has plenty of deep water and key structures where anglers find a variety of fish.

SEASONAL OPPORTUNITIES

While trout can be targeted all year, some of the most consistent inshore action—for a number of species—takes place during summer and early fall. The diversity of the area’s waters, however, also offers a high probability of success to folks pursuing redfish and flounder during winter and spring.

Tripletail is another popular species available, particularly from fall through spring. They can be found suspending just below the surface around floating objects like crab pots, marker buoys, floating clumps of sargasso and other flotsam. Spanish mackerel are caught regularly along the surf and in estuarine waters, especially during the summer months. Sheepshead, too, abound in the Dauphin Island area and can be found around hard structure like rock piles, oyster bars and dock or pier pilings just about any time of year. Springtime, when sheepshead spawn, is the peak period for both numbers and trophy-size fish, which sometimes reach double-digits in weight.

As a Texas coast native, I grew up chasing speckled trout and have pursued them all along the Gulf Coast. After my first trip to Dauphin Island, I was convinced that it offers some of the best trout fishing anywhere.

Capt. Nick Poe of Reel Gypsy Fishing, one of the top fishing charter services in the area, also loves speckled trout and focuses on targeting quality specks with artificials.

“We like to fool ’em, not feed ’em,” Poe says. “Many times, we get inexperienced anglers that are used to fishing with natural baits. But our fishery is so good that most folks on my boat catch lots of fish on plastics.”

RECOMMENDED TACTICS

For speckled trout, Poe favors walking topwater plugs like the MirrOlure Duke Dog and She Dog and the Heddon Super Spook.

“There’s nothing quite like watching a hefty speckled trout crush a topwater,” he says, adding that pink-and-chrome and bone-and-chrome are his color schemes of choice for surface lures.

Poe also likes soft plastics—mainly MirrOlure’s Lil John and Provoker—rigged on the lightest jig head the conditions will allow.

“I want the bait to sink all the way to the bottom, but slowly,” he says. “Most times we use 1/8- to 1/4- ounce jig heads, but I’ll go heavier if the wind is blowing hard or the current is super strong.”

Redfish, another big draw, can often be sight-fished on nearby grass flats and marshes with a variety of lures, including weedless spoons, spinnerbaits, plastic shrimp, topwaters and more. They can also be caught by fishing a live shrimp under a popping cork around oysters and hard structure, or a live baitfish or a hunk of crab on a fish-finder rig along the surf and in the passes.

Tripletail, which frequently appear oblivious to their surroundings, still require a stealthy approach. A carefully placed soft plastic or live shrimp will generally coax a strike from these unique and tasty fish. Spanish mackerel, meanwhile, are usually quite aggressive and will hit just about anything they come across, from live bait to most small artificials retrieved at a quick pace.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Poe likes to fish stretches of water with structure to catch numbers of speckled trout. Grass flats, the edges of sand bars, drop-offs, oyster reefs, oil rigs and riprap—in both Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay—are all hot spots where he finds fish concentrated.

“Fishing the surf and along the beachfront for trout is a little different,” Poe says. “There are some spots along the surf that have bars and guts (narrow channels dredged naturally by the current), but most of the time I’m looking for stretches of water with signs of feeding fish.”

The presence of baitfish and slicks are the two main signs Poe looks for. “Fish slicks look like small oil slicks on the surface,” he says. “They are created by trout feeding heavily and burping or regurgitating prey they’ve been munching on. If you find a few slicks and rafts of nervous baitfish, you can bet there are schools of trout feeding nearby.”

Poe also says it’s common to catch lots of speckled trout in the 17- to 23-inch range during summer and early fall.

“We’ve got tons of 2- to 4-pounders, and we also find some fish weighing up to 8 pounds or more,” he says.

In addition to speckled trout, anglers can expect to catch plenty of redfish while fishing along Dauphin Island and its surrounding waters. Schools of reds can be found along the surf and beachfront, especially during the late summer and early fall months when they are gearing up for their annual spawning run.Redfish are also plentiful in Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay. Poe says his anglers often catch them while targeting speckled trout using the same lures and tactics.

“The same can be said about flounder,” Poe adds. “It’s not uncommon for us to be catching trout and reds in a particular area and suddenly hook a nice flatfish.” Dauphin Island may be one of the most overlooked inshore fishing destinations on the Gulf Coast, and it’s one you’ll surely want to check out and experience. The area provides anglers opportunities to pursue a wide variety of species along pristine stretches of water and picturesque beaches. Whether you live to fish or just want to try something new on a coastal getaway, this lower Alabama locale will not disappoint.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

• Enjoy the area’s sights, sounds and flavors.

During a trip to Dauphin Island, be sure to check out Fort Gaines, a historic site from the Civil War and the Battle of Mobile Bay. The Alabama Aquarium at Dauphin Island Sea Lab on Bienville Boulevard is another popular attraction. It showcases the plants, animals and other natural resources found along Alabama’s Gulf Coast. You can also ride the ferry from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan and enjoy the tour and displays at another historic 19th-century military facility. Once in Fort Morgan, you’ll be just a stone’s throw away from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, two popular beach destinations with lots of lively bars to enjoy a chilled libation (some have live music) and great eateries to sample fresh seafood. If you’d rather dine on Dauphin Island, give Islanders or Pirate’s Bar and Grill a try.

For a complete Dauphin Island trip-planning guide, visit dauphinislandtourism.com.

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• This article was featured in the June/July 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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