The Fort Morgan area provides plenty of great shore fishing opportunities along the Alabama Coast. Being a peninsula means that it provides you with the best of both worlds. You can surf fish from the beach, or you can fish along the banks of Mobile Bay if the sea side hits you with poor conditions. But that’s not all! The Fort Morgan region also provides a hidden inland gem within the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
If you’re visiting the area for the first time, or perhaps you’re local and have just never fished here, I believe I can point you in the right direction.
Fort Morgan Fishing Preparation
Pre-trip planning is key when getting ready for a fishing trip of any kind, but it’s particularly important for Fort Morgan. That’s because when you make the long drive out on the peninsula you don’t have a lot of options for changing locations without having to drive a long ways. Below are some things you should consider before heading out.
- Seek Out Recent Fishing Reports
- Choose Several Different Locations Ahead Of Time
- Make A Plan For Bait
- Check The Weather
Check The Most Recent Fishing Reports
- The Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report podcast
- Facebook fishing groups for the area
- Fishing forums for the area
The first thing I like to do is check all the recent fishing reports that I can find. A great place to start is the weekly Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report podcast which is released every Thursday. You can glean a whole host of current fishing information for the area from this podcast. Two other great options are to hit up various Facebook fishing pages and other forums for the area. There are of course other ways to get current fishing reports, but these are the 3 I use most often.
Determining what species is currently providing the most action may impact the rest of your game plan, so I recommend that you don’t skip this step.
Pick Several Alternate Locations
You’ll want to familiarize yourself with several different locations so that you have options if some unexpected event arises. For example, you may discover that the surf is loaded with seaweed and is nearly unfishable. In my case, I fully expected to fish the bay side at the fort. I had no idea they had recently closed off the access points just outside the park until I arrived. I had to either go somewhere else, or wait till 8am when the park opened and then pay an entry fee.
Hopefully my list of fishing areas further below can help you be prepared with enough spots to handle any conditions that may arise.
Check Weather And Surf Reports
It goes without saying that weather is always a factor when fishing. You’ll want to check for any bad weather days and fish around them the best you can.
Wind direction in particular can dictate where you should try on a particular day. A strong south wind will churn up the surf zone and may send you to the bay side for calmer waters. Alternatively, a north wind may make the sea side a better choice as it will flatten out the surf on the beach whereas it will hammer the bay side shore.
A strong east or west wind can be particularly annoying as it blows along the coast on both sides of the peninsula. While It’s hard to completely escape the impacts of an east or west wind on the beaches, there is one place that fishes OK in an East wind in particular. You can make the 1 mile walk to Gator Lake and fish the east bank. Here you can potentially catch speckled trout, redfish, largemouth, catfish and bluegill This is discussed further below.
8 Best Places To Fish At Fort Morgan
When I refer to Fort Morgan, I’m referring to the general area west of Little Lagoon, rather than the actual military park. Below are some of the best fishing spots out on the Fort Morgan peninsula that I know of. Besides these spots, you are bound to find some of your own favorites.
1. Bay Side Beach Inside The Park
While this is an excellent fishing spot, the glaring negative to this area is that the park does not open until 8AM and it closes at 5PM. Therefore, if using the park entrance, you’ll miss peak fishing times of the day.
There used to be public access to the bay side beach from the public boat ramp just outside the park. This was great, however, currently they are in midst of constructing a new pier right outside the park entrance. As part of this construction they have roped off the former pathways over the dunes and put up no trespassing signs. This forced me to wait until 8AM when the park opened to fish this area. With that said, I did encounter people on the beach that somehow entered from the construction area. I believe they either had permission from someone or simply weaved their way past the barrier and through the parked construction equipment in order to enter the fort’s bay side beach.
My latest trip was May of 2021. Hopefully the pier construction will have been completed by the time you read this. Perhaps the beach access outside the park gate will be restored. Only time will tell.
2. Concrete Pilings
If you do decide to fish inside the park, you should check out the concrete pilings at the end of the access path beside the main parking area. This is a great fishing spot that is quickly and easily accessed inside the Fort Morgan State Park.
As you enter the gate to the park and come upon the main parking area, there is a concrete walkway to the right. You’ll see a flag pole and a cannon guarding the entrance. Just down that concrete walkway to the bay side is what appears to be the remains of an old pier. I’m not really sure what used to be there. With a bit of research I’m sure you could find out. All I know is that it’s very fishy.
This spot is easily recognizable from satellite imagery. Here you’ll encounter speckled trout, redfish, croaker and no telling what else hanging out towards the end of the concrete blocks. You’ll often see local guides pull up to the end of this feature in their boats and fish it heavily. No worries, there is still plenty of fishing room for you as well when standing on the shoreline. My experience at this location in May was outstanding. Besides great fishing, you can also expect to spot a lot of dolphin activity in this area.
3. The Peninsula’s Oceanside Beaches
Fishing the ocean side beach from within the actual Fort Morgan State Park is difficult as it requires entry on the bay side and then a tremendous walk around the point to get to the sea side. Instead, you can enter at No Name Street, discussed below, and walk down the beach towards the point. This is an easier walk.
There are other public access points, besides just the park, to get to the ocean side beaches of the peninsula. A couple of these options are also briefly discussed below.
No Name Street
As mentioned above, you can use No Name Street in order to access the ocean side beaches of the fort. Just before you cross over the short wall and into the old fort is a straight road to the left (South). It used to be referred to as No Name Street. However, I believe it now actually has a name. I can’t for the life of me remember what it said on the sign. Regardless, it’s easy to spot from Google Maps. Google still refers to it as No Name Street. Mapquest refers to it as Fort Morgan State Park Road. You can’t miss it.
This is a great public beach fishing area. However, there is limited parking and this is a very popular area. You can’t roll up here mid morning in peak fishing season and expect to have a place to park. You’re better off arriving early in the morning.
Here is the link to this area in google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/w24RJjDBVF4QRcev6
Mobile Street
There is also good beach fishing off the end of Mobile Street in the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. There is daylight only fishing here. Here’s the link to the Google map of this location: https://goo.gl/maps/LHVSbUqBZjVzKPqJ8
Morgantown
I believe another option for public beach fishing is where Pizarro Avenue meets Sawgrass Drive. You can find a public beach access point with a parking lot here. There are no giant condos around this area so the beach is unlikely to be totally flooded with tourists at sunrise. I linked to this location here: https://goo.gl/maps/2jGPfb6c1PgsNnNz8
4. Gator Lake In Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge
When the wind is nagging you, or perhaps you just need a change of scenery, then the walk in to Gator Lake is worth the hike. Be sure to travel light and bring some water.
You can see Gator Lake on the map above. It sits just across a closed access road on the western tip of Little Lagoon. It’s a solid mile walk down a gravel road to get to fishable water. Once you are there you have access to several places to fish in the lake as well as access to the western shore of Little Lagoon. The only time I made this trek was in the middle of an extremely windy day. I did not personally have any luck but I know this to be a good out of the way fishing spot.
5. The Closed Kiva Dunes Boat Ramp
If you stay in the Fort Morgan area you will undoubtedly see anglers fishing this closed boat ramp. It is one of the few public shoreline access points to the bay side. There is a short dock you can fish from as well as rocks you can cast to along the shoreline. It’s fairly shallow but I did see fish activity all around.
I only tried this spot once during my trip. All I had with me at the time were fake baits of various varieties. I had a few bites is all, but I just hit it up for a short time during late morning.
I’m looking forward to perhaps trying this spot again early or late in the day with natural bait. The key advantage to this spot is it’s ease of access. You simply pull over on the side of the road and make the short walk down the boat ramp and you’re in business.
6. The Jetty Rocks By The Boat Ramp
Although I did not try this spot on my recent trip, there is a short jetty by the public boat ramp just outside the gate at the Fort Morgan park. You can park at the boat ramp and make your way to the jetty. It also appears that you can also fish from the rocks at the park between the boat ramp and the ferry. Here is the Google maps link to this spot: https://goo.gl/maps/KYDVzd7m12FJt1Ka7
7. The Eventual Rebuilt Pier By The Boat Ramp
Although it was still under construction in May 2021, there should soon be a fishable pier right outside the Fort Morgan park entrance. The re-build was well underway when I was there, so I presume it should be completed in 2021. This will be a great fishing option out towards the end of the peninsula. Hopefully it will be available to us soon!
8. The Point Of The Peninsula
I had small kids with me so I didn’t make the walk all the way to the tip of the peninsula, so I can’t personally vouch for this spot. But, from my understanding, casting way out from the tip of the fort park gets your bait within close proximity of the famed Dixey Bar. This is a well known area for bull redfish. Regardless, if you are fishing anywhere near the end of the peninsula you are undoubtedly in bull red territory.
What Can You Catch At Fort Morgan
You can catch all sorts of cool fish at Fort Morgan, but the primary species I target here are speckled trout, redfish, bull redfish, whiting and pompano. This area is the sister area to Gulf Shores, so for a more comprehensive list of what you can catch here check out my other article about Fish You Can Catch In Gulf Shores.
Where To Get Bait At Fort Morgan
Purchasing natural bait can be an issue out on the tip of the Fort Morgan peninsula as you are quite a ways from everything. I did notice that the marina, pictured above, beside Tacky Jacks 2 indicated that they had bait. I did not verify this for myself. Instead, I obtained bait ahead of time a couple of times from Hooked Up Bait and Tackle in Gulf Shores. This is the best bait shop in the area and worth checking out. They have all kinds of cool stuff.
In addition to the fresh dead shrimp that I purchased from Hooked Up Bait and Tackle, I also used Fish Gum, Fish Bites and sand crabs that I captured with my sandflea rake. I also carried along my cast net to get larger baits to be used for bull reds.
For bait, you could also hit up the Sassy Bass marketplace or the Pines Grocery Store. One of these 2 establishments might have fresh dead shrimp or some type of frozen bait. I’m not sure, because I wasn’t looking for bait when I visited these 2 stores. I did notice that they had a nice assortment of terminal tackle and fake baits and lures. The Pines had a much larger selection than did Sassy Bass. I did also notice that you will have to pay more than normal at these places for things like Fish Bites.
All that to say, you can piece together the bait that you need, but you’ll need to plan ahead a bit.
Can You Shark Fish In Alabama?
Right up front, I’m going to hit you with a big fat “I don’t know”. Land based shark fishing sure seems to be a real gray area in Alabama. You might “accidentally” catch a shark, and you very well could. However when it comes to specifically gearing up for pulling giant sharks onto the beach, you might want to research a bit more for yourself before doing so.
Conclusion
While this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible land based fishing locations around Fort Morgan, it should give you a great starting point. The peninsula offers some real gems as far as shore fishing opportunities, and when they complete the Mobile Bay side pier it’ll be even better. Its definitely worth the drive out to Fort Morgan to escape the crowded beaches closer to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
I wish you luck on your trip!
Augustus Clay
