I have been informed, we are looking to do a Red Snappa fishing charter out of the Gulf Shores, AL area this spring or summer. Anyone have experience or recommendations on the area?

It's been years but most charters are going out of Orange Beach at Perdido Pass. Basically the east end of Gulf Shores.

Pay attention to the season and catches. The Feds are known to close the season early when the take reaches a set number. That might leave you holding a booking for fish you can't catch. The upside though is there's still plenty of other good eating stuff to catch but many of those now have seasons or limits on them as well.

The days of "big enough to fry" are long gone and filling the boat with everything else is as well. But the flip side is what you are allowed to keep will be way bigger than what we used to keep.

If you're not up to date on circle hooks get up to date. You don't cross their eyes with the hook set so bass fishers need not apply. Circles are the law so tighten up and reel.

As for the area, Gulf State Park for camping as the only cheap option. Expect to donate blood to the mosquitos and get mugged by the coons. Seriously, those ringtails know how to pick locks.

Side trips,

Fort Morgan on the Ft Morgan peninsula
Fort Gaines directly across the bay from Morgan on Dauphin Island. Two choices, ferry or long drive around.
Sealab Aquarium next door to Fort Gaines.
USS Alabama on Battleship Parkway in Mobile Bay. USS Drum a WWII Gato class submarine is also berthed there plus the best warbird collection of planes in the southeast.
Nearby is the partial reconstruction of Ft Conde the French defenses at Mobile.

I spend first 2 weeks in June there almost every year. We stay on the fort Morgan peninsula about halfway from GS and the fort. YOU must see it. The ferry going across the bay is great.
3 must eat places. Sassy bass, hog wild BBQ and Cactus cantina in Foley.
Cosmos is in Orange beach but is pricey. We go there on anniversary night.
LULU's over rated
Lamberts , dodge the rolls and it's nasty. You get done with your pot of food you think they throw it out? Nope back in the big pot

Thanks for the info.

Go to MSC Fishing they're hard core fish killers. He just upgraded to a Freeman this past year. Does snapper trips plus overnight swordfish/tuna trips.

Try Reel Surprise Charter out of SanRoc Cay Marina in Orange Beach. Check out the gallery on their website.

Well, I thought I would run this to the top again. Still looking for charter ideas. We did book a day on "Entertainer Charters", mostly because the finer half of our couple saw air conditioning, lounge chairs, sleeping bunks and bathrooms on this 65' luxury liner. I'm not holding out much hope for fish. Lol. Anyway, I would still like to find a smaller, shared charter (trying to not break the bank) where we might get a red snapper or two, if anyone has any ideas. Will be there 3rd week in June. Or, if y'all have experience with walk-on charters after we get there, any advice is welcome!

Give Minutes of Use Charters a try. Jerry is my neighbor back in Oklahoma. Very passionate about fishing. I believe he is running two boats, Minutes of Use and Data Girl. He owns our local phone company thus the names of his boats.

I want to thank everyone for input on the Gulf Shores. We have been here four days and have yet to feel beach sand between my toes. Getting some much needed rest and have checked run around the area a bit. We've had some good food. Joey Patti's Seafood Restaurant and The Salty Pearl Oyster Bar were places I would stop again. The Salty Pearl had the best raw oysters I've ever had. Cheap too, $18/doz! We did the "Reel Surprise" fishing charter for Red Snapper today. It's fish for dinner! Also checked out the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola a couple of days ago. Super cool, if you like planes. Looking forward to a couple more days, then back to the grind.

I have been there twice very nice area not near as crowded as Florida and very nice beaches plenty to do Pensacola has some nice areas also

Yummy!

One of the worst hang overs I've ever had was at gulf shores

Apalachicola fresh raw oysters on the halfshell, on a cracker with a little hot sauce. About a dozen makes a good snack. It will be September before Gulf oysters are available.

Wolfdog how did you get drunk in Gulf Shores? Only old people and yankee's down there, lol.

No nasty

Only six? Bidenomics that bad?

I can do 2 or 3 dozen as a warm up.

My daughter and her family was down there last week. Both granddaughters got stung by jellyfish.

I stood in the water for about 8 seconds for a pic. Other than that, we visited tourist attractions and a bit of fishing. If I had it my way, my feet would have never hit salt water. Watched the Blue Angels practice today at the Naval Aviation Base in Pensacola. Much better than the Beach. Hotter than Hades, but we were in the shade!