There is an abundance of live bait fish that can be used to catch reef fish and trolling fish while charter fishing in the salt water of Gulf Shores, Alabama. A lot of people use live bait because it enhances the fish bite of the bottom fish and the migratory fish they are fishing for. Most live bait fishing charters are 6 hours or longer.

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There are a lot of bait fish you can use to catch Amberjack, Grouper, Red Snapper and Mackerel. The problem is catching your own live bait fish. It takes time to stop and throw bait nets or use a Sabiki rig with multiple hooks to catch your bait. There are a lot of Alabama charter fishing boats that spend hours of your fishing time catching live bait in the morning for your short family fishing trip. This is mostly a waste of time. We normally do not need live bait to catch larger Red Snapper and King Mackerel on charter fishing trips less than 6 hours.

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Live Bait Everywhere During The Summer Months

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Alabama has an abundance of live bait available to catch during the late spring and summer charter seasons. The most popular live bait fish you can use while Gulf Shores deep sea fishing is the Cigar Minnow. You can catch them just offshore as they are schooling up. Cigar Minnows are better when used live, but we also use them frozen. We also have an abundance of Menhaden or Pogy that you can use while reef fishing. We also have Threadfin Herring available for you to use while charter boat fishing.

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There is some good frozen bait that works just as well as most of the live bait. We commonly use what is called mixed minnows. Mixed minnows are made up of frozen Cigar Minnows and Spanish Sardines. Spanish Sardines are really good and inexpensive. They are less than a dollar a pound. When you cut them up and use them as bait, their scales come off and float down and sparkle in the saltwater, causing other fish to spark off and start feeding. Alabama charter fishing boats also use Northern Mackerel and the larger Boston Mackerel to catch Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper and King Mackerel. You may fish them whole with a hook through their nose or you may use them as cut bait. Either way, cut bait is used on most every charter fishing boat in Alabama.

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Keeping Live Bait Alive

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Most Alabama charter boats have live bait wells that flow saltwater continuously through them. The fresh flowing saltwater keeps the Cigar Minnows alive until you need them. However, during the hot summer charter fishing season, the water that is coming into the live bait well is hot and there is a chance that you may lose some of your fish because of a lack of oxygen in the saltwater. The key to live bait fishing is having healthy vibrant bait that is ready to help you catch the big fish.

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Live Bait Is Better on Whole Day Charters

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Taking live bait with you on a short deep sea fishing charter is a choice. The longer trips such as the 8, 10 or 12 hour it is a wise decision to take some live bait with you. You never know what you might run into. There might be a finicky Cobia staring you in the face and he will not eat anything but fresh live bait. You may also want to throw a live bait fish down over a reef to see if you can get a trophy sized fish to bite it.