A first-light flounder session in the Gulf Shores surf quickly went sideways for the angler behind The Surf Fishing Guy — in the best way. Slow-rolling a small three-inch swimbait off the bottom, he was hoping for flatfish and instead hooked a solid speckled trout with a whole school in tow. "Look at the trout. There's trout with him, guys," he said as the fish followed the hooked one to the beach.
A little chop on the water set the tone — exactly what surf anglers want, especially for pompano. The crucial adjustment came when he noticed bites coming short and fish slashing on top: the trout were feeding high, not down where he had been fishing. Speeding the retrieve and keeping the bait near the surface produced a 19-inch fish. His rule for these moments is blunt: "Anytime you see a fish coming up to the surface and eating, you need to catch them then. Because these fish will not eat all morning."
The bite duly shut off within minutes, so he switched back to flounder along the drop-off edges and set a pompano rig — a three-ounce Sputnik and a sand flea, waded out past a sand bar — in a holder. It thumped to life mid-tangle with a neighbour and yielded a near-17-inch pompano. A rough, rainy follow-up trip the next day added one more big trout, proof that sticking it out in ugly conditions can pay. The lesson across both mornings: find where the fish are feeding and cash in fast.
