Gulf Shores kid fishing opportunities?

[cantcatch5]

I will be headed down to Gulf Shores next month for a family vacation and my 6 year old son wants to fish in the Gulf. I am an avid bass fisherman here in East Texas but don't know the first thing about saltwater fishing. Is there a saltwater equivalent of perch jerking? The place we are staying is very near the fishing pier so I thought that might be something we could try but I don't know what to expect or try. I do know I don't want to take him fishing and get skunked (I know it is fishing and that is always a possibility)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jason

[finSbassin]

The pier would probably be your best bet. You should be able to catch some whiting, and possibly pompano or flounder from the pier. All you need is a rig similar to a drop shot rig with as small a weight as possible on the bottom. Sand fleas are the ideal bait but fresh peeled shrimp works as well. The best time to catch fish on the pier is usually early morning and late afternoon and if you are after whiting you will want to fish in fairly close to the beach. The whiting and pompano will run in the troughs between the 1st and second sand bar and sometimes between the first sand bar and the shoreline. They don't get very big but can be a lot of fun to catch and are excellent eating. You can also catch them fishing from the beach, but if they are on the outside of the 1st sand bar it takes a long cast to get to them, or you can wade out and cast; if you're not concerned about sharks!
That time of year, you could also catch spanish mackerel and possibly king mackerel if you move farther out on the pier. You can use standard bass tackle with a hair jig or gotcha plug for the spanish mackerel. For king mackerel you'll need live bait and will need a reel that holds at least 250 yards of 15lb line.

[ShakeyMistake]

im sent

[cmtbasser]

I am in same boat, was hoping to rent a boat for some inshore I know the bay a little from a few previous trips but we took our own boat. Going with out this time.