Rolling south through rural Alabama on State Route 1, I looked to the driver-side mirror. Beyond bicycle tires spinning on the rear rack, I watched as a large SUV barreled up the left lane with a 21-foot boat in tow.
Julie and the kids were asleep amid the debris of a fast-food lunch, and as the man in the driver seat pulled even, we gave each other the nod. Over his sleeping wife's bare legs, propped up on the windshield, we found tacit camaraderie. In sunglasses and ball caps, we were brothers in this great Southern summer migration to the Gulf of Mexico.
I was sure he noticed my work. Packing the family truckster for such beach vacations is an art form. Like grilling meat or mowing lawns, it is an outward expression of your dad skills, a badge of honor for the father who successfully crams and lashes a whole week's worth of family fun into and on top of the vehicle.
I felt satisfied when I pulled out of the driveway that morning. With bikes on the back and a luggage-loaded kayak on the roof, there was even a small slice of daylight still visible in the rearview. Never mind that my son would ride seven hours with a crab pot in his lap.
But as the boat attached to that SUV rolled past, it left me insecure. This man had taken it to a whole new level. Not only did he have a big boat to take on vacation, he had a big boat packed full of beach toys and bicycles, paddleboards, umbrellas and coolers. I slowed and let him move ahead, hoping my wife wouldn't wake to see my shame.
Miles down the road, after I'd had time to process, I had a realization. Despite that man's ingenuity and all the fun his family would have with all that stuff, he had made one glaring omission. I didn't see a single fishing rod in that boat.
Now, I've heard people - even good friends who are avid anglers - say things like, "It's just a beach trip; we won't do any fishing." That sentiment is baffling. Why travel hundreds of miles to a vast body of water teeming with fish without at least sampling the fishing? Whether you're an accomplished angler or a complete novice, a young family or a party of bachelors, there is a style of saltwater fishing to fit your needs on whatever coast you visit. Spend at least a morning or afternoon fishing, and you'll never forget to pack the rods again.
Here are some ideas to get you started.
Contributed photo / A deckhand helps Nick Carter's son with a prize catch on a Gulf of Mexico charter fishing boat.
OFFSHORE CHARTER
Chartering a boat to go miles offshore to deep water and huge fish is the big-ticket, big-adventure option. It's also a surprisingly good trip for folks who don't know their way around a boat. If you've got cash to spend and the stomach for a full day on open water, the price tag for an offshore trip comes with all the bait and gear as well as an experienced captain and crew who will do everything for you if you let them. All that's asked of the client is to take the rod and do battle with the ocean's most exciting and delicious game fish.
My 10-year-old son and I recently fished the Mexican side of the Gulf with Charter Fishing Cancun (charterfishingcancun.com). It was incredible. We spent eight hours trolling and dropping baits in 500-foot depths. The crew worked hard, and the action was constant. We caught bonito for bait, numerous big, hard-pulling amberjacks, a tail-walking 7-foot sailfish and several toothy 5-foot-long barracudas. The highlight of the trip were the fist bumps and hooting after the boy finally subdued a big blackfin tuna that slammed a surface bait under diving frigate birds. You can't put a price tag on that experience.
To help justify the cost of deep-sea fishing, you'll likely come home with a cooler full of fancy restaurant-quality fillets. Red snapper, grouper, mahi mahi, tuna, cobia and wahoo are just a few of the meals you'll potentially have packed away in the freezer, depending on when and where you go.
An offshore charter, however, is not for everyone, and it's definitely not for small children. It requires Dramamine for motion sickness and a day in the sun on a rocking deck with the churn and smell of a big diesel engine. So do your homework before booking a charter, and speak with the captain to share your honest experience level as well as your expectations. They'll shoot straight with you. Unhappy customers are worse than unbooked trips for a charter business.
INSHORE ADVENTURE
Wherever there's a beach, there's a system of bays, tidal creeks and marshes nearby. These inshore fisheries offer a style of angling that's surprisingly similar to what you'd find on the lakes and rivers at home. The main difference is the quarry. Redfish, sea trout and flounder all make great table fare, and the pull of a redfish on light tackle is strong enough to make you forget all about largemouth bass.
If you're unfamiliar with the area, chartering a boat is the way to go. The captain should know when, where and what the fish are biting. They'll put you on fish, rig the gear correctly and coach you through the proper casts and retrieves to catch dinner. The cost of a guided inshore trip is easier to stomach than an offshore trip, and most guides offer full- and half-day charters.
Learn as much as you can during a couple of guided trips and you'll know enough to set out on your own. If you already fish in freshwater, you won't even need to buy much new gear. Your freshwater spinning and baitcasting outfits are fine. Visit the local tackle shop and load a small box with the spoons, topwater lures, paddle tails, jig heads and live-bait rigs that work where you're fishing. While you're there, pick the shop-hand's brain. Good, local, recent information is a commodity you won't find shopping on Amazon.
All that's left is to figure out is a way to get out on the water. Most inshore fisheries are perfectly suited to kayak fishing. If you don't own a kayak, you can probably rent one when you get there. Look at the maps, gather an understanding for the area's winds and tides and don't paddle so far that you can't get back. Also, bring a soft-sided cooler of ice to keep your catch in.
FROM THE SHORE
If you're going to sit on the beach under an umbrella all day, you might as well have some lines in the water.
Surf fishing can be as easy or as complicated as you choose to make it. Some folks roll beach carts full of tackle, bait and long surf rods down to the water's edge with visions of huge bull redfish or giant sharks. The minimum requirements, however, are a rod or two, some terminal tackle, and bait.
Again, ask the folks at the tackle shop for local intel, but a simple fish-finder rig with the line sliding through a pyramid sinker is a great way to present frozen shrimp on a sandy bottom. And there's no telling what you'll catch. Tasty little pompano and whiting feed in the trough just past the breakers, as do redfish, seatrout, flounder, sharks and just about anything else that swims.
For the early risers, calm surf at daylight brings all sorts of predatory fish shallow to feed. Walk the beach, look for birds diving on baitfish, and cast a topwater lure or paddle tail to what could be bluefish, ladyfish, redfish, snook or Spanish mackerel, depending on where you're vacationing.
Finally, for a fun family outing, don't overlook fishing piers. This is another complicated-as-you-choose-to-make-it situation, but you can get by with a simple bottom rig and some bait (ask at the tackle shop). There is really no telling what you'll catch from a pier. Whiting, croaker, flounder and sheepshead are typical, but my cousin once caught the largest tripletail I've ever seen from a Gulf Coast pier. Cobia, tarpon and king mackerel make occasional surprise appearances in some locations.
One of the best things about pier fishing is there's lots of activity. If the kids get bored reeling in hardhead catfish, they can walk the pier, pet the ever-present dogs and see what everyone else is catching.
There really is no good excuse to leave your rods at home when you go on a beach vacation. If you enjoy fishing in freshwater, the ocean opens a whole new world of angling opportunity. Take your first step into saltwater and you'll soon be looking for a boat to carry all your gear in.