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Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report for June 12 – 18, 2026

June 14, 2026

On this week’s Alabama Saltwater Fishing Report, host Butch Thierry is joined by Dylan Kiene for a live-action early summer report covering tournament weekend traffic, heavy sargassum, red snapper season, tripletail, mahi, trout, flounder, and nearshore opportunities around the Alabama Gulf Coast. This episode features Dylan Kiene, a preview of the Ben Dunnam Tournament and the Triple Tail Fly Fishing Classic, Capt. Spencer Kight of D.I. Reef Monster, and Capt. Tanner Deas of Dauphin Island Fishing Charters.

The main theme this week is that summer fishing is fully here, but anglers need to work around grass, water clarity, bait movement, tournament pressure, and short windows of opportunity. Red snapper fishing has been excellent nearshore and offshore, the Mississippi Sound trout bite is producing quality fish in clear water, flounder are becoming more intentional targets, and tripletail are starting to show around floating structure and grass-related habitat.

Conditions Recap

The Alabama coast is settling into a busy early summer pattern with beautiful weather, warm water, multiple tournaments, and a lot of boats expected on the water. The weekend includes Hooked on Fairhope, the Ben Dunnam Tournament, and the Triple Tail Fly Fishing Classic, so anglers should plan for extra traffic around ramps, bays, passes, beaches, and nearshore areas.

Grass and sargassum are one of the biggest factors from the beach to the Gulf. Dylan Kiene said the amount of grass offshore has been extraordinary, with big lines and scattered mats creating both opportunity and frustration. Some grass has been full of life, while other stretches have seemed empty, so anglers need to keep moving until they find the patches holding bait, mahi, tripletail, jacks, or other fish. He also mentioned using Hilton’s Realtime Navigator and its sargassum tracking tools to watch where the grass is forming and moving.

Water quality is highly location-dependent. Capt. Spencer Kight said the close-in water has been dirty, but it begins clearing around the ships and gets much prettier beyond that. Capt. Tanner Deas reported exceptional water clarity on the west end and sound side of Dauphin Island, with visibility good enough to watch trout, stingrays, and bait in shallow water. In other areas around the bay and causeway, the water has looked murkier, so clean water and bait remain the key clues.

Tournament Weekend, Tripletail, and Grass Lines With Dylan Kiene

Dylan Kiene opened the episode by talking through a packed tournament weekend on the Alabama coast. Hooked on Fairhope, the Ben Dunnam Tournament, and the Triple Tail Fly Fishing Classic all have anglers focused on inshore, nearshore, and tripletail opportunities. Dylan noted that the Ben Dunnam Tournament is one of his favorite events because of the community, the cause, and the strong payout and prize structure.

The Triple Tail Fly Fishing Classic also has a special gear connection this week. Dylan built his first fly rod, a nine-foot, eight-weight, moderate-fast rod that will be included as a raffle item at the event. Product and component mentions from this section include a RainShadow blank in Olympic green, ALPS titanium stripper guides, snake guides, cork grips, brown thread wraps, and chartreuse trim accents. Dylan described it as a rod built to handle tripletail, with a deep bend and enough backbone for fish around structure.

Tripletail were a major topic throughout the opening discussion. Dylan and Butch talked about how hard these fish can be to fool, especially on fly, because anglers need accurate casts and a quick presentation before the fish moves, dives, or refuses the bait. Dylan said tripletail are built to conserve energy around floating structure, then explode when they decide to eat or fight. Shrimp, crabs, mullet, and small finfish are all part of the food picture, especially around crab pot buoys, grass, and brackish mixing zones.

Dylan also discussed why Mobile Bay and other Gulf Coast systems may be especially important for tripletail. His working theory is that freshwater input, brackish water, and nutrient-rich river systems create productive nursery and feeding zones. Those conditions can concentrate juvenile shrimp, crabs, baitfish, and other forage, giving tripletail a reason to use river-influenced areas and the grass or buoy structure nearby.

Heavy sargassum is shaping the offshore and nearshore pattern. Dylan said there has been a remarkable amount of grass this year, and while not every line is holding life, the right stretch can produce a full ecosystem. Anglers may find mahi, wahoo, tuna, jacks, billfish, hardtails, Sargassum fish, and other species around productive grass. His suggestion was to cover water along the better lines and work small jigs or baits under the grass instead of assuming every mat is the same.

Dauphin Island Offshore and Nearshore Report – Capt. Spencer Kight With D.I. Reef Monster

Capt. Spencer Kight with D.I. Reef Monster joined the show live from the water while his crew was catching fish. He was running a nearshore trip, working through heavy grass, and putting clients on steady red snapper action. The bite has been strong enough that he described it as excellent, especially when anglers can get through the grass and keep baits fishing cleanly.

The red snapper fishing has been very good both close to shore and farther out. Spencer said his crew caught quality fish on a morning trip and spent extra time trying to target bigger red snapper before shifting toward vermilion snapper when time allowed. On some trips, the vermilion snapper bite has remained strong, and another boat in his operation was able to finish a beeliner limit quickly while Spencer focused more on larger red snapper.

Live bait has been useful, but Spencer said he has not always needed it. Catching bait is still part of the charter experience, and he likes when customers get to participate in that part of the process. Cigar minnows and sardines were mentioned as productive bait options, especially because catching bait can be fun and helps set up shots at better snapper. At the same time, Spencer said jigs have been producing very well.

One gear note from Spencer’s report was a new style of jig he has been testing. He described it as an elongated egg-weight style jig with eyes, wire through the center, a circle hook, and a skirt around the hook. The design has been producing big snapper on close-in trips. Product and gear mentions from this section include circle-hook skirted jigs, live cigar minnows, sardines, spinning reels in the 4000 to 5000 size range, and leader adjustments down to 40-pound leader when clear water requires a little more finesse.

Water clarity has been poor close to shore, but it improves around the ships and turns much cleaner beyond that. The mahi bite has not been concentrated around one obvious grass line. Instead, Spencer said mahi have been swimming up to the boat like a bonus catch, so anglers need to keep a rod ready when they appear. He recommended having an appropriate spinning outfit close by so a bait can be pitched quickly when mahi show up beside the boat.

Cobia have not been dependable around Dauphin Island yet. Spencer said he has not seen many come to the dock and has not caught them consistently while running the kinds of trips he has been running. He expects they will show sooner or later, but for now, red snapper, vermilion snapper, spadefish, mahi, and other nearshore opportunities are much more reliable.

Spencer also gave a practical snapper tip on fighting big fish. When a large red snapper turns and runs, the line can chafe against the fish’s mouth and gill plates. His advice was to teach anglers to stay aggressive, turn the fish early, and avoid letting a big snapper dig down into structure for too long. For charter crews, he would rather fish a little heavier and land more fish than downsize too much and lose quality fish around structure.

Dauphin Island Inshore, Nearshore, and Mississippi Sound Report – Capt. Tanner Deas With Dauphin Island Fishing Charters

Capt. Tanner Deas with Dauphin Island Fishing Charters has been covering a wide range of water, from the Mississippi Sound to the south side of Dauphin Island and out into nearshore Gulf waters. His recent trips have included red snapper, speckled trout, flounder, jack crevalle, sharks, and tripletail opportunities.

Nearshore, Tanner has been staying in state waters, fishing public structure and deeper rigs for red snapper. He has been catching quality fish close enough for efficient trips, and the state-water snapper bite has been strong. He also tried to make a king mackerel bite happen and saw fish skying around the boat, but he did not get one to commit during that effort. Lots of pogies are showing up, which should help bring more nearshore life into the area.

Tanner has not seen many cobia, but he has been seeing jack crevalle around shrimp boats and other areas. For clients who want a big-fish fight, the jacks have been a strong option. He also mentioned shark encounters and breakoffs, which are part of the current nearshore picture when fishing around bigger fish and bait.

The Mississippi Sound trout bite has been one of Tanner’s best inshore patterns. He reported exceptionally clear water, in some places with 12 feet or more of visibility, and trout moving shallow along the beaches and banks. In that clear water, he has been able to watch trout come up and eat baits, see fish swimming under the surface, and target stretches of bank that are holding bait.

Croakers have been the key bait for bigger trout. Tanner has been freelining live croakers and also working dead or half-dead croakers like a lure. When the croaker is still barely alive, a twitch can make it kick or swim down, triggering a strike. When working dead croakers, he keeps the bail closed, jigs the bait back, and sets the hook quickly when a trout hits. Product and rigging mentions from this section include live croakers, dead croakers, Carolina rigs, 2/0 hooks, and 3/0 hooks.

For beach and sound trout, Tanner said smaller croakers have been best when the bait-shop croakers are running small, and he adjusts hook size to match the bait. He has caught several trout over five pounds recently, and he said other anglers are also catching quality fish in the same general pattern. Plastics and topwaters are still catching fish, but croakers have been the most consistent big-trout option.

Flounder are showing up both as incidental catches around trout and as intentional targets. Tanner said some flounder are eating croakers in the same areas as trout, especially around grass and shallow edges. When he has targeted flounder in rivers, around rocks, and in snaggy areas, his preferred setup has been an Eye Strike Fishing Texas Eye jig head with Z-Man soft plastics and Pro-Cure scent. He said that combination lets him fish around rocks and other structure without hanging up as often as a traditional jig head.

Tanner emphasized that the Texas Eye jig head and Z-Man ElaZtech soft plastics are a strong combination because they are durable, weedless enough for tough structure, and hold Pro-Cure well. Product mentions from this flounder section include Z-Man scented jerk shads, Z-Man Diesel MinnowZ, Z-Man EWG weighted hooks, Down South soft plastics, 3/16-ounce weighted hooks, and quarter-ounce weighted hooks. Tanner’s point was that anglers need a rig that can stay in the strike zone around rocks, grass, docks, shell, and wrecks without forcing constant retying.

Tripletail are also in the mix. Tanner has seen some while running between trips and has had a few missed opportunities with clients. He has been using finfish, including small croakers, but noted that casting accurately with a finfish can be difficult because the bait may swim down before the tripletail sees it. The full process of spotting the fish, positioning the boat, making the cast, getting the fish to eat, and landing it is still a challenge.

Tanner also gave a safety note for boaters near the west end of Dauphin Island. He mentioned a large floating deadhead with a white buoy tied to it near the west end beach. With multiple tournaments and good weather expected to put more boats on the water, he urged anglers to stay alert while running.

Gear and Product Mentions From This Episode

Fly rod and rod-building gear mentioned in the Dylan Kiene and Triple Tail Fly Fishing Classic discussion included a RainShadow blank, ALPS titanium stripper guides, snake guides, cork grips, thread wraps, and eight-weight fly rod components.

Offshore and nearshore gear mentioned in Capt. Spencer Kight’s report included circle-hook skirted jigs, live cigar minnows, sardines, spinning reels in the 4000 to 5000 size range, 40-pound leader, and mapping/electronics references including Garmin, Navionics, and ActiveCaptain.

Inshore and flounder gear mentioned in Capt. Tanner Deas’ report included live croakers, dead croakers, Carolina rigs, 2/0 hooks, 3/0 hooks, Eye Strike Fishing Texas Eye jig heads, Z-Man soft plastics, Pro-Cure scent, Z-Man scented jerk shads, Z-Man Diesel MinnowZ, Z-Man EWG weighted hooks, and Down South soft plastics.

Boat and electronics mentions from the episode included Starlink, Power-Pole MOVE trolling motors, Minn Kota trolling motors, Blackjack boats, Contender bay boats, Garmin, Navionics, and Hilton’s Realtime Navigator.