Good afternoon forum members, Inshore/Salt Newbie here so forgive any dumb questions i may have. That being said, going to the beach for a week (Gulf Shores, Alabama) with my girlfriend the last week of May into the first week of June. Mainly planning an doing a lot of touristy stuff with my lady, but i am not passing up a chance to do some fishing in a new place. I mainly fish from a kayak for freshwater fish here locally. I have never fished inshore or salt other than a deep sea trip with my family as a very young man. I have found a kayak fishing guide in the area (Whistling Waters Kayak) and am looking forward to hopefully getting onto some Redfish, Speckled Trout, etc.... I do not own any saltwater fishing gear so i figure rental/guide would be my best bet. Do any of you guys/gals have experience with any guides or fishing in this area. Not really looking for a charter on a big boat, with it being just me i would prefer to kayak fish some flats, marsh, etc... If that is available. Does it make sense for me to pick up a inshore spinning rod/reel to take with me, I am driving, or would i be better off just using equipment provided by the guide or rental service? I have zero experience in the salt, i have never been to Gulf Shores or Alabama for that matter. I will happily just sort it all out when i get there if needed but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if anyone has experience over there, or any other recommendations for fishing, sightseeing, etc..

Liquid Trails Charters in Gulf Shores is owned by one of my friends. If you want to try bowfishing, they are the ones to go with in the area. I was stationed in Pensacola for a while so I know that area better. If I was going there, I would take my kayak and go fish under the 3 mile bridge in Pensacola. Wait till it gets dark, tie on a 1/4 - 3/8 oz jig head and a good swim bait (down south lure, hogie, matrix shad), paddle out to the middle of bridge and work your way back fishing under bridge to about 30-40 yards away from bridge (old bridge debris was left, tons of structure), there are also bridge lights to hit. Try different presentations, bouncing off bottom or just a steady slow retrieve with an occasional pause. Make sure you have your safety equipment and lights on kayak. Doing that will put you on all the bull reds you want and MAYBE a slot red if you're lucky. Ive also had tarpon come airborn beside the boat hitting all the schools of bait. While you are there, go check out the museum on NAS Pensacola. Super cool aeronautical museum.

Plus one on nas air museum in Pensacola. You want regret

I guess i will need to make a trip over to Pensacola one of the days we are there, seems like its only about an hour away. The NAS air museum sounds cool for sure, and thank you for the fishing tips. Maybe i can get lucky and catch a nice one while i am out there. I will let you know if it works out for me. Either way just hoping to have a nice week away from the normal grind.

The whole area is awesome, Little and Big Lagoon are both great to Yak fish.