Distraction Charters is a full service family fishing charter boat that specializes in 4 hour, 6 hour and full day 10 hour deep sea family fishing trips along the gulf Shores coast of Alabama, serving the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.  We know that great customer service is important and your family's happiness is guaranteed.  

Be sure to give us a call at 251.975.8111 or contact us.  I promise I will answer your call or emails quickly.  If I am out fishing, I will call you back from offshore as soon as my cell phone gets a signal.  Usually no later than 3 pm on long hot summer days. 

There are many factors present that will directly effect how many fish you will catch:

• Weather- Cold fronts are not usually good.  They cause a lot of rain and wind before they pass and then just after passage the wind shifts and the bite shuts down and fish are hard to catch.  We can catch them sometimes but the bite is better when a cold front is not involved.  It's the same when you fish a freshwater pond, lake or river.
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• Tide/current- depending on what type of fish you are targeting, incoming and outgoing tide are better than no tide.  Sometimes we get a lot of rain up North and all that rain moves down the river and into the Gulf.  Well, it produces a West current that pushes muddy cloudy water toward Orange Beach.  That can affect the bite.  If the current is too strong, you have a hard time getting your bait to sink down to where the fish are.  Sometimes we have to put a lot of lead on the line to get the bait down.  The drawback is unless your an experienced angler, you may have a hard time feeling the fish bite the bait.
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• High Seas- nobody enjoys fishing in rough water.  You end up holding on with one hand and trying to fish with the other hand.  We do not take people out in rough seas.  We will take you out in High seas as long as they are a ground swell and that is usually up and down motion.  Rough seas are bad white capps, high wind and salt spray hitting us hard on every wave.  Remember the whole purpose of a fishing trip is to have fun and catch fish.
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• Anglers-Most people who fish on a charter boat these days don't do it more than one time a year.  The better the angler is to adapting to the way we fish, the better that angler is going to be at producing fish.  We use light tackle to make feeling the bite easier on our customers. 
• The Fish Bite-Depending on what type of fish you are targeting, the bite can be on or off.  4 hour trips are good when we have king mackerel, spanish, redfish and cobia to catch.  These are trolling and sightfishing trips and they are dependent upon the fish being available.  During the cold winter months from October to April, the Redfish are usually available.  During April, the Cobia and Spanish Mackerel are usually available.  May through September the King Mackerel and Spanish are abundant.  The 6, 8, 10 and 12 hour trip are when everyone holds a pole and gets to fish at the same time.  The more bait you have in the water (more people fishing) will effect the bite.  Sometimes the fish are not hungry and they will not bite no matter how much bait you put down.

Bottom or Reef fishing is when the boat goes out to a reef (public or privately built)  Natural reefs are like rocks and ledges.  Artificial reefs are reefs that are man made.  Common artificial reefs are old army tanks, steel chicken coops, sunken ships, barges or boats.  When we go out to a reef, everyone holds a pole and drops down bait toward the bottom.  When a fish hits the bait, you reel it in.  Everyone can fish at the same time.

Trolling is when the boat moves slowly (5mph) along with as many as 5 rods are sitting in their holders and they are dragging bait behind the boat.  The fish like mackerel and bonita swim very fast in schools and they hit one or some or all of the baits.   Then you grab a pole and reel the fish in to the boat.

That depends on the factors above.  We have fished for cobia and redfish and come in with nothing.  It's called fishing sometimes, not catching.  The longer bottom fishing trips usually produce fish.  The only thing is, the fish you catch have to be in season or we will just have fun catching them and then releasing.   Grouper and Amberjack are considered a trophy fish and you don't usually have a chance to catch them unless you fish for 10 or 12 hours.  They live way offshore and it takes a while to get out to where they live.  6 and 8 hour trips usually produce 90% red snapper, a few triggerfish and king mackerel.

Many of you have no idea how beautiful the state of Alabama is.  We have mountains to our North, farmland, rolling hills, cattle grazing, fruit trees growing and lush tree lines all the way down to the beautiful gulf shores beaches.  We have 32 miles of prestine white beaches with some of the best offshore and nearshore deep sea fishing in the gulf of mexico.  Texas, Louisiana and Mississipi all have shoreline but they do not even compare to Alabama's beaches and quiet family environment.  Gulf Shores and Orange Beach offer a Family environment with some of the best lodging, sights and relaxing things to do.  

Let me give you an example of what people are missing out on.  Most people in Dallas, Texas don't realize that it takes the same time to get to Gulf Shores Fishing as it does to get to Corpus.  The scenery, beaches, water is so beautiful down here we could not imagine why anyone would go anywhere else on vacation.  

We love to make you smile!  We do not stress our customers.  We are not in a race or competition with other captains and mates to see who catches more fish.  We want you have fun and relax.  This is your vacation and a special time with your group or family.  We promise not to stress you! 

We care about safety first.  We do not like to fish in rough seas no more than you would like to ride on them.  We look at fishing like your first airplane flight.  If someone scares you the first time you fly, there is a good chance you may never fly again.  The same applies to us.  We do not want to scare you or stress you in any way.  If it's too rough, we don't go. We do not charge you anything.  We do not cancel trips because of potential sea conditions until the morning of the trip.  We do fish in seas that are not comfortable at times.  We do not fish in unsafe seas.  When sea conditions grow to the point to where the captain feels they are becoming unsafe, he will turn the boat around and head home.  You will only be charged for the hours on the boat.  If the seas are fishable and are safe but you become uncomfortable and want to head in, you will be charged for the entire fare!  The key is communication.  We will not try and take you fishing intentionally in bad or rough weather.

We are friendly and act professionally at all times.  We want you to have fun and work hard at trying to make you relax.  You will not hear us using any foul language around your family.  You will not be subjected to a bunch of obscene tattoos or cigarette smoke while fishing unless you have them or use them.

The first type of trip is for people who don't have a lot of time or on a tight budget. We call these nearshore trips. These trips do not allow us to get more than a few miles offshore. We target fish that are available during different times of the year. Example: Redfish during the fall, winter and early spring. The Cobia which are March and April. Spanish and King Mackerel are best April through October.   These trips are 4 to 6 hours in length.

The second trip is for people who do have a lot of time (whole day) and have planned to invest in a trip that produces more fish and an amazing fishing adventure. These trips are called offshore bottom or reef fishing.  They allow you get further offshore to fish for different species. Some of the best Marlin fishing is July through October because of the warm water. Reef fishing is great year-round but we can't keep some species during the winter months.   These trips are usually 6 and 10 hours in length.

Depending on how long you are planning to fish, there are a few items that you need. The first is rubber soled shoes, Sunscreen, Sunglasses, Hand towel, Hat (if your bald) or if you want to keep the sun directly out of your eyes. Longer trips you should bring plenty of food and drinks. NO GLASS Allowed! (it may break).

You can bring a cooler with your favorite beverages and when we get through cleaning your fish, we can use it to put your fish in.   Most people bring a small cooler 48 quarts or less, depending on food and drinks.  The longer the trip, the larger the cooler?  The cooler can also serve as a place to hold your fish filets (if you decide to keep any fish) cold.

Bring the family. You all can enjoy a great time!

This depends on how long of a trip you want and mostly where you want to fish.  If you want a nearshore trip for instance, you will get 3 1/4 hours of fishing out of 4 hours.   This is because we stay near the gulf shores beaches at all times.  More fishing time.  There is no bottom / reef fishing on these trips.  We are trolling and or sightcasting the whole time.

If you take a 10 hour offshore trip, there may be 4 hours riding and 6 hours of you holding a pole while reef fishing.  We at Distraction Charters keep you fishing from the moment we enter into the Gulf of Mexico.  We put out high speed trollers trying to catch King Mackerel, Bonita and Wahoo on the way out to the artificial reefs.  With us, you get more deep sea fishing than most boats here in Orange Beach.  Our goal is to keep a hook in the water at all times to increase your catch.