Orange Beach, Alabama has long been known for its abundance of artifical reefs and reef building program.  Orange Beach has hundreds of bottom fishing artifical reefs located South of our gulf shores beginning at 8 miles and continuing for over 40 miles.  Orange Beach Bottom fishing is the envy of all other fishing villages along the Gulf Coast.  We have M-60 army tanks, concrete pyramids, limestone rock pyramids, concrete pipe, liberty ships, dry docks, chicken coop cages that are used to transport live chickens to processing plants.  All of these bottom fishing reefs are designed to attract and hold reef fish.  The most abundant fish that inhabit artifical reefs off the coast of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama is the Red Snapper.  Because of such a large artifical reef habitat, Distraction Charters can offer the best Red Snapper fishing trips along the gulf.   There are two types of reefs built in the waters.  They are private and public.  Private reefs are reefs that we pay for out of our own pocket and placed within the reef zone prescribed by the Alabama Department of Natural Resources. 

The larger public reefs because of the destruction of all the private reefs have become a haven for our Red Snapper.  Before Hurricane Ivan and Katrina & Ike, there was an estimated 20,000 private reefs out in the gulf.  After the storms, there are a lot of misplaced reefs and destroyed reefs.  We have found some of them and they are loaded with Red Snapper.  Most of the old cars, buses, beverage truck trailers, semi-trailers, chicken coops had been in the gulf for a lot of years had deteriorated to the point of being reduced to a small piece of a door frame or a piece of metal lying on the bottom.  We estimate that instead of being 20,000 large spots, there are now some 30,000 smaller spots.  It's amazing to see how a small piece of metal, steel or even a hubcap can be large enough to hold Red Snapper on it. 

Reef fish and bottom fishing is usually pretty good all year long.  Some species like the Red Snapper thrive on these reefs.  They do move around a bit following the bait source and or they move further offshore during the winter months and return to the closer to shore reefs during the hot summer months following food.

Below is some examples of artifical reefs that have been deployed over the years.   

Black, Mangrove or Gray Snapper                                    Red Snapper

Amberjack and Almaco Jacks                                                       Gag Grouper  

              Bull Sharks                                                                                 Trigger Fish

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