Gulf Waters Open to Fishing, Catching, Keeping

"Today we're doing it for real," says Pete Augon as he casts another line into the newly re-opened gulf waters. A good sign for fishermen everywhere.
"Phones were going off every five minutes, could we fish yet, could we fish yet?"
State waters are open and that means "catch and keep" at the state pier.
"I think it's a good thing. A lot of these people don't come out here to fish recreation. They like to catch a few fish for the dinner table especially flounder, i'm getting bit, especially the flounder,"says Augon as a fish gets away.
Flounder was on the end of a lot of lines but, so were a lot of other fish.
"I caught flounder, drum, quite a few bluefish," says veteran pier fisherman Harley Rogers.
"The whole southeast ends up on this pier at one time or another," according to Chuck Kelly with the state park.
Not only are they hoping to catch fish here but a few tourists as well. "When this pier is open it is really a magnet to get people down to this area to go fishing."
For the first time in three and a half months coolers were coming off Gulf State Pier with fish in them and there are more where they came from. "If the water stays clear, not muddy, we'll be catching fish," says Kelly.