May Day Park, Daphne Fishing

May Day Park is Daphne's classic bayfront park, a shady green under moss-hung oaks that runs down to a pier on Mobile Bay. It suits a relaxed evening with the family as much as a dawn trout session.

• A pier over shallow, brackish bay water
• Speckled trout, croaker, white trout, redfish and flounder
• A boat launch and a floating kayak launch
• A playground, picnic tables, a bandstand and restrooms

The park is at the end of College Avenue in Daphne, on the bay, and the City of Daphne runs it. It is also known as Starke's Landing.

• Entry: free; no fee is listed for the park or the pier
• Parking: the lot serves both the park and the boat launch, so arrive early on busy weekends
• Kayaks and canoes: welcome, with a floating, handicap-accessible launch added in 2023
• Pier: reopened in 2023 after repairs, alongside new drainage work in the park
• History: the park opened in 1887 and was the town's festival site for more than 60 years

Bay water off Daphne is shallow, brown and brackish, so the catch rises and falls with the salt.

• Spring (Mar-May): croaker and white trout arrive on the bottom, and speckled trout start to feed around the pier at dawn
• Summer (Jun-Aug): trout early and late, croaker and catfish through the day, and jubilee flounder in the shallows on still nights
• Fall (Sep-Nov): redfish and flounder fatten up along the shoreline; the best season for both
• Winter (Dec-Feb): slow, with white trout and the odd black drum on calm days between fronts

Keep it simple from the pier: a light to medium spinning rod with 10 lb line.

• Speckled trout: live shrimp under a popping cork, or a small paddle-tail soft plastic at first and last light
• Croaker and white trout: a two-hook bottom rig with fresh shrimp
• Redfish: cut mullet or a live shrimp on a Carolina rig beside the pier
• Flounder: a bull minnow or a soft plastic bumped along the sandy bottom
• Children: a bobber, a small hook and a piece of shrimp will keep pinfish and croaker coming

The Eastern Shore gets one high and one low tide on most days, and the range is small, one to two feet, with a few near-still days each fortnight. Check the Mobile Bay area tide, but read the wind.

• An east wind on a still summer night, with the tide rising toward dawn, sets up the jubilees Daphne is known for
• North winds behind cold fronts pull water off this shore and leave the shallows bare
• A steady south wind raises the water and brings saltier water up the bay
• After heavy rain upstate the bay runs fresh and muddy, and the trout move south
• Dawn and dusk fish best in the summer heat

This is a gentle, family spot on level ground with a short walk to the pier.

• Keep casts away from the boat launch and the kayak launch, which are busy on weekends
• Leave the pier when thunder starts; summer storms come quickly across the bay
• Watch children near the pier edges
• Handle catfish carefully; their spines cause painful wounds
• Access: the kayak launch was built to be handicap accessible

The park has the basics for a day by the water.

• A pier on the bay
• A boat launch and a floating kayak launch
• Restrooms
• Picnic tables, a playground and a bandstand
• Big moss-covered oaks for shade, and wide sunset views over the bay
• No bait shop in the park that we could confirm; bring bait

• Daphne is known as the Jubilee City; when a jubilee happens in summer, the shoreline here fills with people gigging flounder and scooping crabs before dawn
• The pier is small, so arrive early on summer evenings, before the sunset crowd
• A live shrimp under a cork, drifted along the pier on a moving tide, is the most reliable way to catch something here
• In fall, walk the shore either side of the pier at dawn with a soft plastic for redfish
• Pack a picnic; the shade under the oaks makes this a pleasant place to wait out a slow bite

May Day Park is run by the City of Daphne.

• The park is free; follow any posted hours and park rules
• Keep the launch areas clear for boats and paddlers
• An Alabama saltwater fishing license is required unless you are exempt; Alabama residents who are exempt (and anglers fishing only from a pier that holds a pier license) must still complete the free Saltwater Angler Registration
• Check current Marine Resources Division rules for size, bag and season limits before keeping anything