Fort Morgan spearfishing forecast — United States

Q: Can you shore-spearfish Fort Morgan?

The listed productive marks are offshore artificial reefs, so this should be planned as a boat dive rather than a shore entry.

Q: What makes Fort Morgan visibility poor?

Mobile Bay turbidity and south-sector swell are the main problems. Water usually improves farther offshore after settled weather.

Q: Can you spear red drum in Alabama?

No. Alabama treats red drum and spotted seatrout as gamefish, not spear targets.

Q: Is scuba allowed for Alabama spearfishing?

The local Alabama note says the diver must be fully submerged and scuba is allowed, while species limits still apply.

Q: Are the Fort Morgan reef marks no-take zones?

No local no-take polygon is flagged for the listed spots, but Alabama species and method rules still control the dive.

Fort Morgan · United States

2.5

💧 Water should clear by Friday (~2d)

visibility1m

Today — sit it out — wave, wind and surge pounding. 💧 Water should clear by Friday (~2d)

Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 17:54

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
Method: Model consensus, read per window
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — forced red; the window is closed after dark.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

Android beta — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

calmupdated 17:54

Fort Morgan — solo, off the rocks

DON'T GO

don't go · wave 2.0 m (occasionally up to ~4.0 m)

wave 2 m head-onwind 47, gusts 55 km/hsurge pounding the rocksvisibility ~1 m

today, best window 15:00–18:00

fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 29.5°C

confidence low · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Wednesday · today2026-07-22

06:04–19:52 · first quarter

▲ 04:00▼ 12:00▲ 13:00▼ 20:00 · 0.6 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide0.21 m

Wave2.02 m

Wind43 km/h

Water29 °C

fish activity: moonset 00:22 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:20 · high · moonrise 14:27 · moderate · moon overhead 19:40 · high

Conditions window15:00–18:00

don't go fish

Hs 1.98 mperiod 7 s head-onwind 47→55surge 3viz 1 m

1.98 mup to ~3.96 · 195° head-on

7 sswell moderate

47→55gusts 55 km/h

3pounding the rocks

0.36m/s

1 mrecent swell

29.5°C5 mm + hood

▼20:00tide falling

Atmosphere15 kmovercast

lowoff the lunar peaks

wave 2.0 m (occasionally up to ~4.0 m)
steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
ebb — weaker inshore

confidence lowday

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Your best window — with you. Forecast in your pocket.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

−10 m

The water column

Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.

What it is

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.

Now live: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

See all spots

−20 m

The seabed

Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.

On the rock

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.

Entry points

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

D.I. Bridge 08Fort Morgan

dangerous

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Hurricane bridge spans and pilings, high relief; boat entry.

Google Maps

Pmid 04-209Fort Morgan

dangerous

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

Concrete pyramid module directly south; boat entry.

Google Maps

Pmid 18-163Fort Morgan

dangerous

exposed head-on to the swell today

window
tide
shelter
hazard
access

3 m limestone pyramid in the nearshore zone; boat entry.

Google Maps

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

One morning glance — and you know.

Android: the public release is in Google Play review — leave your email and we'll send beta access today.

≈

Surfacing

Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.

Live cameras, map & reference

Cameras · live

Look at the water
right now.

Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».

more: Fort Morgan / The Beach Club (CamStreamer) ↗

Open the seafloor map →

Reference

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

red snapper
Lutjanus campechanus · 10–45 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
Red snapper: state-set season (typically May–Oct), 2–4/day, 15–16″.
sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus · 2–15 m · legal
flounder
Paralichthys spp. · 1–20 m · legal
cobia (ling)
Rachycentron canadum · 3–30 m · legal
Texas: spear NONGAME only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.

Law

✓Saltwater licence (+endorsement) per state: FL $17/$47, AL res $30, MS ~$13/$30, LA res $32, TX licence + saltwater endorsement.
✓Texas: spear only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.
✓Red snapper: state-set season. Federal reef waters: spear + allowed outside the stressed area, descending device required.

⛔ 🚫 Goliath/Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, mammals and many sharks — take prohibited.
⛔ ⚠️ Texas & Alabama: gamefish (red drum/seatrout) pole-and-line only, NOT by spear. : banned in FL/TX, allowed in federal waters outside the stressed area.

US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.

Safety protocol

Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

Local guide · Fort Morgan

Spearfishing in Fort Morgan: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing Fort Morgan is not about the beach in front of the fort. It is about getting past Mobile Bay turbidity to artificial structure 18 to 20 km offshore. D.I. Bridge 08 gives hurricane bridge spans and pilings with high relief, while Pmid 04-209 and Pmid 18-163 are pyramid-style reef modules in the Gulf. The best water is usually farther offshore after light winds, and the bad sector is southeast through southwest, with south swell doing the most damage. Alabama's legal frame is also specific: a saltwater license is required, the diver must be fully submerged, scuba can be part of the method, and spearing is limited to nongame and commercial fish. Red drum and seatrout stay off the spear list.

TL;DR

Fort Morgan is a Mobile Bay mouth problem first: the coast is turbid, and the useful reefs sit offshore by boat.
The bad sea sector is southeast through southwest; a south swell is the worst setup for the listed marks.
D.I. Bridge 08, Pmid 04-209 and Pmid 18-163 are artificial-reef structure dives, not shore entries.
Alabama requires a saltwater license, the diver must be fully submerged, and gamefish such as red drum and seatrout are not spear targets.

Best spearfishing spots near Fort Morgan

All three marks are yellow-safety boat dives with no local no-take polygon hit. They are artificial-reef structures offshore of a turbid bay-mouth coast, so visibility is the main trip filter.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
D.I. Bridge 08	Hurricane bridge spans and pilings	Offshore high-relief structure, qualitative only	Intermediate boat dive	Boat entry offshore of Fort Morgan	The highest-relief option in this set. Choose it when offshore water has cleared enough to make pilings visible and safe.
Pmid 04-209	Concrete pyramid module	Offshore reef module, qualitative only	Intermediate boat dive	Boat entry south of Fort Morgan	A more compact artificial reef. It needs clear water because small modules disappear quickly in bay-influenced haze.
Pmid 18-163	Limestone pyramid reef	Nearshore-zone module with about 3 m relief	Intermediate boat dive	Boat entry offshore of Fort Morgan	Useful when the nearshore Gulf has cleaned up, but still not a shore plan. Treat south swell as a hard warning.

Why does Fort Morgan need an offshore plan?

Fort Morgan sits at the mouth of Mobile Bay, where suspended sediment can dominate the nearshore. The productive reefs sit 18 to 20 km out in about 18 to 22 m, not at beach rocks. If the water has not cleared offshore, the best legal structure will still be a poor dive.

What weather window helps these reefs?

The reef aspect is south-facing, with the bad sector from southeast through southwest and the worst direction straight south. Light wind and a settled Gulf matter more than a pretty beach morning. The nearest buoy in the data is 42012, about 48.5 km away, so read it as regional sea-state guidance rather than a perfect site reading.

Which fish can be taken by spear in Alabama?

The local Gulf species list includes sheepshead and flounder as practical spear targets, while red snapper is season-set and limit-sensitive. The protected list flags Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, marine mammals, many sharks, goliath grouper and Nassau grouper as no-take. Alabama also treats gamefish such as red drum and spotted seatrout as hook-and-line fish, not spear fish.

What Alabama rules shape the dive plan?

Alabama requires a saltwater license and the diver must be fully submerged. Alabama rules allow scuba, but spearing is limited to nongame and commercial fish. That makes species identification the central legal skill. Do not assume a fish is legal just because it is common on Gulf reefs, and check red snapper season before planning a snapper trip.