Fishing and Fun Heating-Up on Alabama’s Gulf Coast This Spring and Summer
Day 3: Bet on a Six Pack Charter Boat at Alabama’s Gulf Coast with Captain Troy Frady
 No, the term six pack doesn’t refer to beverages or abs. On Alabama’s Gulf Coast, throughout the spring, the summer and the fall, a six pack refers to a six-passenger charter boat that fishes offshore or trolls near shore. The most-important gift you can give to your children and your family is memories of adventures that will last a lifetime. When you were young, the things you cherished the most were the times you spent with your family on fun adventures. This is the mission of a six-pack charter boat, like the “Distraction” charter boat based at Orange Beach Marina in Orange Beach, Ala. “We really like to take families and co-workers out, show them a good time and help them catch numbers of fish,” Captain Troy Frady of the “Distraction” says. “Our goal is to keep rods bent with hard-fighting fish on the ends of everyone’s lines all day.  We try to produce a fishing trip of a lifetime that the entire group will remember forever.” To ensure that memories aren’t lost, Frady gives every party or family who fishes with him a video and pictures of their trip.
“Also, anglers can keep some species of fish for dinner,” Frady says. “This month, they can catch and keep vermilion snapper, triggerfish, white snapper, lane snapper, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel. Anglers can take their cleaned catches to one of our local restaurants and have them cook it. Many of the restaurants will prepare your catch two or three-different ways and provide all the side dishes and beverages inexpensively. Then, you can feast on certified, safe-to-eat Gulf of Mexico fish. Since the oil spill last year, the fish in the Gulf of Mexico have been tested, re-tested, examined and re-examined more than ever before in the history of the fishing industry. There’s no fish from any other area that’s been tested and proven safer for human consumption than the fish coming-out of the Gulf of Mexico right now.”
 But catching fish to eat is a byproduct of a great day on the water with Captain Frady and his crew. Frady provides everything, except food, drinks, suntan lotion and sunglasses. Also, Frady, like many of the other six-pack boats at Orange Beach, are price conscious. “We offer a variety of trips to fit any budget,” Frady says. “Our most-popular trips have been our 4- and 6-hour trips. On our 4-hour trips, we generally troll for redfish, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel close to shore. We’ll also cast to cobia, if we see any. On our 6-hour trips, we go out to the natural bottom and fish for bottom fish. If you want to catch and release, we’ll go to spots where we can catch monster-sized snapper and grouper.  These big fish will bend your rod, stretch your string and make great photos and videos to capture the memories of a day on the Gulf of Mexico. But after the picture is taken, we release these fish.”
To fish with Captain Troy Frady at Distraction Charters, call him at 251-975-8111, or visit www.distractioncharters.com. To have your catch cooked at a local restaurant, go to http://www.gulfshores.com/dining-nightlife/restaurants/ and check the box that says, “Will cook your catch.” For more information on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, go to www.gulfshores.com or www.orangebeach.com, call 1-800-745-SAND (7263), or write info@gulfshores.com
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