I grew up on Dauphin Island and supplemented my income while in college Floundering around the Island. Saltwater fishing is highly dependent on the tides. Dauphin Island Tides:
http://www.tides4fishing.com/us/alabama/dauphin-island
Most of the time you will have the best luck when tides are pulling the hardest. Tides are "slack" around the High and low tide...strongest 3-4 hrs after peak high/low tide. An incoming tide has always been my favorite. If sunrise/sunset also corresponds with the stronger tides that is a plus. ...but primarily fish the tides.
If I were fishing the surf, I'd primarily be trying to catch a redfish for the Grill. Live shrimp or croakers are the best fished under a 4-5-inch cork with a 18inch 20lb mono-leader attached by a swivel and a small 1/4 oz egg sinker attached above the swivel. As for cooking a redfish, cut off the filet leaving the scales on. Salt, pepper, olive oil, maybe some Cajun seasoning. Cook it flesh down for a min or two to get some grill marks, then flip it scales side down and cook it until its done...the scales will char, but that's OK don't eat the scales.
October on the Gulf side is some of the best floundering of the year. Of course the weather has to cooperate. Buy a propane floundering light(or a couple of good flashlights -flashlights have made major advances since I last floundered) and take a gig and a stringer. If you have a calm night and the water is clear(it should be in October) wait till an hour or so after Low tide, walk in mid-ankle to maybe slightly over knee deep water. Most flounder will be facing into the current and/or facing up any slight inclines or toward the beach or up either side of a sandbar. They are waiting to ambush any baitfish carried over sandbars or by the tides. Gig them in the head and don't try to pick them up until you put the stringer through their gills and out the mouth. Careful they will bite. If you see one, look closely they tend to be in small schools. You can gig them in deeper water, but much over knee deep it gets much harder. I've gigged them with their backs nearly out of the water. They can be difficult to spot, but not that hard after you see one or two. Google "flounder in the sand"
If you want to grill a flounder, scale it, and keep it on aluminum foil. They are fantastic stuffed with crab and or Shrimp, but they are tricky to debone for stuffing. Probably easier to filet and just grill the fillets or wrap the fillets round your stuffing and secure with a toothpick.
