starfish,
i used to live in spanish fort al, which is just north of i10 at mobile bay. in the spring time i would fish dauphin island, and in the fall i would fish west pass. west pass is the outlet to the gulf for little lagoon. if i was you i would fish the lagoon at night under the dock lights. try a chartruse clouser, you should be able to get specks and reds.
at first light, or at dusk i would fish the pass, especially if you can get an outgoing tide. you should encounter, specks, reds, spanish ,bluefish, ladyfish(skipjack) and hardtail. all of which will be a ball on a fly rod. for flies i would use surf candy. it does a great job of imitating the small baisfish that are present in that area at this time of year.
crowds should not be a problem, most of the tourists have left by october. the only conflict would be the occasional surfer, or the shrimp festival. the shrimp festival is a big arts and crafts fair that happens in the begining of october in orange beach. it jams up the traffic at the end of route 59, but should not affect the fishing.
walk the beach early and late , and you should see large schools of bait being chased and devoured.
a good local website would be
http://www.gcomag.com. they have a message board and should be able to give you some help.
good luck !!