You are here because you are more than likely looking for information on saltwater fishing in the sunshine state of Florida. You are in good luck as I have been fishing in Florida for over 20 years – specifically in the Tampa Bay area – as there are some great places that you can catch a good amount of fish at, even if you do not have access to a boat. Of course though there are plenty of spots that are onshore to fishing in the Tampa Bay area.
One of my favorites is the SkyWay fishing pier – and yes there are too sides to the pier, the Saint Petersburg side and the Bradenton side, and from my experience and the stories that I have heard the Saint Pete side is a lot better when it comes to pier fishing. Now if you have a boat there are many good spots on the skyway bridge that you can go too – but you will have to find them for yourself as they remain a captains secret – if not then the pillars will be overfished and then noone will be able to fish. Another thing about fishing under the skyway bridge is just because the fish are there does not mean that you are going to catch them. Some of the common types of fish that you can expect to catch under the skyway bridge are King Mackerel, which mainly stay fairly close to the surface, along with grouper, snapper and sheepshead. You may need to have some tough terminal tackle though to ensure that the tackle sinks all the way down to the bottom.
Also if you are not an inexperienced boater and want to fish under the skyway bridge, do not due it as the currents there can get extremely deadly very fast. I do not recommend fishing there on a pontoon boat unless it is dead calm seas, which it usually is not there due to the Tampa Bay current.
From what I know the sky way fishing pier I think that they may charge a fee. There are also some piers in the Tampa Bay area, Fort Desoto Park, where you can fish for free. In all honesty though you will have a better chance of catching fish if you have a boat, simply due to the fact that you have access to cover more ground.
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