Keys bridges give shorebound anglers access to offshore species, like this red hind.

Coolers of ice, buckets, rods, tackle, flashlights. Cast net, hand net, chumbags, ropes. Chairs, rags, knives, maps, drinking water and a tide chart, all loaded in the pickup for a weekend of bridge fishing in the Keys.

We’d heard stories—snook at Channel Number Two Bridge, hogfish at Bahia Honda, tarpon at Long Key Bridge—even rumors of a 12-pound mangrove caught days before at Seven Mile Bridge! If we timed our stops right to coincide with the tides, we might catch any number of Florida’s inshore gamefish species.

In bridge fishing the Keys, timing isn’t everything; it’s the only thing. The massive amount of water that rushes under the bridges during strong tidal flows makes fishing extremely difficult even with heavy tackle, and when the tide’s not running at all, offerings go nowhere in the slack water. Successful anglers possess good knowledge of tides at their favorite bridges, and as many tricks of their trade as any angler offshore.

Along with good decisions about where to catch the right tide, bridge fishing requires style choices. Can you take fishing on a sidewalk with your back to traffic, as is often the case at small bridges? Or will you stand at one of the dedicated fishing bridges alongside U.S.1, 15 to 50 feet over the water? Or, do you want to climb down the banks, where possible, to reach the waterline? As Christina Weinhofer, of Sea Boots Outfitters in Big Pine says, “It’s kind of an art to get down to the water level at some places, but it helps.” Each of those positions allows anglers to employ different tackle and techniques—from freelining live baits on light tackle, to soaking cutbait on bottom, to casting soft-plastics and topwater lures.

Despite its inconveniences, bridge fishing is popular because it gives many people, who would not otherwise have it, water access and a chance to hook, and possibly land, a great fish.

A variety of grunts and snapper are hoisted over Keys bridge railings.

North of Key Largo, on Card Sound Road, five little bridges span shallow waterways with dense mangrove banks. These “backcountry” bridges are characteristic of ones you’ll find all up and down the Keys, just off the main roads, where you stand on sidewalks with your back to traffic. Their waters can be thick with snappers, and hold tarpon and snook, among other species. With less water flow than bridges on U.S.1, a good tide (moving in the right direction) will take your live baits back to the fish hiding along the banks. These smaller bridges offer closer water access, and quieter fishing, but they are lonely, local roads, true secret spots, not the big bridges that comfortably host all who come. Still, we checked Steamboat Creek Bridge (between Card Sound Road Mile Marker 1 and 2), and the bugs were wicked, so we headed south.

We took a passing glance at Adam’s Waterway, (M.M. 104), the only direct water access from U.S.1 in Key Largo. It has a parking lot and deep water, but also plenty of boat traffic.

Mobility allows anglers to follow the optimum bridge tides.

Nearby, at Key Largo Bait and Tackle (M.M. 102), we stocked up on live bait—shrimp, crabs and pinfish. Gary, a shop employee, told us, “Most guys fish on Channel Two Bridge (M.M. 73) for snook on the full moon, with shrimp on a 1- to 2-ounce jighead, depending on the current, and for tarpon in the evenings. We also have guys who will put crabs down near the bridge posts on egg sinkers for permit. You can also freeline a shrimp for mangrove snappers. They’re everywhere.”

Down the road, we came to the first real prospect for bridge fishing in the Keys, Tea Table Bridge (M.M. 79). Off southbound U.S.1, a gravel side road ends near the bridge, and from there, a short path leads to the water. It looked like a perfect place to shoot topwater plugs and soft-plastic lures around the pilings for snook and snapper. If a group of anglers wasn’t already doing it, we might have even tried to set up a chumline from the banks to reach the deeper water.

In the Upper Keys, Lignumvitae Channel Bridge (M.M. 77), Channel Two Bridge (M.M. 73), Channel Five Bridge (M.M. 71), Long Key Bridge (M.M. 65), Tom’s Harbor Cut (M.M. 63), and Tom’s Channel (M.M. 60), all have separate fishing bridges alongside U.S.1. These bridges allow you to fish over both sides, and between the pilings of both bridges, so that you can fish on either an incoming or outgoing tide. Both Anne’s Beach (M.M. 73) in Islamorada, and an unnamed oceanside flat (M.M. 75), offer roadside access to wadefishing for permit and bonefish.