Tarpon also hang out around major spans like the Sunshine Skyway on Tampa Bay, readily grabbing live baits drifted around the pilings. (Photo by Frank Sargeant)
December 03, 2024
By Frank Sargeant
Head ‘em off at the pass has always been good advice, and it applies to fishing along Florida’s coasts, too.
The many passes that dot Florida’s coast are all spanned by bridges, and those structures are nearly always very fishy spots for anglers in search of anything from snook and reds to sheepshead and black drum. Even pompano. Here are 10 tips to get in on the bridge bite.
1. Hit the Tidal Peaks While there are always some fish hanging around the coastal bridges, they really put on the feedbag on strong tide flows, particularly on outgoing spring tides, those within a few days either side of the new and full moons.
When these strong flows peak, they suck shrimp, crabs and all sorts of baitfish seaward, and all of it has to funnel through the bridge pilings. Be there at the right time and you’re almost sure to score.
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(Snook, tarpon and reds seem to like the strongest peak of the flow, while more sedentary fish like sheepshead and black drum bite best early in the flow, as well as when it begins to slow but is still moving fast enough to bring them crabs and shrimp.)
Monster snook are among the primary targets of anglers who fish around Florida’s many bridges, and they usually bite best after dark. (Photo courtesy of Captain Dave Pomerleau) 2. Become a Night Stalker As good as many of the coastal bridges are by day, they’re even better at night, when snook and tarpon really go on a feed in the southern half of the state, roughly from Clearwater Beach south on the Gulf Coast and from Daytona Beach south on the Atlantic side.
Some bridges like this one in Clearwater have fishing piers adjacent or attached, welcoming anglers. (Wiki Media photo) A strong outgoing tide after dark is often the very best time to catch gamefish—if you don’t mind missing some sleep, you’re likely to have the water pretty much to yourself, too.
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Capt. Dave Pomerleau aka the "Mad Snooker" has probably guided his clients to as many snook over 40 inches as any captain in Florida, and he fishes mostly after dark with anglers who want a giant linesider.
As good as bridge fishing is by day, it gets even better after dark. (Wiki Media) 3. Follow the Forage While fishing around coastal bridges can be good pretty much year around, it goes crazy on the Atlantic side when the mullet run is on. Snook, tarpon, monster jack crevalle, sharks and even an occasional kingfish wait just beyond the bridge for the river of bait to flow into their waiting jaws.
On the west coast, there are "crab flushes" out of Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay in spring and early summer. Bridges on rivers leading to these bays, as well as the Sunshine Skyway Pier—formerly a bridge—are good spots to get in on the action on tarpon and snook.
The Sunshine Skyway on Tampa Bay is a toll booth for all sorts of gamefish going in and out of the bay. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) On the east coast north of Canaveral, the mid-summer shrimp runs produce good fishing for big trout around the bridges. Basically, anywhere you find lots of bait and a bridge, there are gamefish of some sort nearby.
4. Offer Them Live Baits Right time, right bait applies here as in most fishing. If you want some fat sheepshead for the pan, fish November to early March and use fiddler crabs or shrimp tails on a Bottom Sweeper or similar weighted head.
If you want snook and tarpon, prime time is likely to be April through early October in much of the state, and prime bait a live finger mullet, pinfish or grunt.
Black drum often hang around large bay bridges like those in Tampa Bay and upper Charlotte Harbor throughout the warmer months. Cut a blue crab in half and fish it on bottom for these brawlers—and don’t be surprised if a tarpon crashes the party.
Sheepshead love bridges, especially those with a bit of wood structure included. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) 5. Artificial Lures for Bridge Fishing Because there’s usually plenty of current flowing under coastal bridges, they’re ideal for drifting artificial shrimp. The DOA 4” Shrimp is the archetype for this sort of fishing, but there are some other good ones including the LiveTarget Shrimp , the Z-Man Prawnstar and the Vudu Shrimp . Crab imitations can also score—try the scented Berkley GULP! Saltwater Peeler Crab as well as the Savage Gear 3D Crab . The lures work best when free-lined to drift with the current—avoid drag and let the bait go with the flow until you feel a bump.
For reasons known only to the snook, the Redtail Hawk bucktail jig is a favorite for linesiders around the bridges. It doesn’t really look very much like a baitfish, but big snook routinely grab these things in weights from 1 to 3 ounces at night. The Berkley Powerbait Powerswitch in the larger sizes is another snook killer.
6. Fish the Light Line Most coastal bridges have bright lights illuminating the roadway, and these lights also penetrate the water. Predatory fish like snook, tarpon and trout ease along inside the shadow line created by the bridge and wait for bait to come close out in the lighted water.
It’s likely the bait can’t see the big eaters waiting for them because of the glare, so this creates natural feeding stations on the uptide side of many bridges. Cast your lure well uptide and let it drift back into the shadows, watching the line for evidence of a hit.
7. Fish the Eddies For fish that are less aggressive feeders like sheepshead and pompano, the eddies formed by bridge pilings are likely to produce. Fish hang behind the structure so that they don’t have to swim so hard to stay in place and munch on the crabs, barnacles, oysters and mussels on the pilings.
Sheepshead are likely to be around smaller bridges with moderate flow, so long as they have plenty of barnacles and oysters attached. Bridges with "fenders," riprap and other structure adjacent the pilings providing added cover for bait will be natural magnets for convict fish.
Pompano are not so well-known as bridge denizens, but on the many bridges spanning Tampa Bay, they’re a common catch during spring and fall for those who know where and how to connect.
Barnacles and mussels on bridge pilings provide a natural chum stream to lure sheepshead, pompano and black drum. 8. Bring Natural Baits If you’re serious about catching sheepies and pompano, you’ll want to collect a bucket of barnacles or green mussels to dribble into the water as crushed chum. (Note you can’t use baby oysters for this—they’re illegal to possess.)
Thumb-sized fiddler crabs are by far the best bait for both species, but they also readily take fresh-cut shrimp sections fished on jig heads heavy enough to get down where they hold in the current.
If you’re after snook or tarpon, you can’t beat live finger mullet about 6 inches long for bait, but pinfish, often easier to get, also work well. Hook the mullet through the nose from the bottom up on a 6/0 extra strong hook or larger, and the pinfish sideways just behind the mouth. Scaled sardines, where available, are also great, both as bait and as live chum.
Kayaks provide easy access to bridges in protected waters. (Photo courtesy of Nucanoe) 9. Don’t Ignore Redfish While redfish don’t often stack up on the bridges of central and south Florida, in the Panhandle they take the place of snook and tarpon, with loads of them schooling around big spans on St. Andrew, Choctawhatchee and Pensacola bays. These are usually adult fish over the slot limit, but they’re a lot of fun to exercise.
One way to find the schools is to slow-troll a big diving plug next to the bridge spans. Where you hook one, there will usually be plenty more, and a large jig dropped next to the structure or an artificial shrimp drifted through them will often connect. Of course, a live pinfish or blue crab makes it pretty much a sure thing.
10. Use Your Ears to Find Fish Snook, redfish and tarpon “announce” themselves if they’re hanging under a bridge, with explosions that sound like somebody dropped a bowling ball off the span. Listen for these blowups and head for them immediately because a fish that comes up on a feeding lane once will probably stay there and be ready to grab another bait. Keep your eyes open, too—with tarpon, you can sometimes see them coming down the light line, gulping air as they go.
Some newer bridges include built in fishing walkways underneath, making fishing easy. (Florida DOT photo) Gear Up to Land Lunkers If you fish from walkways on coastal bridges, your tackle has to be much stronger than you’d need to land fish from a boat. If you don’t get the fish in quickly, it will usually wrap a piling and break off.
A heavy action 8’ rod with a 5000-size spinning reel or something like a Penn Squall conventional reel and 60-pound-test braid is a good all around rig for snook, reds and black drum from the bridges. If you want to try tussling with tarpon, jump to a 6000-size reel and 80 to 100-pound-test braid, and put on your big boy pants. A length of 60- to 80-pound-test fluorocarbon leader will help prevent raspy fish jaws from fraying the braid. Use 80 for adult tarpon if you have hopes of actually laying hands on them.
A bridge net is a must for landing fish from the spans, as is heavy tackle to keep them away from the pilings. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) You’re also going to need a bridge net, suspended on a stout cord, to hoist any substantial fish you catch up to the span. Of course, with adult tarpon, you have to walk the fish to the shore to get hands on it—most will jump off after giving you a spectacular show, and that’s better for them and for you.
