Florida's Rare Rocky Beaches are Fish Magnets All Year Long

On a typical Florida beach, finding fish means finding fish on the move, such as migratory Spanish mackerel, pompano and bluefish.

A few beaches in the Sunshine State feature patches or ridges of limestone rock. Some are exposed at low tide. Such hard bottoms are unique ecosystems populated by the crustaceans and small fish many of our coastal target species prey upon. Snook, pompano, sheepshead, black drum, and snappers are some of the fish which patrol beach rocks.

In these areas, it’s important to adjust your rigging and your approach to avoid snagging and losing rigs or lures. If you’re bottom fishing with bait, one trick is to omit the pointy pyramid and Sputnik sinkers and instead use a smooth bank sinker less likely to hang in hard bottom.

Try to cast not into the rocks, but into sandy holes and lanes. These are great places to fish a jig or soft-plastic.

I can think of a half-dozen Atlantic beaches with public access and rocky bottom from Palm Beach north to Vero Beach that attract a different array of species in summer than in winter.

A prime example is Blowing Rocks Preserve beach north of Jupiter Inlet. The Preserve is named for its impressive Anastasia limestone shoreline which happens to be the largest of its kind on the U.S. Atlantic coast. At high tide when there is a big swell, seas break against the rocks forcing plumes of water 50 feet skyward, an impressive sight that draws crowds. Fishermen should know that the rocky outcroppings extend seaward for a good distance, and the mixed bottom of rock and sand patches can be seen when it’s reasonably calm and the water clear to off-clear. This stretch has produced numerous pompano, sheepshead, black drum and small snappers for me in winter and spring, mostly on bait and on jigs occasionally.In summer, this beach becomes a productive snook spot, and the fish are drawn to the baitfish attracted to the bottom structure. North of the rockiest stretch tapers to pure sand where traveling snook can be sight-fished in the trough.

Along Jupiter Island just south of Blowing Rocks Preserve, Coral Cove Park near Tequesta has spectacular rock formations along the beach, extending seaward to provide impressive rocky structure with small corals that attract prey and predator alike. This spot fishes much the same as Blowing Rocks Preserve. You can read this diverse bottom well under bright sun, and the challenge is to pick out sandy pockets to fish a jig, or to place your baited surf rigs. I fished this spot for pompano regularly, but was able to hook up to seven species a day occasionally.

A similar situation exists at Palm Beach County’s MacArthur Beach State Park. There are long stretches of sandy bottom interrupted by rocky patches that have impressive relief in places. I target snook there in summer on fly and small swimming plugs. Pompano take over from November through April, both in the sandy holes between the rocks and in the pure sandy stretches. Expect a few sheepshead, croakers and juvenile mutton and lane snapper at times.

St. Lucie County has numerous public beach accesses, and the rockiest is the popular Walton Rocks Beach, near the St. Lucie Power Plant. Summertime anglers fishing snook on fly, lures or bait do well here. Tarpon come in close at times when baitfish hug the shore, and some big permit can be landed there as well, likely due to crabs that gravitate to the hard bottom. I’ve come close to hooking dogs here on flyrod backcasts, so beware that this is a dog-friendly, leash-free beach!

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• This article was featured in the April 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe

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