E-bikes, by foot, or by paddle are three ways to access storm-opened Midnight Pass on Siesta Key in Sarasota County.
February 05, 2025
By Ed Killer
Forces of nature, hurricanes are one of mankind’s most ferocious threats. They often create a world of trouble for everyone in their path. Sometimes, however, hurricanes surprise us. These giant storms alter coastlines in good ways as well as bad.
One phenomenon called by some is the “wild pass.” Simply put, it’s when a storm creates a natural pass or inlet in a barrier island linking a land-locked waterway with a gulf or ocean. Two such cases occurred in Southwest Florida during the 2024 hurricane season.
Both passes were created by storm surges. First, Hurricane Helene pushed a coastwide surge as it barreled into the Big Bend region of Florida. The killer ’cane made landfall Sept. 26 about 10 miles east of where the Aucilla River meets the Gulf of Mexico. Yet 280 miles to the south, its surge overflowed the narrow barrier island of Siesta Key in southern Sarasota County.
That night, Midnight Pass was reborn. But hurricane season was far from done.
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On Oct. 9—a mere 13 days later—Hurricane Milton sucker-punched Southwest Florida. A Florida-wide tornado swarm spun up in front of the storm before it crept ashore, but its storm surge flooded and eroded more than 150 miles of coastal communities from Pasco to Lee counties. In Charlotte County, 29 miles south of Midnight Pass, the appropriately nicknamed Milton Pass opened a few miles north of Stump Pass in the state park of the same name. (For this feature, let's focus on Midnight Pass).
Midnight Pass needed a little help from Milton, too. Helene did the yeoman's work to open the pass, yet wind and currents slowly began to close it. At one point, Sarasotans launched a volunteer shovel brigade to keep water flowing between Little Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
By late October, the tide ripped through the 100-foot-wide opening carrying small crustaceans and tiny bait fish from the Gulf into the backwaters delighting hungry pelicans and wading birds. The pass was about 10 feet deep along its southern side—just wide and deep enough to carry snook, drum, redfish, seatrout and flounder in and out of it depending on tide and season.
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Accessing this spot while it remains open can be done easily in several ways. Midnight Pass is less than a mile south of Turtle Beach on Siesta Key. Turtle Beach isn’t very large, but it has a small boat ramp long enough to launch flats boats, bay boats or personal watercraft, a paddleboard and kayak launch, and a foot path that carries walkers, E-bikers, golf carts or side-by-sides south to Palmer Pointe Park.
Anglers can fish this area on foot, by drifting through the narrow cut via flats boat or floating through on a kayak. Lightweight soft-sided jigs and small topwater plugs will catch whatever predators decide this pass exchanges enough food for them.
In late October, Midnight Pass was 100 feet wide. KEEP MIDNIGHT PASS OPEN? Sarasota officials need to decide on the permanency of the pass. Historically, it opened temporarily thanks to storms. But in 1984 the pass was closed when private homeowners lobbied for 400,000 cubic yards of beach nourishment.
For 40 years many called to re-open the pass. Some called the sibling storms an “act of God.” Congressman Greg Steube (R-Sarasota) urged the Army Corps of Engineers in late October to consider a way to heed those calls.
Will jetties help keep sand from closing it in again? Will the pass become a navigable dredged channel deep enough for center consoles? Ecologically, keeping the pass open so regular tides flush Little Sarasota Bay could promote seagrass and habitat growth enhancing the bay’s function as a marine life nursery.
Milton made landfall at Siesta Key and at press time, the coastal resort town is storm-torn. Residences along the water’s edge won’t recover for years. Midnight Pass, however, could one day become a lasting legacy.
If You Go Help for planning a fishing trip to Midnight Pass (Waypoint: 27° 12.28' N • 82° 30.41' W) Florida's Midnight Pass shown on a map. KAYAK OUTFITTERS ULTIMATE KAYAK SRQ —8918 Midnight Pass Rd., Siesta Key 941-720-8807RIDE & PADDLE —6551 Midnight Pass Rd., Siesta Key 941-346-1797ECONOMY TACKLE —6018 S. Tamiami Trail Sarasota, 941-922-9671—All offer guided tours of Little Sarasota Bay INSHORE FISHING CHARTERS CAPT. RICK GRASSETT —Snook Fin Addict, 941-923-7799CAPT. MATT FUEYO —Reel Tight Fishing Charters, 941-444-9749GOOD EATS CALUSA BREWING (PigFish Gastropub inside)—5377 McIntosh Rd., Sarasota, 941-522-8846 calusabrewing.com This article was featured in the December-January 2025 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe .
