Pier Fishing in Fort Desoto Park

There are lots of things that you can do at Fort Desoto Park, which is located in Saint Petersburg Florida, but the primary thing I will be talking about is the fishing that can be done there.

If you have a boat you will find no trouble in finding a ramp to launch it from. They are scattered all through out the park, and once you are in the water there are many spots that you can anchor away can catch some fish at.

Not everyone has the money to own a boat though, so that is why there are two great fishing piers that are at the park. The fishing piers are called the Gulf Pier and the Bay pier, both of them can offer excellent saltwater fishing all year round.

The first pier that I usually go to is called the Gulf Pier, and it seems to be more populated with fishermen then the Bay pier is. The Gulf Pier is roughly a quarter mile long, and they also have a bait and tackle shop right before the pier that is open during the day.

During the day the waters around the Gulf Pier are usually populated with porpoises, which means that bait fish are running. But if you are fishing there some of the fish you can expect to catch are sharks, snook, snapper, grouper, sheepshead, and many other species of saltwater fish.

The other fishing pier that is in the park is called the Bay Fishing Pier, which is slightly smaller than the Gulf Pier. This is where all the tour boats will drop off and load tourist to take them on various types of boat trips that the park offers. None the less it is also an excellent place to catch some fish.

The Bay Pier also has a bait and tackle shop that is just a little bit smaller than the Gulfs shop. If the bait shop is closed and you are there to do some night fishing there is a vending machine there for bait, you can get bait like frozen squid from it which is pretty cool.

The fishing piers are located at the southern most part of the island, and they are open to fishermen 365 days a year, all day and all night. At night they are well illuminated which helps you cast and make rigs, and also will attract schools of fish to the bright spots in the water.