How is this pier? I will be right down the road from there in June. Are they shark fishing friendly?
It's a pretty nice pier, but their prices have skyrocketed out of hand. Many regulars are starting to find new places to fish. $20 to walk out and fish, when they close at 10:00, is insane. They recently became "shark friendly". It used to be that only the West Coast Anglers club could shark off the end, but they seem to have stopped the reel size restrictions. I got out with two 9/0's just fine last time. There is still a crew that shark fishes out there every Saturday night. They do alright, but the biggest shark I've ever heard of out there was a big bull. I'm not sure how they do on tigers and hammers, as I've never heard of one caught out there. If you are wanting a laid-back place to relax and kill time with some big-rigs in the water, and don't mind the price and early closing, then its not a bad pier. If you want to target big sharks, fish all night, and not worry about the price and regulations, I suggest you try someplace else. If you are set on pier-fishing, I'd suggest the Skyway, or one of the bridges around Ft. Desoto.
OK good deal. Im not wanting to pay a fortune to fish. Two years ago I fished in Madeira Beach by the bridge by the restuaraunt called Gators. I was on the outside of the bridge closest to open water and did pretty well. The problem I had was running out of line then lol. This year though bringing some bigger setups!
That would be John's Pass. It's hard to shark fish because it's so narrow and because of all the boat traffic, but it is real deep and I have seen everything from grouper to kingfish caught off that bridge.
I fished off the shore same side as Gators and with equipment I had then couldnt turn any of them this year hoping to change that. That area is about ten minutes from where I will be statying.