If you don’t have access to a boat, you still have plenty of great places to fish from shore in Pensacola.
Some of the best public fishing spots for land-based fisherman are Pensacola’s many beaches, Fort Pickens bay side shore, Pensacola Pier, Bob Sikes Bridge, and many other smaller piers in the area.
In no particular order, you’ll find some great fishing spots listed below to help get you started.
- Chicken Bone Beach
- Fort Pickens Beaches
- Pensacola Pier
- Fort Pickens Bay Side
- Fort Pickens Pier
- 3 Mile Bridge
- Palafox Pier
- Bob Sikes Bridge – North
- Bob Sikes Bridge – South
- Opal Beach
- Pensacola Public Beaches
- Shoreline Park
- Pier At Base Of Gulf Breeze Toll Bridge
1. ChickenBone Beach (Park West)
Where Is Chicken Bone Beach In Pensacola?
Chicken Bone Beach is the last public beach access before entering Fort Pickens Park. This public stretch of beach is located on Fort Pickens Rd. about 3/4 mile before the entrance to the park.
“Park West” Of Pensacola Beach
The correct name for Chickenbone Beach is actually “Park West”. It’s just referred to by some locals as “Chicken Bone”. So, if you hear that term, you’ll know what they’re referring to.
The great thing about this shore-based fishing spot is it’s proximity to the outer edge of town. It’s not jammed right in the middle of a bunch of large condo’s full of tourists.
The Dog Beach Adjacent To Park West
You’ll find a public dog beach, with separate parking, adjacent to Park West. I believe this dog beach is actually where I snapped the photo above, but these 2 areas are right beside each other.
You’ll have a long stretch of undeveloped beach to the west of Park West and away from this dog beach. You can use this open stretch of sand to distance yourself from other beachgoers. One of my best days ever of surf fishing was at the Park West beach.
As discussed above, I normally head away from the dog beach when fishing here. However, if you don’t mind the beach crowd, staying at the condo’s across the road from the dog beach is a great option for visiting anglers. You won’t even have to get in a vehicle to get into some great fishing. Early morning and late evening fishing is in fact enjoyable here when the tourist crowd is lighter on the beaches.
2. Fort Pickens Beaches
In my opinion, the crown jewel of Pensacola land-based fishing is the beach found inside Fort Pickens Park. The bay side is good as well, and so is the pier, but the surf side beach is my absolute favorite.
Surf Fishing At Fort Pickens
Honestly, surf fishing all along the coastline of Northwest Florida and Alabama is similar. The water conditions will vary, but you’ll likely be fishing for most of the same species. What really sets this Pickens beach apart from others is the seclusion.
The beaches within Fort Pickens park are quite a ways from all the development elsewhere. So, you’ll never have to contend with the same sort of crowds you get on other free public beaches down the way. This may or may not be important to you. Personally, I like the peacefulness of it all.
I love this area so much that I have an entire article describing how to fish the Fort Pickens area.
3. Pensacola Pier
The various fishing piers in the area are great options for the shore bound fisherman, and Pensacola Pier is one of the best of these options. The pier was temporarily closed after Hurricane Sally made landfall near the area in September 2020. Thankfully it opened back up summer of 2021.
This pier is nearly 1500 feet long, so there is tons of fishing space available. There is also a bait and tackle shop on the pier, so if you come empty handed, you still have options. With that said, don’t come empty handed. Bring plenty of tackle and fresh bait with you.
You’ll Need A Pier Net On Pensacola Pier
As you can clearly see above, the Pensacola Pier rises a great distance above the water. There is no way to hoist a big fish up onto the pier without a net or a flying gaff. No worries, this is a busy pier and there is usually someone willing to help you get a big fish up. If you find that you enjoy pier fishing, it’s worth investing in a pier net for future trips.
More Species Variety From Ocean Facing Piers
The nice thing about these ocean-facing piers is that they offer a higher success rate for desirable species that you might only luck into from other inshore piers.
Here you can regularly catch things like pompano, Spanish mackerel, whiting, sheepshead, flounder, king mackerel, bluefish, and others. You also have an outside chance at things like bull reds, tarpon, cobia, mahi, jacks, and more.
Where Is Pensacola Pier?
To get to Pensacola Pier, most people will be coming down Pensacola Beach Blvd. headed south, toward the beach. Proceed straight through the red light at Fort Pickens road, and turn right onto the Casino Beach Boardwalk road.
There will be lots of parking available near the pier. Basically, just look for the Pensacola Beach beach ball in the air and park somewhere near that. Be prepared, as this is an extremely touristy area.
4. Fort Pickens Bay Side
If the surf side of Fort Pickens peninsula is too rough, you can always seek refuge and good fishing on the bay side. The close-in deep water access here is a huge selling point. Check out NOAA depth charts to find where the depths drop off.
The bay side is also home to a small rock jetty inside the park. Deep water is close to the jetty, so it is usually teeming with fish. Dolphins swim by surprisingly close here.
You can catch almost anything on the bay side of the park. I have caught redfish, flounder, speckled trout, croaker, sharks, Spanish mackerel, and many other species here.
Where Is The Fort Pickens Jetty?
The jetty at Fort Pickens is right down the beach, to the west of the fishing pier. Find the pier and you have found the jetty.
5. Fort Pickens Pier
This bay side pier is one of the best places to fish within the park. While it isn’t nearly as large as some of the other piers in the region, it can be very productive at times.
Fort Pickens pier has a nice beach on either side of it. This close-by sandy beach makes it a great spot for the whole family to come and hang out together.
Some of the primary target species here are red drum, flounder and mangrove snapper, but there are actually quite a few different species to be had here, even red snapper. It just depends on the time of year, as to what may be lurking around the pier.
Where Is Fort Pickens Pier?
The pier is located inside Fort Pickens, near the back of the park in the northwest corner. Basically, you follow Fort Pickens Rd. all the way to the end, and you’ll see the pier right in front of you. There is parking for the pier along the fort wall if you get there early. If it’s crowded, you might have to park in one of the nearby lots instead.
6. Pensacola Bay Fishing Bridge (At 3 Mile Bridge)
The Pensacola Bay Bridge, also known as Three Mile Bridge, connects mainland Pensacola to Gulf Breeze. This is an extremely popular fishing destination among the area’s boaters. However, there is a separate “Pensacola Bay Fishing Pier” running alongside the northern section of 3 mile bridge.
Sadly, this popular land-based fishing destination was closed September of 2020. Barges broke loose during Hurricane Sally and damaged the pier. Supposedly this is a temporary closure, but for exactly how long, no one knows. As I understand the situation, the necessary pier repairs are still tied up with a lawsuit with Skanska, the company responsible for the barges. Hopefully by the time you read this they’ll be closer to actually re-opening the pier.
To see if this popular fishing spot has been re-opened, you’ll need to check the Escambia County website here.
Re-Opening Of The Pensacola Bay Fishing Bridge
If they actually re-open the pier under the same rules as before, there is no fishing license required to fish it, because the necessary licensing is held by the county. However, there are fees associated with fishing the bridge. Annual passes are also available. For the full fee structure, visit the Escambia county website linked above.
There are a great number of species regularly caught here, such as red drum, sheepshead, mangrove snapper, flounder, white trout, black drum, and many others. The full list is similar to what you’ll encounter at the Bob Sikes pier further south. You can see that full list here.
7. Palafox Pier
The Palafox Pier, at Plaza De Luna park, is a close-by alternative to the Pensacola Bay Fishing Pier, discussed above. At this park, you’ll be basically fishing in downtown Pensacola. So, it will be a populated urban setting, and not necessarily the peaceful fishing spots you might be used to.
You can fish around the railing on the bulkhead, or from the pier, and you’ll be able to park pretty close to your fishing spot which is nice.
At Palafox, you can catch mangrove snapper, redfish, trout, and croaker, among others. You might even hook into a king mackerel here!
While in the area, you can also check out the nearby Maritime Park. They also have a fishing pier there.
Where Is Palafox Pier In Pensacola
Palafox Pier is at the southern end of both S. Palafox and S. Jefferson St. in downtown Pensacola.
8. Bob Sikes Pier – North
Bob Sikes Pier is actually 2 entirely separate piers. Both ends of Bob Sikes are good fishing areas, and I don’t really consider one to be much better than the other.
If you don’t want to bother going across the toll bridge into Pensacola Beach, you can stick to fishing the north section of Bob Sikes. You can see in the image above how to access the pier from the north. For more information on how to fish both sides of Bob Sikes, check out my article about that here.
9. Bob Sikes Pier – South
The beach side of Bob Sikes, to the south, is probably a better choice for anglers staying in the Pensacola Beach area. There’s no need to cross back over the bridge into Gulf Breeze to fish the northern end. Just park in front of the Grand Marlin restaurant and enter from there.
The southern end of Bob Sikes is also a great place to fish if you suffer from mobility issues, or just don’t want to exert a lot of effort to get to a good fishing spot. It’s a very long walk to get all the way to the end, but you definitely don’t have to go anywhere near the end of the pier to get into some great fishing.
I have a whole article about fishing the Bob Sikes Bridge here. I also have another post about all the different kinds of fish you can expect to catch at Bob Sikes.
10. Opal Beach
I wouldn’t necessarily call Opal Beach a secret spot, but it’s one of those out of the way hidden gems. It’s gonna take you a minute to get there since the speed limit is so painfully slow on this stretch of road. It’s actually closer to Navarre than it is to Pensacola Beach, so it’s a bit of a drive to get there.
Opal Beach is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, so you’ll need to purchase a pass to use this area. The same pass can be used for entry to Fort Pickens, so it’s not a bad deal. These national park beaches are not usually as crowded as the other free public beach accesses. That’s what you ideally want for fishing – a light crowd.
Where Is Opal Beach?
Opal Beach can be found between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach on highway 399. It’s about 6.5 miles past the last cluster of condos as you’re leaving Pensacola Beach.
11. Other Pensacola Public Beaches
My favorite place to fish from shore in Pensacola is right on the Pensacola Beach shoreline itself. While I personally prefer the more remote beaches found inside the parks discussed above, I’ve also had good success along the more crowded beaches elsewhere.
There are actually many free public access points all along the Pensacola Beach shoreline, and these parking areas are usually clearly marked. Leaving Pensacola Beach on highway 399 to the east are several great beach access parking areas that are away from the more crowded beaches in front of the heavily developed areas.
Of course, if you’re staying at a condo on the beach you can access the surf right in front of your condo. Just prepare to be met with a lot of beachgoers after the sun gets up. This issue is even more compounded during peak travel seasons.
12. Shoreline Park
Shoreline Park is a combination park and boat ramp located on the southern shore of Gulf Breeze. There is also a pier here stretching out over Santa Rosa Sound.
This park wouldn’t be my first pick for fishing, but if you’re in the area give it a whirl. Try off the pier or wade the near shore grass beds for redfish and trout. You should also be able to cast net bait from the pier.
There are restrooms, pavilions, hiking trails, and a swimming area, so it’s a great family location. Let the family hang out at the park while you fish 😉
Where Is Pensacola’s Shoreline Park?
Shoreline Park is just off Shoreline Drive, less than a mile from Gulf Breeze High School. The entrance will be on your left, right across the street from the Gulf Breeze Parks and Recreation building.
13. Fishing Pier At The Base Of Gulf Breeze Toll Bridge
Just before you get onto the toll bridge that leads into Gulf Breeze, there is a small parking area to the right. This provides access to the adjacent sea wall and small fishing pier, seen in the image above. This area is not only a good fishing spot, but also a good place to catch bait. The locals refer to this little pier as the “Octagon”.
Here, you’ll run into red drum, mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel, black drum, trout, sharks and many other species.
Conclusion
This was just a small collection of good land based Pensacola fishing spots available to the public. There are many more, but hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction.
Tight lines,
Augustus Clay
