# south florida inshore fishing?



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

hey guys, I have a friend coming down from new york in a few weeks and he wants to go fishing. I'll be meeting him down in the Ft. Lauderdale/Pompano beach/Boca raton area and I need to know if there is a place I can use my boat for some saltwater fishing? When I lived down there we always did either fresh water or off shore, but never in shore.

Where is a decent place to go with my skiff? What type of fish should I target? What boat ramp can I use?


----------



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> hey guys, I have a friend coming down from new york in a few weeks and he wants to go fishing. I'll be meeting him down in the Ft. Lauderdale/Pompano beach/Boca raton area and I need to know if there is a place I can use my boat for some saltwater fishing? When I lived down there we always did either fresh water or off shore, but never in shore.
> 
> Where is a decent place to go with my skiff? What type of fish should I target? What boat ramp can I use?



It's pretty much snook, tarpon, trout around north biscayne bay.
There are some areas a little south of Ft. Lauderdale around Key Biscayne where you can come across bonefish and some very scarce reds. 

Fish the bridges for snook and tarpon, grass flats 1"-3" deep for trout.


You'll find some pesky critters like baracudas and jack crevalles around too. 

One can also fish for mangrove snapper.


----------



## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Try Lake Worth Lagoon...

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/recreation/content/entertainment/recreation/outdoors/fishing/hot_spots.html

Lake Worth Lagoon: Fishing the hot spots

By Willie Howard
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
March 13, 2003

The Lake Worth Lagoon, a former freshwater lake that stretches 20 miles from North Palm Beach to south of Boynton Inlet, has produced some fine fish for anglers through the years: snook, redfish, tarpon, jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel, snapper, sea trout, sheepshead, bluefish, black drum - even bonefish and sawfish.

Some anglers boast about their lagoon catches. Others keep them quiet, realizing that thousands of anglers live near the lagoon and might swarm to their secret spots.

What follows are a few of the lagoon's well-known fishing hot spots. Our list - a summary of information provided by longtime lagoon angler Barry Brimacomb, other members of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club and area anglers who love fishing Palm Beach County's estuary - is by no means exhaustive.

Many of the best places undoubtedly remain the secrets of those who discovered them. These are starting places, listed from north to south, for anglers who run through the Intracoastal Waterway on the way to the ocean and may never have considered the lagoon as a fishing destination.

Little Lake Worth: It's tricky to navigate under low bridges and through narrow channels to this spot on the north end of the lagoon, but that protects the area from large boats. A deep hole just outside the channel leading into Little Lake Worth holds tarpon in the warm months. Bluefish and ladyfish can be found there in the winter and spring. Dave Webb of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club caught an 11-pound, 3-ounce bluefish on 4-pound-test line in Little Lake Worth on March 3, 2000.

Munyon Island / Lake Worth Cove: Mangroves planted on restored sections of Munyon Island have made the island and surrounding flats more attractive to fish. Sea grass beds and mangrove-lined shoreline around the island hold snook, spotted sea trout, redfish, tarpon and other species. Tom Twyford, executive director of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, once caught and released an 8 1/2 -pound bonefish near Munyon Island on a jig. Club member Ken Hart released a rare sawfish while fishing with live bait in flowing water on the northeast side the island. Shallows east of the island can be waded or fished from a small boat, canoe or kayak. Motorized boats are not allowed in Lake Worth Cove, the lagoon east of State Road A1A in John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.

Sugar Sands artificial reef: The artificial reef on the east side of the lagoon runs north to south in about 20 feet of water. This reef at times holds snook, permit, grouper, snapper and spiny lobster. Coordinates are: 26/47.61N; 80/02.69W. The best fishing is at high tide.

Lake Worth Inlet: The inlet can be a good spot for snook, permit, jack crevalle and other fish, especially on weekdays. The inlet can be dangerous, however, as large ships and hundreds of boats come and go from the inlet. Try fishing the south jetty for snook with live bait in the fall, but don't expect to go home with dinner. Many of the inlet snook are too large to keep.

Power plant boil: The power plant outflow area south of Peanut Island holds tarpon and other fish, especially in cold weather. Tarpon move in and out of the boil area and into Lake Worth Inlet with the tide. Try tarpon fishing at night or in the early morning hours with live jumbo shrimp.

Rybovich Reef: This artificial reef can be found on the east side of the lagoon in 25 feet of water across from Rybovich Spencer boat yard (south of Peanut Island). Coordinates: 26/45.03N; 80/02.59W. This is a good spot to fish with live or cut bait for snapper, especially in the warm months.

Hospital shoals: The shoals north of the Flagler Memorial Bridge and east of Good Samaritan Medical Center can hold bluefish, Spanish mackerel and jacks. The best fishing is at high tide.

Southern Boulevard Bridge/Mar-a-Lago: David Ehlers of West Palm Beach likes to fish the north side of the bridge on an incoming tide at night. He pitches a Windcheater plug upcurrent and lets it drift back into the shadow line, and then cranks to produce a strike. Barry Brimacomb likes to bounce lures off the sea wall at Mar-a-Lago for jacks. Holes north of Mar-a-Lago can hold ladyfish and snook. Fish pockets in the shallows north toward Everglades Island, but watch for oyster bars.

Bingham Islands: The mangrove lined-islands south of the Southern Boulevard Bridge can hold snook, jacks and ladyfish. Try fishing the deep, mangrove-lined channel that runs east-west through the islands.

John's Island/Lake Worth Spillway: Shallows east of John's Island are dotted with mangroves, tricky to navigate and often full of mullet. Barry Brimacomb caught a jack on a topwater plug there last week. The mouth of the West Palm Beach Canal, just downstream of the Lake Worth Spillway, can be a good spot for tarpon, snook, Spanish mackerel and jacks, especially when water is flowing. Watch a depth finder to find the hole at the mouth of the spillway canal. Land-based anglers catch snook at Spillway Park when water is flowing, especially in the warm months.

Ocean Avenue Bridge: The bridge off Sportsman's Park in Lantana is a well-known bait spot, especially in the summer months. Guide Butch Moser of Delray Beach caught six kinds of bait there in a few pre-dawn casts in August.

Marker 42: A hole around this marker in the Intracoastal Waterway off Hypoluxo can hold pompano, snook and snapper. Matt Cardella and his sons caught a kingfish on a jig there in January. They returned three days later and caught another kingfish. Ann Spickler of Perk's Bait & Tackle shop also recommends anchoring east of the Intracoastal Waterway channel and working the east channel edge with live shrimp or squid for snapper and sand perch.

Bird Island flats: Sea grass beds in the shallows north of Bird Island hold tarpon in the summer, ladyfish in the fall and mullet schools in the fall and spring. Because these flats are close to Boynton Inlet, they are flushed by clear ocean water during tide changes.

Boynton Inlet: Land-based anglers fishing from the jetty catch snook and snapper in the warm months as well as pompano and permit in the cool months. Jack Gayegian of Boynton Fisherman's Supply said sheepshead can be caught under the bridge on fiddler crabs. Snook should start showing up there in May and June. August and September are good months for snook at the jetty, too. Sand perch and croakers hit shrimp there in the summer. African pompano and mutton snapper are sometimes caught at the jetty after storms.

Boynton Canal: The mouth of the C-16 canal produces some huge snook in the summer when water is flowing. John Lang caught and released a 41-pound, 8-ounce snook at the spillway on using a homemade jig at night in August 2000. Lang's snook won the West Palm Beach Fishing Club's annual Nora Award that year and was the second-heaviest snook in the 35-year history of the contest.

On the lagoon

Fishing tips: Try fishing in pockets and corners of areas covered by sea grass and around mangroves. Move into shallow areas on rising tides or anchor and wade or use flat-bottom boats, canoes and kayaks to reach shallow water behind mangrove islands. Try fishing for snook at the mouths of drainage canals when the water is flowing. Fish around bridges at night for snook. Also fish at night or in the early morning for tarpon. Evening or early morning fishing tends to be productive on the flats during hot weather. Watch the surface for schools of jack crevalle chasing bait.

Live bait: Spring, summer and fall are the best seasons for live bait in the lagoon. Favorites include finger mullet, pinfish, Atlantic threadfin herring (greenies), sardines and menhaden. The Ocean Avenue Bridge, the shallows just north of Boynton Inlet and flats on the east side of Munyon Island are good spots to catch bait with a cast net.

Boat ramps: Public boat ramps providing direct access to the lagoon include, from north to south, Phil Foster Park, 900 E. Blue Heron Blvd., Riviera Beach; Currie Park, 2400 N. Flagler Drive, West Palm Beach; Bryant Park, 30 S. Golfview Road (off Lake Avenue), Lake Worth; Sportsman's Park, 200 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana; and Boat Club Park, 2100 U.S. 1 (south of Gateway Boulevard), Boynton Beach.

Manatee zones: Winter manatee slow-speed zones are in effect Nov. 15 through March 31. Other slow-speed zones apply all year.

Artificial reefs: The Sugar Sands artificial reef runs north-south on the east side of the lagoon north of the Blue Heron Bridge and south of Munyon Island in about 20 feet of water. Coordinates: 26/47.61N; 80/02.69W. The Rybovich Reef is on the east side of the lagoon in 25 feet of water across from Rybovich Spencer boat yard south of Peanut Island. Coordinates: 26/45.03N; 80/02.59W. Bicentennial Park on Ocean Avenue in Lantana has concrete and tetrahedron reefs within casting distance of the northeast sea wall. The Boynton Inlet Reef (900 tons of rock) is in about 15 feet of water on the east side of the lagoon south of Boynton Inlet. Coordinates: 26/32.65N; 80/02.78W.

More information: For a free copy of the Boating and Angling Guide to the Lake Worth Lagoon brochure, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission at (561) 625-5122 or go online to FloridaMarine.org (click on resources and publications). For a copy of the county's artificial reef brochure, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a note requesting the brochure to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 3323 Belvedere Road, Building 502, West Palm Beach, Fla., 33406.


----------



## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

between ft. laud. and boca raton  the only type of  inshore fishing you'll find is the icw and finger canals off the icw which can be good for several species of fish. last time i checked there was a free boat ramp just north of linton blvd. in delray bch. i'm not sure where the ramps are south of there as its been a while


----------



## Bob_Rogers (Oct 14, 2009)

The macks should be stacked up thick at Pecks by then, just south of St Lucie inlet - thats not fishing tho, its just catching.

non-stop drag screaming on 4-6lb tackle.


----------



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

ICW may have to be my winner though not by choice. I have limiting factors on time and travel, basically we have a third person coming that may be a PITA so I'll have to stay local. I was thinking about fishing around the hillsboro inlet (between hillsboro ave and atlantic blvd). I used to go out on the helen s drift boat all the time when I lived down there, and when the crew wasn't looking I'd catch tarpon and big jacks off the back of the boat. 
So I'm thinking my plan is to fish docks up and down that area and if its calm enough I'll venture out into the inlet maybe if it's glass I'll head out to about 80ft or so. Sound good?
Now does anyone know of a reasonable ramp close to that location?


----------

