- Depth
- 12-20 ft
- Access
- By boat
- Best months
- December to April
- Species
- Sheepshead
The Regina was a 247-foot steel steamer built in Belfast in 1904 and later turned into a molasses barge. In March 1940, two days out of Havana under tow, a cold front drove it aground off Bradenton Beach, where it broke up. It became Florida's tenth Underwater Archaeological Preserve and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It lies about 75 yards off the beach in 12 to 20 feet, and the preserve page lists sheepshead, grunts and spottail pinfish living on it.
How to fish it
Fish it from a kayak or small boat anchored in the sand up-current, with shrimp or fiddler crabs on small hooks for sheepshead in late winter and spring. Go early, before the swimmers and divers.
Watch out for: NOAA charts it as a dangerous wreck, so expect structure close to the surface. Watch for surf, swimmers and dive flags: FWC requires boaters to make reasonable efforts to stay 300 feet from a divers-down flag in open water.
Rules here: The preserve page says it's illegal to take anything from the preserve and asks boaters to anchor in the sand, not on the wreck. FWC's fishing rules apply to the fish. The rules to check in Sarasota nearshore waters