Shell Key Preserve flats

Barrier-island preserve and grass flats in Tampa Bay inshore waters

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InshoreUpdated October 11, 2026

Access
By boat
Best months
March to June, September to November
Species
Snook, Redfish (red drum), Spotted seatrout, Florida pompano, Flounder, Spanish mackerel

An 1,800-acre Pinellas County preserve at Tierra Verde: one of the county's largest undeveloped barrier islands, plus many mangrove islands and wide seagrass beds, and one of the state's most important nesting and wintering areas for shorebirds. You can reach it only by boat, including the county's ferry from the Fort De Soto boat ramp, and FWC lists a roadside paddle put-in on the Pinellas Bayway. Public use is limited to the north and south ends; the central conservation core and the Bird Preservation Area are off limits.

How to fish it

Fish the bay-side grass flats and bars from a boat or by wading, with float rigs, soft plastics or spoons for trout and redfish, and work the channel edges on moving water for snook. Come in quietly and pole or idle onto the flats.

Watch out for: Closed bird areas, very shallow flats where it's easy to scar the grass with a prop, current near the passes, and stingrays when you wade.
Rules here: Pinellas County rules: no dogs or alcohol anywhere in the preserve, every plant and animal is protected (no taking live sand dollars, conchs, starfish, fiddler crabs and the like from the beach), and overnight camping only by county permit in the southern public-use area. The county's park data doesn't list fishing as an activity on the island and its page neither allows nor bans it, so check with the county before you fish from the island itself; boat fishing on the surrounding state waters follows FWC rules. The water around it is in the Boca Ciega Bay Aquatic Preserve. The rules to check in Tampa Bay inshore waters

Wind and waves

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On the map

Shell Key Preserve flats and the places around it

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Position

  • N27° 39.132' W082° 44.437'27.652200, -82.740625

Not for navigation: check it against a current chart before you rely on it.

Places nearby

The closest named places, as the crow flies

Check the rules before you keep a fish. Size limits, bag limits and seasons change, sometimes at short notice. Our "Can you keep it today?" lists give them as of the day we last checked; these are the official pages.