- Access
- By boat or from shore
- Best months
- September to May
- Species
- Spotted seatrout, Snook, Sheepshead, Redfish (red drum), Mangrove (gray) snapper
A Pinellas County preserve of about 3,000 acres, mostly water, on the west shore of Old Tampa Bay in north St. Petersburg near the Gandy Bridge. The county says its fishing pier and the outlying oyster bars are ideal for trout, snook and sheepshead. There's a paddle launch with rentals and two self-guided paddling trails through the mangroves; the north trail is closed for now.
How to fish it
Fish the pier on a moving tide, or wade or paddle out to the oyster bars and mangrove edges on the higher half of the tide (FWC says the trails are best at high tide). Use soft plastics or live shrimp under a float for trout and redfish, and shrimp or fiddler crabs on the pier and oyster edges for sheepshead in late winter and spring.
Watch out for: Shallow, oyster-studded water. The Bartow power plant's outflow on Weedon Island's north shore is a federal manatee sanctuary closed to all boats in winter, and a Coast Guard security zone runs 50 yards around the Weedon Island power plant and closes off the entrances to both of its canals.
Rules here: Commercial fishing is banned in the preserve. Pinellas County says shellfish harvesting is closed in Tampa Bay for health reasons; FDACS sets the shellfish-area classifications. The rules to check in Tampa Bay inshore waters