Fishing in Florida

The bass are always in the grass at Lake Okeechobee.

Florida is justifiably called a sportfishing mecca. Millions make angling pilgrimages to the Sunshine State each year, many of them in search of the fish of their dreams, especially big largemouth bass, bonefish, tarpon, and sailfish. But these are just the most storied species. With tens of thousands of fish-filled inland waters, and 1,350 miles of coastline bounding the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the abundance of Florida’s angling opportunities is rivaled only by their diversity.

The fabled St. Johns River, which empties into the Atlantic at Jacksonville, holds everything from largemouth bass and stripers to shad and seatrout. In the shadow of the space center at Cape Canaveral, anglers consistently catch huge red drum. Palm Beach, where the warm north-flowing waters of the Gulf Stream come closest to the United States, provides anglers with the chance to catch and release double-digit numbers of sailfish in a single day.

The Florida Keys, at the extreme tip of the peninsula, are perhaps the most hallowed destination in the state, offering saltwater aficionados everything from bonefish to blue marlin. The state’s most remote waters are within Everglades National Park, home to a vast array of wading birds as well as snook, redfish, tarpon, and seatrout. Those four species are also found along the Gulf Coast. In the Panhandle, the seatrout is king, but anglers also target cobia in nearshore waters, and snapper and grouper on wrecks and artificial reefs. And so it goes, with ample interest for such other Florida saltwater species as barracuda, sharks, swordfish, spearfish, wahoo, white marlin, dolphin, amberjack, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bluefish, little tunny, flounder, permit, pompano, sheepshead, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and cero mackerel.

In freshwater, Florida is synonymous with big largemouth bass because of the year-round growing season and abundance of food. Lake Okeechobee, Lake Kissimmee, and Lake Seminole are among the best bass waters in the country, but the chances of catching a trophy are just as good in any number of Florida’s ponds, lakes, and canals. In addition to largemouth and peacock bass, Florida also has white bass, sunshine bass, bluegills, black crappie (also known as speckled perch, or specks), redear sunfish (a k a shellcrackers), spotted sunfish, warmouth, catfish, bullhead, chain pickerel, gar, bowfin, oscars, and tilapia.