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Where the charter fleets are. On the Panhandle, Destin in Okaloosa County has one of the largest charter fleets in the country because the hundred-fathom curve comes closer to shore there than anywhere else in the Gulf, with Panama City in Bay County and Pensacola in Escambia close behind for red snapper and grouper.
On the Atlantic, Stuart in Martin County is where the sailfish run in winter, and Islamorada and Key West in Monroe County put you on the reef edge and the Gulf Stream within a short run. Fort Lauderdale in Broward County has deep water almost straight out from the inlet. Half-day trips work for reef fish, full days for anything further out.
Okaloosa County. The Destin History & Fishing Museum at 108 Stahlman Avenue keeps the record of Destin's beginnings as a fishing village at East Pass in the 1830s: photographs of the early settlers and boat captains, a hundred feet of wall hung with mounted fish laid out like the Gulf floor, a rod and reel that belonged to Ernest Hemingway, and the Primrose, a seine fishing boat built in 1925 and the oldest still in existence.
Open the guide →Bay County. Bay County's main shore, and the rules here are worth knowing before you arrive. A red flag means rip currents are strong enough to be dangerous; double red means the Gulf is closed to swimming altogether, and that one is enforced.
Open the guide →Escambia County. The Santa Rosa Island Authority runs this shore and puts lifeguards on four parts of it: Casino Beach, Park East, the Fort Pickens Gate park and Quietwater Beach. Full-time cover runs June through August, with weekends from the middle of April through September, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Open the guide →Martin County. On NE Ocean Boulevard, straight across from the Elliott Museum and the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center. Covered picnic areas, beach volleyball courts, basketball courts, showers, restrooms and the Seaside Cafe.
Open the guide →Monroe County. At the ocean end of Duval Street, open sunrise to sunset, within walking distance of the shops and restaurants at the bottom of the street. The water is shallow and the Emma Carrero Cates Pier runs out from the sand.
Open the guide →Broward County. The city's main beachfront, with the waterfront walkway running along it. Fort Lauderdale Beach Park at 1100 Seabreeze Boulevard has restrooms, outdoor showers, picnic tables, grills, a playground, a volleyball court, a basketball court and a launch for boats without motors.
Open the guide →Boca Grande Pass, between Gasparilla Island in Lee County and Charlotte County to the north, is the name everyone knows - the fish stack up in the deep pass in May and June and the boats work it shoulder to shoulder.
Snook sit against structure in moving water, so the inlets, bridges, jetties and passes are where you find them.
Florida calls itself the fishing capital of the world and it has the license sales to argue it.
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