Sunshine Skyway Fishing Piers – South

Had to visit this bridge/​pier. My first visit to Florida saw it torn apart and broken. That was very sad. Now to see that part of it at least served a purpose was great. I was not sure how much the charge is to drive down this pier, but the guy at the booth let us on for pictures for free. Very thankful. Apparently people love to night fish from this location. You park and fish. You could almost fish in the comfort of your own vehicle. Quiet on the bridge until a new fisher catches her/​his first fish then the party starts for a few minutes. Great place to get pictures of the new bridge too! If I had to pay for the spot to get a picture I would not, but if you can get in free absolutely visit!

The sunshine skyway is not the best fishing spot in the Bay but it is a very popular one. The South side of the Pier is actually located in Manatee County, the North Side is in St Petersburg (Pinellas county).
There are not many choices for fishing piers without having to drive to Pinellas county and even less that are open all night so whenever you are in the mood for fishing (which Floridians often are) the Sunshine Skyway comes through at all hours.
You will see more wildlife and catch more fish during the day then at night but it is not uncommon to see a lot of wildlife swimming by even if you don’t catch anything.
You can drive down the pier and park next to where you want to fish which means you don’t have to carry fishing gear very far. There are also several restrooms and although they are not clean, they are convenient.
Keep in mind, it is really rather pricey for a fishing pier! You pay per car + a fee for each person in the car. Currently a car of 4 people to access the bridge is $ 22.
The bait shop is always out of live bait and the frozen bait is frozen solid and way over priced so bring your own bait!

This is a great place to spend a few hours, an entire day, or an evening. Have fun fishing, relaxing and enjoying the view. Just drive onto the pier and stop to park wherever you’d like, pull out your beach chair or sit on the sidewalk and soak it in.
If you like to fish, this is the world’s largest fishing pier (look it up!) There are days I don’t catch much, but catching is just a plus when spending time in such a beautiful area. You are almost guaranteed a good fishing day here, and there are stires on the pier to purchase bait, supplies, drinks and snacks if you run low.
It’s also fun to walk the pier, or watch the boats and pelicans roll by. Just a great place for a wonderful day.

I’m not a fisherman, just sightseeing today. I wanted to get some night pics of the Skyway bridge so I thought the fishing pier would work. There is a nominal cost to enter. They treat it like a park and as such no alcohol, fires, etc. But they do have restrooms and security. I paid $ 3.25 to enter for an hour. It’s worth it for the one trip for me.

Loved it here! After riding Skyway, my sister & I stopped at the piers since she loves to fish. She was visiting from DC and needed some stress management! We talked to a few fishermen about the waters, what they were catching, and how the fish were biting. My sis really liked the place and told me we would have to come out and spend time here. I was excited as I hadn’t taken a fishing break in decades. Can’t wait to cast a line!

This was my first time fishing here and even though I am an avid angler of ocean fishing i have not gone to much in Florida due to a busy college schedule. Most of my experience is in New England but the guy at the bait store was very helpful as to how to fish and what bait was working best. The pier was in great shape with plenty of parking and places to drop a line. There are bathrooms on the pier and they were on pretty good shape for a fishing pier (I’ve seen some bad ones).
We did not catch to much except for a handful of small species like pinfish and some small snapper.
It’s $ 4 to drive your vehicle on and $ 4 per adult to fish. When you pay to fish you are using the piers permit and do not need a license. Which is great if your on vacation or do not fish very often
I would recommend getting there early because it does fill up fast and some of the better spots may be taken.
When they are biting there are sea trout, Spanish mackerel, snook, tarpon and grouper
The pier is also fishing all night long with lights so night fishing is a big hit!
Would definitely recommend checking out this sweet spot

Always a fun time at Skyway. We have been coming here for years. Even when we get skunked when we are fishing, it’s ok. One thing about this place is that they have stopped running water to the restrooms on the south pier, i.e., it’s a cesspool of filth in both the men’s and women’s restrooms.
I’m pretty sure this review won’t change that but please, State of Florida, get this issue fixed.

This is a great place to go fishing! Went for the first time last night and wow was it packed! But not so packed that I couldn’t find a spot to fish. I ended up staying really late and got to spot a few huge tarpons which was awesome! There were also tons of crabs. Some guy next to me even caught two baby sharks! You get a perfect view of the Skyway bridge which looks amazing at night since its lit up. Its kind of pricey to get in ($ 4 per vehicle + $ 4 per person), but you’ll probably end up staying hours, maybe even all night. The pier is really long so I’m sure you won’t have difficulty finding a parking spot. They also have bathrooms, but no fishing pole rentals, so be sure to bring your own. Great place though, will go back fishing there soon.

I’m not a fishing type of girl but I do like to come here for the awesome views and the warm sunshine. It can get quite crowded with all the fisherman here but they pull in some interesting catches sometimes.
It would be nice if they utilitzed this area a little more though and made it more attractive to a wider variety of people who don’t fish.

Each vehicle is $ 3 to enter, & then it’s $ 2 on top of that per adult. Once you’ve bought your permit, you can use both the north pier & the south pier for 24 hours (yes, it’s open at night, too). As you head onto the bridge northbound, you pay the toll first, and then the exit for the pier is off to the right. (You have to go back under the Skyway to the west side to get to the pier.)
The south pier goes out into the water further, which may mean you can catch bigger fish there, but I’m no expert so don’t take my advice.
You can park right in front of where you want to fish, & you can fish from either side of the pier (which is the old bridge), though it seems like most people fish from the Gulf side because you can cast out further (on the Bay side, the northbound side of the old skyway gets in the way).
There’s a bait shop in the middle where you can buy bait buckets, frozen or live bait, lures, rods, & tackle if you’ve come unprepared (or just wanted to wait till you got there). It’s all marked up a bit from what you’d probably get at a bait shop in your neighborhood, but it won’t break the bank.
Bring food or be prepared to drive back to the entrance, where on the weekends you’ll find carts selling hot dogs, because the only thing the bait shop sells for human consumption is bags of chips, ice cream, & hot coffee.
ETA: I forgot to mention that the South Pier is (one of?) the world’s longest fishing pier (s) at over 2.5 miles long. Pretty badass.