Pier fishing catches fun
Clearwater Beach provides equipment to fish off city-owned pier for just a few dollars
CLEARWATER BEACH, FLA.— This is not a whopper of a fish story.
It’s about the sheepshead, grunt and 20-plus butterfish my kid Hazel and I caught off Pier 60.
They couldn’t have weighed more than a couple of pounds total and we threw them all back into the Gulf of Mexico. OK, we fed a few to the egrets.
Fingers crossed that learning to fish on a cool and windy Florida night with me and Tom (Capt’n Tom) Leonard is one of my 7-year-old’s formative memories.
You’d never guess by looking at him, but Capt’n Tom is actually a city worker — a marine facility operator with the marine and aviation department.
The city of Clearwater owns and operates the iconic concrete Pier 60 and this familyfriendly fishing destination has a bait house/souvenir shop with rod rentals and tackle.
Absolute beginners and seasoned pros, tourists from around the world and locals, people are drawn here to fish for what amounts to pocket change —$8 a day if you’re an adult, less for kids.
Rod rentals are eight bucks and come with your first bucket of bait. Advice is free.
Compare that to the price of a deep-sea fishing charter.
Even better, Pier 60 is open 24-7 nine months of the year, and a little less the rest of the time.
You might catch Spanish mackerel, flounder, cobia, snook, redfish, spotted seatrout, ladyfish, black sea bass, whiting, red drum, silver perch and many more fish here.
“Sometimes you get the fish. Sometimes the fish gets you.” CAPT’N TOM MARINE FACILITY OPERATOR
Go to the pier’s website to read Capt’n Tom’s “Pier 60 fishing reports” and see pictures of joyful anglers holding their catch.
Shark fishing is banned, so if you land one, release it.
Same goes for anything that’s out of season, undersize or oversize. Pier staff and the regulars will keep an eye on you.
Catch-and-release is the cleanest way to go, but you can gut your fish on the fillet table and take it to your room (if it has a kitchen) or one of the local restaurants that will cook it for you.
Fishing is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but it’s better to experience it than read about it, so I won’t spin tales about our actual “trip.”
Capt’n Tom sets us up with a spinning rod and bucket of shrimp. He shows Hazel how to bait the hook and cast.
“Flop it right out there. Put your rod tip down. If you’re feeling a nib- bling, then we’ll do something about it.”
Seconds later, before she’s ready, she gets a bite and freaks out.
I land the sheepshead for her.
Or maybe Capt’n Tom does. Let’s just call it our fish. “That was cool,” allows Hazel. We catch feather-light butterfish like crazy, sometimes two at a time because our knocker rig has two hooks.
We try five more spots on the pier and can’t escape them.
A few fish — the big ones, of course — steal our bait. Hazel doesn’t understand why.
“Sometimes you get the fish,” explains Capt’n Tom. “Sometimes the fish gets you.”
The sun sets in typically spectacular Clearwater fashion.
Hazel tells us we can’t call it a day until we catch five more fish.
She doesn’t understand it’s not always like this. We oblige, with more butterfish and the unfortunately named grunt.
“You’re a good fisherperson,” Capt’n Tom tells Hazel when we part.
“And I look forward to fishing with you again some day.” Jennifer Bain’s trip was sponsored by the City of Clearwater, which didn’t review or approve this story.