This was the first little park I found when I moved here in 2009. I saw a small shark in the water and my mind was blown. Years later I got into fishing and rediscovered this park. Its the perfect early morning wading location for both artificial lures and fly fishing.
Parking
Bay Shore Cir. has legal street parking all along it. You will usually see at least one or two cars parked there.
Fishing Indian Beach
- The first spot worth hitting is at the north end of the park. There’s a high wall here that you can walk/wade along and throw lures at the long dock.
- Simply wading this entire flat and casting where you see bait movement or birds or even just blind casting can be productive.
- There is an old collapsed cement pier/dock in the water here at the southern end. This structure houses a ton of bait and small fish and you can often find big fish cruising it. Some of the best big trout fishing I’ve ever experienced has been throwing a MirroDine 17MR all around here at the end of an incoming tide just after sunrise.
- If you keep wading north past the high wall, there are huge expanses of grass flats dotted with rocks and sandy potholes. This is only really wade-able at lower tides unless you’re fine wading in up to your neck; I usually try to fish it on early mornings during the first half of incoming tide. Easily the most consistent fishing for upper-slot and overslot trout in northern Sarasota Bay that I’ve fished. Small topwater lures like a red-and-white Spook Jr. can be dynamite for the sunrise bite, especially on foggy mornings. Other top picks would be a 4″ white paddletail, gold spoon, or Mirrolure MirroDine 17MR. While this is mostly a trout spot, during the cooler months there’s a variety of other species (jacks, ladyfish, bluefish, Spanish mackerel) that are happy to eat. While I’ve only seen/caught a handful of snook and reds here, they’ve all been quality fish. The potholes close to docks have produced some massive reds in the past.
