Pine Island Shore Fishing: Bokeelia Pier, Matlacha Park and the Bridges

Pine Island splits Matlacha Pass from Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, and Matlacha Park is the confirmed shore-fishing anchor on the way out to it: a lighted pier, fish cleaning stations, and both a boat ramp and a paddlecraft launch on the same site.

Matlacha Park

At 4577 Pine Island Road, Matlacha Park is open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., with entrance and exit gates active as of July 2026. The park has a large lighted fishing pier with fish cleaning stations (cast netting is prohibited from the pier itself), plus a paddlecraft landing/launch and a boat ramp for anyone bringing a trailer. Park in the designated lots, not on the grass, and stay clear of the boat trailer parking area near the playground. A Florida saltwater fishing license is required, with no fee for residents.

Bokeelia

Bokeelia sits at the north tip of Pine Island, and there’s a public pier in the area, but an official Lee County page with current hours and fees for it didn’t load this session, so specifics aren’t listed here. Check the Lee County Parks site or the Lee County Park Finder tool directly before planning a trip around it, and treat anything you find elsewhere online as unconfirmed until you do.

The bridges and Matlacha Pass

Matlacha itself is a bridge town, and the pass running underneath connects Charlotte Harbor to Pine Island Sound on a strong tidal flow. That current is what makes the whole stretch worth fishing: snook and redfish sit on the bridge pilings and seawalls working bait pushed through on the tide, and mangrove snapper stack around any piling within casting range of Matlacha Park’s own pier.

Fishing the pier versus the bridge

Matlacha Park’s lighted pier is the easier option for an evening trip: the lights draw bait after dark, and snook sit in the shadow line waiting to ambush whatever drifts through it, the same pattern that works at any lit dock or bridge in Southwest Florida. Cast into the lit water and retrieve into the dark, and expect the strike right at the edge where the two meet.

Fishing the bridge itself, from the causeway shoreline rather than the pier, means working current instead of light. Pine Island’s bridges sit over real tidal flow between Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, and that current is what stacks bait against the pilings. A moving tide is worth more here than any specific bait choice; the same stretch of pilings that produces nothing at slack water can turn on within twenty minutes of the tide starting to run.

What to target

Snook and redfish are the headline catch from the pier and the bridge pilings around Matlacha, with mangrove snapper the reliable fallback anywhere there’s structure. Our snook and redfish guides cover tackle for both, and our redfish bait guide gets specific on rigging for tidal current like Matlacha Pass runs.

Getting out there

Pine Island Road is the single route onto the island from the mainland, running straight through Matlacha before splitting north toward Bokeelia and south toward St. James City. There’s no shortcut around the drive, so plan the trip around Matlacha Park as the anchor stop and treat anything further up the island as a bonus if time and daylight allow, rather than the other way around.

Bring your own cleaning gear or use theirs

Matlacha Park’s fish cleaning stations are a real convenience if you’re planning to keep anything legal within the day’s limits, and it saves you carrying gear back home to deal with a catch. Bring a cooler with ice regardless, since even a short drive back across the causeway in Florida heat is enough to soften a fillet that sat out too long.

Before you go

A Florida saltwater fishing license is required to fish from Matlacha Park’s pier, the boat ramp, or anywhere else on Pine Island. See our fishing license guide for who’s exempt, and the regulations page for current season and size limits before deciding what to keep.