Pompano at the Venice Jetties and Pier: The Region's Best Shore Access

For a shore angler chasing pompano, Venice is the best address on this coast. The rock jetties at Venice Inlet and the 700-foot Venice Fishing Pier at Brohard Park give you three legitimate platforms over pompano water, no boat required — see the Venice jetty guide and the piers-and-bridges guide.

The runs come twice a year, roughly October through December and again March through May, with scattered winter fish on warm spells between. At the jetties, work a 3/8–1/2 oz banana-style jig — Doc's Goofy Jig is the regional standard, in yellow, pink, or chartreuse — hopped along the sand bottom on a moving tide; the strike almost always comes on the fall.

On the pier and the beaches either side, switch to bait: a two-hook pompano rig with number 1 circle hooks, orange floats, 2–4 oz pyramid lead, tipped with live sand fleas raked from the swash, fresh-cut shrimp, or Fishbites. Cast to the trough edges, not for maximum distance.

The pier is free, open daily, requires no license for anglers fishing from it, and has Papa's Bait Shop mid-pier for fleas and shrimp — full detail in the surf-and-shore guide. Note the South Jetty walkway at Humphris Park has been closed for hurricane repairs, so the North Jetty at Nokomis is the reliable rock platform; check the City of Venice site for status.

Regulations for 2026 here: 11-inch fork minimum, six per person, open year-round — verify at MyFWC and learn to separate a pompano from a juvenile permit before anything goes in the cooler. A slightly stirred green surf after a front is the classic Venice pompano day; flat, gin-clear, and calm is prettier but fishes worse.