El Prado Park, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Fishing

El Prado Park, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea gives surf anglers easy parking and a beach with a living coral reef within 100 yards of the sand. The catch is the timetable: the town bans casting through the middle of the day.

• A town park on the sand with a paid lot across El Mar Drive
• Fishing allowed before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on weekdays, and before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays
• A living reef within 100 yards of the beach
• Snook, pompano, whiting, jacks and blue runners

The park is on the ocean in the 4500 block of El Mar Drive, east of Town Hall, in the Town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, which runs it.

• Parking: the town's El Prado lot sits just across El Mar Drive, with pay-by-plate meters at $4 an hour
• Beach parking at the Town Hall lot next door (after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, all day on weekends and town holidays) is listed as temporarily reduced to $2 an hour; the fee table still shows $4, so check the pay station
• Pay at the machine or with the Pay-By-Phone app; the town enforces meters around the clock
• The El Prado beach portal has a shower and chairs, and the park has benches and shade
• Anglin's Pier, about 1,000 feet south at Commercial Boulevard, is closed to the public

Reef close to the beach keeps something around most of the year.

• Spring (Mar-May): Spanish mackerel, blue runners and bluefish on passing bait, with pompano in the troughs into April
• Summer (Jun-Aug): snook along the beach at dawn and after dark, jacks and ladyfish when bait schools close to shore
• Fall (Sep-Nov): the mullet run brings snook, crevalle jacks and the odd tarpon within reach
• Winter (Dec-Feb): pompano and whiting in the sand troughs, bluefish after fronts, and mangrove snapper toward the reef on calm evenings

A medium surf rod of 8 to 10 feet covers the troughs without reaching the reef line.

• Pompano and whiting: a two-hook rig with a 2 to 3 oz sinker on the sand, baited with bought sand fleas, clam or shrimp
• Snook: a white bucktail or a live pilchard on 30 lb fluorocarbon, worked along the trough in low light
• Jacks, blue runners and mackerel: small spoons and jigs
• Snapper: a small live shrimp on light weight, cast to the sand just short of the reef in the evening, never onto the coral
• Keep the rig simple and cast over sand; snagged rigs on the reef damage coral and cost tackle

Two tides a day rise and fall along this beach; NOAA's station at Anglin's Pier predicts ranges of roughly 2 to 3.5 feet.

• A rising tide in the early morning, before the 9 a.m. cutoff, is the classic window
• On weekdays, the evening window opens at 4 p.m.; on weekends it opens at 6 p.m.
• Clear water helps you see where sand meets reef; stirred-up water after a blow is harder to read
• Winter fronts bring pompano and bluefish once the surf calms
• Night sessions are legal, but the town bans sleeping on the beach from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Share the water with care: this beach is a popular shore-diving and snorkeling site.

• Look for dive flags and snorkelers before every cast; fishing near them is prohibited
• Do not count on lifeguards: the town's own safety FAQ says its volunteer beach patrol are not lifeguards
• Rip currents can pull along the reef line; never wade out after a snag
• Lightning: leave the beach at the first thunder
• Shuffle your feet for stingrays and watch for jellyfish on onshore winds
• Access: a flat walk from the lot and through the park, then soft sand

The park itself is simple, and the nearest public restrooms are a short walk west.

• A beach shower and chairs at the El Prado portal
• Benches and shade in the park
• Public restrooms at Friedt Family Park behind Town Hall, a short walk west
• The metered El Prado lot across El Mar Drive
• No bait or tackle in the park; bring bait with you

• Time your trip to the town's hours: fishing stops at 9 a.m. and resumes at 4 p.m. on weekdays, 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays
• Stay well north of the closed Anglin's Pier; surf casting within 300 feet of the pier is banned
• Release sharks, barracuda and stingrays in the water; the town bans landing them on the beach
• Watch for divers entering from the beach portals, especially on calm mornings
• Use the restrooms at Friedt Family Park before you set up

El Prado Park is a Town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea park, and the town code regulates surf fishing closely.

• Fishing and surf casting are allowed except 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and national holidays
• No fishing near swimmers, scuba divers, snorkelers or bathers, and no chumming
• No surf casting within 300 feet of the pier, and no spearfishing on the beach
• Landing or exhibiting sharks, barracuda or stingrays on the beach is prohibited
• A Florida saltwater fishing license is required unless you are exempt
• Check current FWC rules for size, bag and season limits before keeping anything