Treasure Shores Park Fishing

Treasure Shores Park is a roomy county beach park on the barrier island north of Vero Beach, with oak shade by the parking lot and an unguarded beach where surf fishing is welcome.

• Room to run a spread of rods, with no guarded zone to work around
• Pompano and whiting are the cool-season staples
• Snook, redfish and tarpon when the fall mullet run arrives
• Shade, restrooms, showers and an accessible crossover for long sessions

The park is at 11300 Highway A1A, Vero Beach, about three miles north of County Road 510 (the Wabasso Causeway).

• Parking: a paved lot with 74 spaces, four of them accessible; no fee is listed
• Hours: daily from 7 a.m. to sunset, so there is no night fishing from the park
• Access: a dune crossover leads to the beach, and it is built for wheelchair access
• The beach is unguarded, so you can spread out, but you are on your own
• Stay on the crossover; the dunes are protected

Treasure Shores fishes like the classic north county surf, with the calendar set by water temperature and the mullet.

• Spring (Mar-May): the tail of the pompano season, whiting in the first trough, Spanish mackerel and bluefish racing north
• Summer (Jun-Aug): snook sliding along the beach at dawn, croaker and whiting on shrimp, ladyfish slashing at bait
• Fall (Sep-Nov): the great mullet migration, with snook, redfish, tarpon and crevalle jacks crashing the schools in the wash
• Winter (Dec-Feb): the prime pompano months, plus whiting, bluefish on blustery days and black drum on crab

With no guarded zone you can run a proper spread: two bait rods in spikes and a lure rod in hand.

• Pompano: a float rig with small foam floats and beads, 1/0 hooks and sand fleas, cast to the second trough on a 3 to 5 oz pyramid sinker
• Whiting: a light rod with a single size 2 hook and a sliver of shrimp, fished right in the first trough
• Redfish and black drum: half a blue crab or a mullet steak on a 6/0 circle hook and a fish-finder rig
• Snook and jacks in the mullet run: a large paddle-tail or a walk-the-dog plug thrown just beyond the bait
• Bring a sand flea rake, since there is no bait for sale at the park

Florida's Atlantic coast gets two highs and two lows a day, and this beach usually fishes best through the higher half of the cycle.

• From about two hours before high tide to an hour after is the classic pompano window
• Where waves break on an outer bar, gaps in the bar are where fish move in and out
• A winter northeaster leaves cooler, livelier surf that pompano often like
• Flat, glassy summer mornings let you spot snook and sight-cast to them
• Thick seaweed after onshore blows fouls bait rods; switch to lures or come back later

Nobody watches the water at Treasure Shores, so safety is up to you.

• Rip currents pull through gaps in the bar; if you wade to cast, stay shallow
• When you hear thunder, pack up; the oaks by the parking lot are not lightning shelter
• Stingrays rest in the shallow wash, so slide your feet rather than stepping
• Sea turtles nest here from March 1 to October 31; keep off the dunes and level any holes before you leave
• Bring shade and water for the open sand
• The county's accessible crossover makes the walk out easy with a cart

Treasure Shores is well equipped for a day of surf fishing.

• Restrooms and outdoor showers
• Drinking fountains
• A playground and picnic tables under large oak trees
• A paved parking lot with accessible spaces
• An accessible dune crossover
• No bait shop in the park; buy sand fleas, shrimp and clams in Vero Beach or Sebastian

• Set up lunch in the shade of the oaks and head back to the sand as the tide rises
• Beads and small foam floats on a pompano rig lift the bait off the bottom where pompano find it
• When mullet schools are tight to the beach in the fall, a live finger mullet on a circle hook outfishes nearly everything
• With no guarded area, spread out, but give swimmers and surfers plenty of room
• Rinse reels at the park's outdoor showers before the drive home

Treasure Shores Park is an Indian River County park, and the county's park rules apply.

• The county lists fishing among the normal beach activities allowed during park hours
• County parks allow no pets, no alcohol, no open fires, no camping and no overnight parking
• A Florida saltwater fishing license is required unless you qualify for an exemption
• Fishing for sharks from shore requires the free FWC shore-based shark fishing permit, and chumming from the beach is prohibited
• Keeping a snook also requires a snook permit
• Check current FWC rules (myfwc.com) for size, bag and season limits before keeping anything