Carlin Park Fishing

Carlin Park is a big county beach park in Jupiter, with a long stretch of open Atlantic sand and free parking. It is an easygoing surf spot where you can walk well away from the swimmers and have a trough to yourself.

• A long, open beach with space to move from trough to trough
• Pompano, whiting and bluefish when it is cool; snook and jacks through summer and fall
• Free to get in and park, with restrooms and outdoor showers
• The guarded swimming area is closed to fishing

Look for Carlin Park at 400 South State Road A1A in Jupiter, on the beach between the Jupiter Inlet and Juno Beach; Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation runs it.

• Getting there: A1A runs along the beach in Jupiter to the entrance at 400 South A1A
• Cost: no charge to get in or park; county beach parking fees apply at two other parks, not this one
• Hours: sunrise to sunset; the lighted courts stay open until 10 p.m., but the beach does not
• The walk: short, from any of the lots to the sand
• Surface: soft sand; the lifeguards can arrange a beach surf wheelchair

Carlin's beach is open sand, so the fish travel along it with the bait and the seasons.

• Spring (Mar-May): pompano and bluefish finishing up, Spanish mackerel moving through, and snook returning to the surf
• Summer (Jun-Aug): snook prowling the wash at dawn, and jacks, blue runners and whiting in the troughs
• Fall (Sep-Nov): bait packs the beach during the mullet run, and snook, tarpon, jacks, bluefish and ladyfish come in close to feed on it
• Winter (Dec-Feb): the pompano season, with whiting and bluefish too, and Spanish mackerel when the water clears after a front

To handle the swell, fish a 10 to 12 foot surf rod, and carry a medium spinning rod for covering ground along the beach.

• Pompano and whiting: aim for the first trough with sand fleas, clam or shrimp on 1/0 hooks, rigged double-drop over a 3 to 5 oz pyramid sinker
• Pompano jigs: on a rising tide, bounce a small pink or yellow jig through the trough
• Snook: in the first light, cover the wash with live mullet or pilchards, or with a white bucktail or swimbait
• Bluefish and Spanish mackerel: a silver spoon or a small plug, whenever bait starts spraying
• Bring sand fleas, clam or shrimp with you; county park rules do not allow digging or raking sand fleas on this beach

The ocean off Jupiter runs through two tides a day, and the surf here is at its best in clean water.

• Pompano and whiting usually come best with the rising tide and into the high water
• Snook feed along the wash at dawn and dusk, often on the ebb
• A gentle swell digs out sand fleas; a heavy one, or brown water after a blow, fishes poorly
• In fall, northeast winds herd the mullet down the beach, and the predators come with them
• Cold fronts kick off the winter pompano and bluefish runs; fish the clearing water a day or two after each one

Lifeguards cover the swimming area at Carlin, but the ocean still deserves respect.

• Rip currents set up along this beach; cast from the sand and stay out of the water
• Keep well clear of the flagged swimming area and of surfers
• Summer thunderstorms arrive fast; leave the sand at the first thunder
• Stingrays lie in the shallows, so beach a hooked fish rather than stepping in after it, and check the sand for Portuguese man o' war after an onshore blow
• The beach offers little shade, so carry water
• Access: the walk to the soft sand is short, and a lifeguard can arrange a beach surf wheelchair

The park is set up for a full day out.

• Restrooms and outdoor showers
• Picnic areas with grills, 26 family picnic shelters and three reservable group pavilions
• Playgrounds, tennis and pickleball courts and a 1.25-mile exercise course
• The Seabreeze Amphitheater on the park grounds
• The park cafe is closed until further notice, so pack food and water
• We could confirm no bait shop in the park, so buy your bait before you arrive

• Walk well north or south of the lifeguard tower to find a trough of your own
• On summer days, use the first two hours of daylight, before the beach fills up
• In winter, diving birds and spraying bait show where bluefish and mackerel are passing
• Keep a bucktail rigged even when bottom fishing; snook often cruise the wash just off the sand
• Rinse your gear at the outdoor showers before you leave; salt spray gets into reels
• Events at the amphitheater and ball fields can make parking busier, so arrive early on weekends

Carlin Park is run by Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation.

• The park keeps sunrise-to-sunset hours
• No fishing or surfing inside the guarded swimming area
• County park code allows swimming and wading only where the county designates it, so anglers fish from the sand, not in the surf
• County beaches allow no dogs except service animals, and balloons are not permitted in the park
• Florida requires a saltwater fishing license here unless an exemption applies
• County code prohibits shark fishing and chumming on county beaches with guarded swim areas; Carlin's beach is guarded, so leave the shark tackle at home
• County code also bars collecting any animal in a county park except fish caught where fishing is allowed, so sand fleas and other bait must be brought in, not dug here
• Snook and tarpon are governed by their own FWC seasons and release rules; check before you keep a snook
• Check current FWC rules for size, bag and season limits before keeping anything