Pass Christian Harbor Fishing

Pass Christian Harbor is a busy city harbor on the Mississippi Sound with a public fishing pier, live bait for sale and shrimp boats coming and going. It suits a few hours with live shrimp and a light rod.

• A fishing pier the city lists as open to the public, off the west harbor's parking lot
• Two basins, with the deeper water in the east harbor
• Live bait sold on both sides of the harbor
• Speckled trout, redfish, sheepshead and drum around the walls and pilings

The harbor lies on the beach front in Pass Christian, on the Sound side of US 90 below the downtown streets, and the city's harbor department runs it.

• Basins: the west harbor is about 8 feet deep and the east harbor about 10 feet, both with commercial and pleasure slips
• Fishing pier: listed by the city as open to the public; it is the pier with two roofed shelters that runs out into the Sound from the southwest corner of the west harbor's big parking lot (Hurricane Zeta wrecked the old public pier in 2020)
• Launches: three public boat launches with vehicle and trailer parking
• The slip piers are gated and secured, so fish only from the public areas
• The newer east harbor was built with public fishing areas along its breakwaters
• Harbor staff are on site around the clock

The harbor gives bait and shelter all year, and the catch follows water temperature and salinity.

• Spring (Mar-May): speckled trout and redfish push along the edges as the water warms, and sheepshead hang on the pilings
• Summer (Jun-Aug): trout early and late, white trout and croaker on the bottom, hardhead and gafftopsail catfish, an odd Spanish mackerel near the mouth
• Fall (Sep-Nov): flounder heading out of the bays, redfish and trout feeding hard before winter
• Winter (Dec-Feb): sheepshead and black drum on the walls, trout sliding into the deeper east basin on cold days

Light to medium spinning gear with 10 to 15 lb line handles nearly everything that swims in here.

• Live shrimp under a popping cork along the walls for speckled trout and redfish
• A Carolina rig with shrimp or cut mullet on the bottom for drum, croaker and reds
• Fiddler crabs or small pieces of shrimp held tight to the pilings for sheepshead
• Soft plastics on a quarter-ounce jig head, hopped slowly near the harbor mouth
• A drop net or long-handled landing net to lift a heavy fish up to the pier

Like the rest of the Mississippi Sound, the harbor sees one high and one low on most days, with a range of a foot or two and a few days each fortnight when the water barely moves.

• Fish the hours when water is flowing through the harbor mouth
• North winds behind winter fronts drain the Sound and push fish into the deeper east basin
• Strong south winds pile water up and can muddy the harbor
• Heavy rain upstate freshens the Sound and pushes trout and reds toward the islands
• Use the Bay St. Louis tide predictions as a rough guide only

This is a working harbor, so boats are the main hazard.

• Keep casts clear of the launches, the channel and the fuel dock on the east side
• Shrimp boats back in and out; give them plenty of room
• Summer afternoon thunderstorms build fast; leave the pier at the first thunder
• Catfish spines and stingray barbs need careful handling
• Access: paved parking and walkways around the basins make the public areas easy to reach, but the slip piers are locked

The city lists a good set of facilities for a small harbor.

• Four public restrooms
• Live bait: Roscoe's Live Bait Works on the east harbor and B&W Live Bait on the west harbor
• A fuel and ice dock on the east side of the eastern harbor
• Ricky Levy West Harbor Park, with two covered pavilions with grills, playgrounds and beach volleyball, first come, first served
• Three public launches with trailer parking

• Buy live shrimp at the harbor; it outfishes frozen shrimp for trout and reds
• After a cold front has dropped the water, try the deeper east basin
• Sheepshead crowd the pilings from late winter into spring; fiddler crabs are the bait
• Fish at first light, before the launches get busy
• Bring a cooler; ice is sold at the fuel dock on the east side

The harbor is managed by the City of Pass Christian and its harbor staff.

• The slip piers are gated; fish from the public fishing pier and the open public areas
• Follow any signs the harbor department posts
• A Mississippi saltwater fishing license is required south of US 90 unless you are exempt; between US 90 and I-10 either a saltwater or a freshwater license will do.
• Anglers under 16 are exempt
• Check current MDMR rules for size, bag and season limits before keeping anything.