West Biloxi Boardwalk Beach Fishing

West Biloxi Boardwalk Beach is a convenient place to try the Biloxi front beach on foot. Park by the comfort station, walk down to the sand and wade the shallow Sound for trout and redfish, with the boardwalk and its history kiosks behind you.

• Public parking and restrooms near the foot of Rodenberg Avenue
• Spring wade fishing for speckled trout moving out of the bays
• Redfish, white trout and flounder through the warm months
• Gentle, shallow water and a wide sand beach

The beach lies along US 90 (Beach Boulevard) in west Biloxi. The West Biloxi Boardwalk, built by the City of Biloxi with Harrison County Tidelands money and opened in December 2018, follows the beach for half a mile between Veterans Avenue and Rodenberg Avenue.

• Parking: a public lot in front of the comfort station, east of Snappers Seafood and south of the highway
• Landmarks: the comfort station is a short walk east of the foot of Rodenberg Avenue and the Sharkheads gift shop
• The walk: a short stroll from the lot across the boardwalk to soft sand and the water
• Fees and hours: none are posted for the beach that we could confirm; obey the signs

The front beach fishes best when bait and clean water push in from the Sound.

• Spring (Mar-May): the main event, as speckled trout move from the bays and bayous to the beach, often with a bonus redfish
• Summer (Jun-Aug): early-morning trout and reds, white trout and croaker on bottom baits, and ground mullet over the sand
• Fall (Sep-Nov): redfish and flounder along the beach as the water cools, with Spanish mackerel passing farther out some days
• Winter (Dec-Feb): slow; most trout leave for deeper water in the bayous and rivers

Wading lets you reach fish a cast from the beach never could.

• Trout and redfish: a 3-inch mullet-colored soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jig head, retrieved low and slow
• Tackle: a 7-foot medium spinning rod with 15 lb braid suits wading
• Live shrimp under a popping cork is the easy alternative for trout
• Flounder: a mud minnow or soft plastic dragged along the sand where it drops slightly deeper
• Croaker and ground mullet: small hooks and pieces of shrimp on the bottom
• Look for any old pier pilings or rubble; on this flat beach they hold the bait

The Sound off Biloxi has one modest rise and fall of tide on most days, only a foot or two, with a few days each fortnight of hardly any movement. Wind usually decides how the beach fishes.

• Light winds and clean, green water are best; a muddy surf after a blow seldom produces
• South and southeast winds lift the water and bring bait to the beach
• Cold north winds pull water off the flats and push fish offshore
• Heavy rain upriver freshens and stains the Sound for days
• First light is the best time to wade in late spring and summer

This is a busy public beach, so share it carefully.

• Shuffle your feet as you wade; stingrays lie in the sand
• Wade only as deep as is comfortable and watch for soft bottom and holes
• Keep well away from swimmers, and cast only where nobody is in the water
• Watch for jet skis and small boats close to shore
• Get out of the water at the first thunder; summer storms build fast
• Access: a paved lot and restrooms close to the boardwalk, then soft sand to the water

The access point has the basics.

• A public parking lot south of US 90
• A comfort station with restrooms
• The West Biloxi Boardwalk, with ten interpretive kiosks on local history, marine life, shore birds, dunes and the barrier islands
• Trash cans on parts of the beach
• Restaurants and the Sharkheads gift shop nearby; no bait shop on the beach, so buy bait before you arrive

• Late March through May is the window for big front-beach trout; after that most move out to the islands
• Pick a calm morning after a few days of light winds, when the water clears
• Fish moving bait schools: when mullet are flipping, throw a lure that looks like one
• If one patch of structure is quiet, keep moving; the beach bite can turn on suddenly
• Read the boardwalk's marine-life kiosk with children before you start

The beach is part of Harrison County's public sand beach, and the boardwalk is a City of Biloxi project. Neither lists fishing for this stretch, and no ban on fishing or wading here and no marked swimming area could be found, but the county posts its beach rules on the sand, so read them before you fish.

• Keep clear of swimmers and any marked swimming areas
• 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