Among South Florida fishermen, Tommy Greene is somewhat of a legend. For more than 30 years, the Lighthouse Point angler has developed a wide array of fishing techniques that consistently produce fish ranging from bottom fish to tarpon. As a result, he has built up a following of sorts. What is most impressive about Greene's exploits is that he does not own a boat. He is a pioneer in the art of bridge fishing.

"It never fails to amaze me that everybody who comes to Florida thinks they have to hire a guide down in the Keys or charter a boat to go offshore and catch fish," Greene says. "But some of the very best fishing available has the easiest access and costs almost nothing to enjoy. Bridge fishing can be everything they're looking for."

In the Sunshine State, bridge fishing has long been a popular form of sportfishing. All along both coastlines, there are thousands of bridges that span brackish-water or saltwater canals, creeks, even the Intracoastal Waterway, yet relatively few anglers take advantage of what can be the perfect perch for fishing.

Florida is blessed with an abundance of bridges large and small, high-traffic and abandoned, that provide easy access to some excellent fishing.

Quite simply, experienced bridge pros like Greene will tell you that it is not mandatory to own or hire a boat to spend a day catching snapper or stalking snook. Coastal bridges provide the ideal positioning to experience some of the state's finest saltwater action.

"There are so many bridges in South Florida, for example, that you could spend months fishing them and not run out of good places to fish," Greene says. "And usually you won't have much company while bridge fishing. People just seem to pass them off as something to drive across, instead of a good place to catch a meal.

"There is tremendous bridge fishing in the Keys, for example. You can sit there with cut mullet or live shrimp and catch fish off of those bridges all day. You can catch a tremendous assortment of fish, including snapper, jewfish, tarpon, snook, sharks, kingfish, Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle. We've even caught school dolphin off of the Seven Mile Bridge.

Tommy Green displays the kind of big snook he often takes from the Florida bridges. Photo by Jeff Christopher

"The bridges in the Keys are the perfect place to take the family and spend the weekend," he continues. "There are plenty of state parks to camp in and there are now catwalks on the bridges so you can stay out of the traffic and fish. There are a lot of bridges in the Keys that have been condemned to traffic that are now just fishing bridges. There are a lot of places to fish that offer easy access, and I would pick the Keys bridges over most piers in terms of producing fish."

Government officials have replaced some 37 bridges on the so-called Overseas Highway from the mainland to Key West over the years, but left major sections of 23 bridges for fishermen to use without worrying about the traffic behind them.

Since the age of 11, Greene has fished the various bridges that span the Intracoastal from Stuart south to Miami. He has fished them so much, in fact, that he has learned the intimate characteristics of each bridge and how to take advantage of them. At one point in his life, Greene and his regular fishing partners could be found working the shadow line beneath a bridge at least five days of the week.

Over the years, Greene has developed a sophisticated system for fishing bridges that includes advanced techniques for luring and then fighting fish from these shorebound perches.