Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon often grow to gargantuan sizes. Photo by Capt. Rodney Smith.

In the summer months, the Florida peninsula offers a potpourri of great options for fishing in salt water. Regardless of where you head, something is biting. But of course, some places are better than others. Here's a look at some that provide exceptional angling this season.

SUNSHINE SKYWAY
A Mixed Bag
Let's start off this survey of a handful of Florida's brightest summer angling opportunities by visiting the Sunshine Skyway Piers at the mouth of Tampa Bay. These two piers were left after the center span of the 40-plus-year-old Sunshine Skyway Bridge was removed. The rubble from the span was then placed in strategic locations around the fishing piers as artificial reefs.

The old twin highway spans now compose a 3/4-mile pier from the north side and another 1 1/2-mile pier on the south side of Tampa Bay. Both these structures offer the unique chance to experience offshore angling with the convenience of driving your vehicle right to the spot you plan to do your fishing. Few places offer shore-bound anglers a better shot at targeting Goliath grouper, king mackerel, tarpon, snook, seabass and other offshore species.

This area is renowned for its excellent early-summer Spanish and king mackerel fishery, which often dominates the attention of Skyway anglers. There can't be many things more thrilling for a fisherman to witness than a "smoker" kingfish skyrocketing skyward when taking a live bait being fished on the surface. Well, perhaps thousands of frenzied Spanish mackerel jumping and diving through schools of baitfish under swarming flocks of terns and gulls can match it!

The largest kingfish earn their nickname of smokers by quickly stripping 200 or more yards of line off a medium to large spinning rod and reel, so you better prepare for a fast and furious battle when targeting these speedsters. Spanish mackerel are delicious, but also quite a challenge on light tackle. They must have excellent eyesight because you need to match the size of whatever bait these toothy critters are chasing. Also, if you use too heavy a leader or too much terminal tackle, they'll turn their noses away from your offerings.

No matter which of these fish you're after, summer is a particularly great time to fish from these piers. For more information on fishing them, visit www.skywaypiers.com.

PANHANDLE BEACHES
Spotted Seatrout
When summer arrives on Florida's Panhandle, anglers have a number of excellent choices to explore while trying to locate productive spotted seatrout waters. Starting at Apalachicola Bay and then heading west on U.S. Highway 98 toward Pensacola, you'll find hundreds of miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline and backwater shorelines to fish. You can choose between fishing from numerous bridges, piers, and causeways or from miles of empty beaches.

The St. Joe Bay area is a sure spot for good numbers of seatrout in the 2- to 4-pound range. One local area to start your piscatorial search would be around the George G. Tapper Bridge, which spans the Gulf County Canal. This canal runs five miles inland, connecting the bay to the Intracoastal Waterway.

During summer, the mouth of the canal is a popular spot for anglers targeting spotted seatrout. Fishermen often cast to the deeper parts of the canal using the tidal current to slowly drift live baits. The shallow flats just north of the canal entrance are productive for wading anglers casting plastic baits, bucktails or live bait.

The Mexico Beach Public Pier lies in the middle of Mexico Beach at the end of 37th Street. This is a good place to catch seatrout in the summer as well as in spring and fall.