Fort Pierce Jetty Park and Inlet Fishing

Fort Pierce Jetty Park is the City of Fort Pierce beach access beside the inlet's south jetty, listed by the city as South Jetty Park at Seaway Drive and A1A in ZIP code 34947.

The city facility directory lists one feature for South Jetty Park, beach access, and gives City Hall at 100 N U.S. Highway 1 and the main line 772-467-3000 as the contact (City of Fort Pierce facility listing, South Jetty Park). The city posted on May 28, 2026 that all Jetty Park restroom facilities were open and fully operational again after a temporary maintenance closure (City of Fort Pierce restroom update).

The city closure notices of March 2026 named the parts of the park separately: the south jetty walkway, the beach access just south of the jetty, Seaway Drive east of the roundabout, and select Jetty Park parking areas (City of Fort Pierce closure notice, March 19, 2026). The north side of the same inlet belongs to a different owner, the state park system, and is covered in the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park guide.

The state inlet plan says the Fort Pierce Inlet jetties were rebuilt between 1926 and 1927 and extended to 1,800 feet on the north side and 1,200 feet on the south side.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection inlet management plan, adopted in May 2022, describes the same work as a reconstruction by the inlet district, with the inlet banks armored with native coquina limestone revetments (Ft. Pierce Inlet Management Plan, May 2022). Dredged material from the channel across the Indian River was used to build a parallel causeway about 3,950 feet long and 900 feet south of the channel, the plan says.

The jetties shape the beaches on each side. The 2021 unit management plan for Fort Pierce Inlet State Park says the beach dune ridge at the inlet takes on water borne sediment because the north jetty impounds sand while littoral sand moves from north to south (Fort Pierce Inlet State Park unit management plan, 2021). St. Lucie County says the federal shore protection project south of the inlet helps offset persistent coastal erosion impacts attributed to the federal inlet (St. Lucie County shore protection page).

The Fort Pierce Inlet lies inside the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Indian River Lagoon snook region, where snook may be kept only from 28 to 32 inches total length, one fish per person per day, outside two closed seasons.

FWC defines the Indian River Lagoon Region as running from Lytle Avenue/South Causeway in New Smyrna Beach south to the Martin and Palm Beach county line, including the inland waters shown on its map (FWC snook regulations page). The table below lists the rules FWC posts for that region. The same page says snook must stay in whole condition until landed ashore, that no commercial harvest or sale of snook is permitted, and that on a for hire trip the captain and crew may not keep a bag limit.

Source for every row: FWC snook regulations page. FWC adds that snook stocks are exceeding its management goal of 40% spawning potential ratio on both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and that since 2023 it reviews the fishery region by region, publishing a 2025 Indian River Lagoon Snook Annual Review among its yearly reports. FWC also warns that snook permit sales are final and that refunds are not given even when the species is closed to harvest.

Yes for most adults: at the Fort Pierce Inlet, as elsewhere in Florida, FWC requires a recreational saltwater license for shore and jetty fishing unless the angler fits one of its listed exemptions, and keeping a snook also needs the snook permit.

The FWC license page lists the main exemptions that matter at Jetty Park: youth under 16 years of age, and resident seniors age 65 or older with proof of age or residency such as a Florida driver license or ID card, or with the no cost Resident 65+ Hunt/Fish Certificate available online or at county tax collectors' offices (FWC, Do I need a license or permit). FWC says those exemptions also cover the snook permit. The same page exempts anyone saltwater fishing during a free saltwater fishing day, and anyone fishing from a pier that holds a valid saltwater pier license.

For the 65+ certificate, FWC points residents to GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or to the county tax collector office (FWC license page).

The jetty and the beach south of it closed for several days in March 2026 while crews renourished the beach immediately south of the Fort Pierce Inlet, a federal project that St. Lucie County says finished on May 18, 2026.

On March 14, 2026 the City of Fort Pierce announced that Seaway Drive in front of the restaurants by the jetty would close on March 17 and 18 for equipment staging, that Jetty Park parking stayed open through the northwest side of the roundabout, and that the jetty itself would close from March 18 through March 24 while crews installed a walkway over the sand pipe (City of Fort Pierce notice, March 14, 2026). A second notice on March 19 closed the south jetty walkway and beach access from March 21 through March 27, the south end of Seaway Drive east of the roundabout from March 23 through March 27, and select parking areas for the same days (City of Fort Pierce notice, March 19, 2026).

St. Lucie County says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, working with the St. Lucie County Erosion District, placed approximately 400,000 cubic yards of sand on approximately 1.0 miles of shoreline south of the inlet, with the sand offloaded from inside the south jetty (St. Lucie County Fort Pierce Shore Protection Project page). The county describes it as the continuation of a federal shore protection project first built in 1971, with 14 periodic and emergency federal renourishments since 1980, carried out under a $15.1 million contract awarded September 19, 2025. The page puts the federal share at 77.76 percent and the non federal share, paid by St. Lucie County, at 22.24 percent, and notes that the state Department of Environmental Protection typically offsets half of the non federal construction share.

St. Lucie County lists five intracoastal boat ramps and two river ramps, and its closures page lists two closed facilities near the inlet.

The intracoastal ramps on the county list are Stan Blum, the Fort Pierce Manatee Center, Fishermans Wharf, South Beach Causeway and Little Mud Creek, and the river ramps are White City Park and River Park Marina (St. Lucie County boat ramp list). The county closures page says North Causeway Park, at 500 N. Causeway on North Hutchinson Island, is closed for renovations that replace and expand the boat ramp and add more trailer and ADA trailer parking, a kayak and canoe launch area, restrooms and pavilions, with part of the funding from a $1.27 million grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District and FWC (St. Lucie County parks and recreation closures).

On Seaway Drive, the same closures page lists Summerlin Docks at 414 Seaway Drive, in Museum Pointe Park behind the Regional History Center, as closed since Hurricane Nicole in November 2022, and says the docks have not been removed so the temporary berthing structures can be repermitted without leaving pilings as navigation hazards. Across the inlet, the state park plan names fishing along the park's man made jetty among the reasons the park matters (Fort Pierce Inlet State Park unit management plan). The Treasure Coast recreation guide lists the other regional fishing and boating guides, and the Sebastian inlet guides cover the jetties farther north.

Last verified: October 22, 2026, by rereading the two city Jetty Park closure notices and restroom update, the city South Jetty Park listing, the county shore protection and closures pages, the FWC snook and license pages, and both state inlet and park plans.