Public Fishing Piers on the Treasure Coast

Outside Sebastian, county pages list public fishing piers at Round Island Riverside and Gifford Dock in Indian River County and at Bear Point Sanctuary, the Wilcox Riverside site and the Savannas Recreation Area in St. Lucie County.

The lagoon piers come first. Indian River County lists a fishing pier at Round Island Riverside Park on South Highway A1A (Indian River County, Round Island Riverside Park) and at Gifford Dock Park, also called the 45th Street Dock (Indian River County, Gifford Dock). St. Lucie County lists a 450 foot fishing pier at Bear Point Sanctuary on S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce (St. Lucie County, Bear Point Sanctuary) and a 125 foot fishing pier at D.J. Wilcox Riverside, north of the D.J. Wilcox Preserve in Fort Pierce (St. Lucie County, D.J. Wilcox Preserve). The exception is the Savannas Recreation Area, a freshwater savanna in Fort Pierce whose county page lists fishing piers (St. Lucie County, Savannas Recreation Area).

The piers in Sebastian, at Riverview Park, the Main Street and Yacht Club ramps and the Sebastian Inlet jetties, are covered in the Sebastian fishing piers guide. Port St. Lucie's boardwalk and ramps are in the Port St. Lucie fishing guide, and the Fort Pierce Inlet's south jetty in the Fort Pierce Jetty Park guide.

Last verified: October 22, 2026, against the Round Island Riverside and Gifford Dock park pages from Indian River County, the Bear Point, D.J. Wilcox and Savannas pages from St. Lucie County, the Veterans Park at Rivergate listing, the DEP park plan and aquatic preserve page, and the FWC license and snook pages.

The public piers and fishing boardwalks below run from Gifford in Indian River County south to Port St. Lucie, each with the hours its operator lists.

Sources by row: Round Island Riverside Park, Gifford Dock, Bear Point Sanctuary, D.J. Wilcox Preserve, Savannas Recreation Area and Veterans Park at Rivergate. The two St. Lucie County preserve pages give only the Environmental Resources Department office hours, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., not hours for the piers themselves; the county's preserve contact for Bear Point is (772) 462-1692. D.J. Wilcox Riverside has no separate street address on the county page, which places it further north of the preserve at 300 Michigan St.

Indian River County's two lagoon piers are both open 24 hours: the Round Island Riverside pier stands on a small island reached by footbridge, and Gifford Dock is a small lagoon park with a pier and parking.

Round Island Riverside Park covers 82.8 acres at 2200 South Highway A1A, 7.5 miles south of 17th Street and A1A, the county says. Its amenities list a fishing pier, observation tower, canoe launch, two boat ramps, a 400 foot boardwalk for watching manatees, 28 parking spaces, 2 handicap spaces and 12 boat trailer spaces; a footbridge crosses to the small island whose trails lead to the tower and the pier (Round Island Riverside Park). The county page quotes the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act and notes a possible state fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail, and a federal fine of up to $50,000 and up to one year in prison, for harassing manatees.

Gifford Dock Park, which the county also calls the 45th Street Dock, is described as a small park with easy access to the lagoon and a longtime gateway to the water for the Gifford community. Inshore fish the county mentions for anglers there are snook, redfish, spotted seatrout, sheepshead and mangrove snapper, and the page lists two amenities, a fishing pier and parking (Gifford Dock). Both Indian River County pages repeat the county park rules: no pets under County Ordinance 205.03.22, no alcohol under 205.03.26, no open fires and no overnight parking.

St. Lucie County's lagoon piers are at Bear Point Sanctuary (450 feet) and the Wilcox Riverside site (125 feet), both run by its Mosquito Control District, and the Savannas Recreation Area adds freshwater piers.

Bear Point Sanctuary is a 13 acre mangrove lined impoundment on the Indian River Lagoon at 2601 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce, and a stop on the Great Florida Birding Trail. An unpaved dike trail of about a mile leads west to an observation platform with a raised viewing tower and a 450 foot fishing pier; the county adds that visitors can launch a kayak from the front entrance, fish along the impoundment or picnic at the pavilion at the trail's end (Bear Point Sanctuary).

D.J. Wilcox Preserve covers 105 acres beside the Indian River Lagoon at 300 Michigan St., Fort Pierce, with a 1.2 mile self guided interpretive trail. The county says D.J. Wilcox Riverside, operated by the Mosquito Control District, is situated further north, with a multipurpose trail, a 125 foot fishing pier and a canoe and kayak launch, and warns that the path may get muddy when it rains (D.J. Wilcox Preserve). Preserve phone numbers are (772) 462-2526 and, for Mosquito Control, (772) 462-1692.

The Savannas Recreation Area at 1400 E. Midway Road protects a 550 acre freshwater savanna, one of the last on Florida's East Coast according to the county, and gives daily access from sunrise to sunset to its fishing piers, a dog park and nature trails (Savannas Recreation Area). Canoe and kayak rentals run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at $5 per boat for one hour, $15 for four hours and $20 for eight hours, and the Trading Post office line is 772-464-7855.

Yes: the state park plan for Fort Pierce Inlet State Park lists fishing along the park's man made jetty, and the City of Port St. Lucie lists a lighted Riverwalk Boardwalk with fishing at Veterans Park at Rivergate.

The state's approved plan for Fort Pierce Inlet State Park, dated 2021, describes the park's waters as offering surfing along nearly half a mile of Atlantic coastline and fishing along the park's man made jetty (DEP, Fort Pierce Inlet State Park plan). The inlet's two sides each have a separate guide, the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park guide and the Fort Pierce Jetty Park guide.

In Port St. Lucie, the city lists fishing on the Riverwalk Boardwalk, a lit walkway through natural habitat at Veterans Park at Rivergate, a 21.5 acre park that is open 24/7 and has three boat ramps (Veterans Park at Rivergate). Between Vero Beach and Fort Pierce the lagoon is itself a state aquatic preserve: DEP dates the Indian River, Vero Beach to Fort Pierce Aquatic Preserve to 1969, puts it at 11,000 acres across Indian River and St. Lucie counties, describes it as shallow estuary with barrier island and spoil islands, and lists fishing among its activities; DEP names redfish, black drum, tarpon, snook and mullet among its fish (DEP Indian River, Vero Beach to Fort Pierce Aquatic Preserve).

Usually yes: FWC exempts youth under 16, Florida residents 65 or older with proof, and anglers fishing from a pier covered by a saltwater pier license, so an adult on a Treasure Coast pier who fits no exemption needs a license.

FWC's license page lists those exemptions, along with others such as fishing on a free saltwater fishing day or from a for hire vessel with a valid charter license (FWC license exemptions). The Savannas Recreation Area piers are on fresh water, where FWC's freshwater license rules apply instead of saltwater ones.

The lagoon piers from Gifford to Port St. Lucie all lie inside FWC's Indian River Lagoon snook region, whose coast reaches from New Smyrna Beach in the north to the line between Martin and Palm Beach counties. A snook kept there has to measure 28 to 32 inches, only one may be taken per angler each day, harvest is shut December 15 to January 31 and June 1 to August 31, and the angler needs a snook permit as well as the license (FWC snook regulations).