‘Memories will live on.’ Manatee anglers share stories after Skyway Pier closure

On Monday, Oct. 27, the last half-mile of the southern Skyway Fishing Pier was blocked off with fences and barriers, preventing access for both vehicle and foot traffic.

The closure, as part of a safety measure by the Florida Department of Transportation, significantly changed the desire of anglers to visit the once highly sought after “world’s longest fishing pier.”

I drove by on Oct. 26, and saw cars bumper-to-bumper to the end of the pier, with anglers possibly wanting their last chance to visit the end of the pier that has created memories for many. I asked anglers for some of their favorite stories.

“My wife and I moved to Tampa in June 2018. We loved to fish back home, so the first thing we did was buy two cheap combos from Walmart,” said angler Sammie Padilla.

“One night we headed to the south side and parked by the bait shop. She fished with me for a couple hours and then sat in the car while I continued to fish. I caught a couple solid bonnet heads, some Spanish (mackerel), and a few mangroves,” Padilla said.”

“Then the guys next to me said ‘stop casting out! All the fish are right under your feet beneath the pier!’ Man were they right! I must’ve caught like 10-plus mangrove snapper after that and a few other species of fish,” he added. “It was that night on the skyway that really got me fired up and I’ve been hooked on saltwater fishing ever since. I’m very sad to see them shut it down.”

Like Padilla, angler Keith Blumenfeld used the Skyway Fishing Pier to bond with family.

“My son and I have some great memories at the Skyway. We would go down there just about every weekend, starting when he was 5 years old,” said Blumenfeld. “He is now 27. We have caught a lot of fish over the years and had a lot of fun. We will miss the Skyway.”

Before it was a public fishing pier, captain Ed Walker has a memory from when the bridge was longer.

“In 1985, the south side went all the way to the channel. I won the landlubber division of the Suncoast tarpon round-up with a 144 (pound) that I caught then walked for 1.5-miles to shore to get it into the truck,” Walker recalled. “My buddy Bob caught a 174 (pound) that year at the same spot and won the whole tarpon roundup. We were the only ones that fished that far out and there was seldom more than five of us. That section of the bridge was removed before it became a public pier, now it seems a little more of it is going away.”

While many anglers went to the bridge to fish for dinner or bonding time with family, other memories were made by meeting new people and friends. The pier offered a unique situation to be side by side with like-minded anglers. This is what angler Logan Gorman enjoyed the most.

“The Skyway is more than a fishing spot to me, it was the place to meet new friends and learn from many walks of life and various experience levels. It also serves up knowledge at its own pace and the only way to learn is by putting your time in,” Gorman said. “And how cool was it to say we had the world’s longest fishing pier. Sadly my memories will live on forever, but the bridge will not.”