Thread: Okaloosa Pier Info

I will be down close to there is 2 weeks. GSSP is my go to but with it closing my brother has booked us a Snapper trip and we will be pier fishing afterwards. My plan is fishing Okaloosa unless yall tell me Navarre is a better option. What can I expect from there. I check the Navarre paper every couple days for the reports. Just trying t osee what will be my best options/.

Thanks in advance

haven’t been myself personally but if you do Facebook the page “okaloosa island pier” post daily reports. For the past week or so they have been catching Spanish everyday according to the website

Howdy fire. I've fished both piers....last year we took an almost 2 week trip and stayed in Pensacola, Destin and Panama City. I fished Gulf Shores, Navarre, Okaloosa, and Panama City during that time...city and county piers. I caught a lot of fish at Okaloosa, but the space on the end is crowded by the bathrooms. Tarpon season was in full swing, and people stand on the rail and look for them like Cobia. I was able to find room to throw my bubble rig. Flipper is an ever-present problem there, but if you are patient, they will usually give you your stuff back.

Navarre wasn't catching fish the day I was there, but they cranked up some other days when I could have gone but went elsewhere. Navarre has more room, but the bathroom is a long way from the end. I haven't done as good there last year as years past, but for kings, I'm not sure any of the piers did as well last year. Hoping they come back this year. Florida piers don't use floats or trolly rigs. I've had some glorious king days on Navarre.

Toss a coin and go one place or the other. If the fish are around and biting, either one will be a blast. Fish and tell. Write reports and post pictures.

We are staying in Destin so Okaloosa is closest. I am coming in before daylight on the Thursday and getting ready for morning bite. Fri and Sat morning we are snapper fishing per my brother, so I hoing for cloudy afternoons and lots of fish around a pier.

thanks again for the info

It's been quite some time since I fished Ookaloosa. Mainly due to the fact the locals there were not nearly as welcoming as they are in GSP. Things very well could have changed. I've just chosen not to go back and find out. Best of luck..hope you have a great experience.

I was at Okaloosa pier just the week before covid-19 started to shut things down ad all the people I talked to were friendly and gave out information freely so maybe you should give the pier another visit. The day I was there was slow and I didn't see any bait and a lot of cobia water scanning but none seen.

Originally Posted by Rebels32

It's been quite some time since I fished Ookaloosa. Mainly due to the fact the locals there were not nearly as welcoming as they are in GSP. Things very well could have changed. I've just chosen not to go back and find out. Best of luck..hope you have a great experience.

Spent the last couple days in Navarre in hopes of being there for a decent Spanish bite. Unfortunately, the only fish crossing the rail were multitudes of hardtails on sabiki rigs, and an occasional bonita. It seems a goodly portion of those and hardtails were used for shark bait at the octi. One huge shark was hooked and traversed the length of the pier to the shallows where it broke off.
Oh well, better luck next time.

fished there last August. We did not enjoy staying at Okaloosa Island. the whole atmosphere is different than Gulf Shores. Wasnt bad, but just not what we enjoyed when comparing the two. The water had algae and the fish had vacated. It was horrible fishing. Stayed at the Destin West Condo. Nice place. Food was great all around. We will be staying back at Gulf Shores from now on, and fishing the GSP Pier. Vacation was planned this year after it's projected opening. See yall August 8th! Bubble in hand!

Originally Posted by Skeeterronnie

fished there last August. We did not enjoy staying at Okaloosa Island. the whole atmosphere is different than Gulf Shores. Wasnt bad, but just not what we enjoyed when comparing the two. The water had algae and the fish had vacated. It was horrible fishing. Stayed at the Destin West Condo. Nice place. Food was great all around. We will be staying back at Gulf Shores from now on, and fishing the GSP Pier. Vacation was planned this year after it's projected opening. See yall August 8th! Bubble in hand!

We got the same impression when we were there in October. Only fished the pier one afternoon when the surf was too rough in the morning for beach fishing, but there was nothing but pinfish and remoras. Though the shallows had two very large fish that hit a pinfish someone had on. Still dont know what they were, maybe a pair of grouper... I didnt like that the oskaloosa pier was in the middle of everything. Very busy and very little space for parking.

Okaloosa tends to keep bait around it much better than Navarre, but it tends to be a little more crowded. The bathroom at the end is, well, wonderful. My catch rate is similar, but Flipper can be bad at Okaloosa. I have fished that pier since the 70's, and some even after the hurricane cut it in half. If you go to Navarre, you need to take your bait or fish artificials.