A Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay A Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Logo Tampa Bay Estuary Program Logo Florida Department of Environmental Protection Logo Sport Fish Restoration Logo Southwest Florida Water Management District Logo
About This Guide
Boating
Fishing
Catch and Release Information
Popular Sport Fish
Fishing Piers
Artificial Reefs
Maps
Natural Resources
Managed Areas
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Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission

Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission
100 Eighth Avenue SE
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
727-896-8626
http://MyFWC.com/
BoatingGuides
Boating_Guides@
MyFWC.com


Tampa Bay Estuary Program
100 Eighth Avenue SE
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
727-893-2765
http://www.tbep.org
saveit@tbep.org


Tampa Bay Estuary Program License Plate
Funding for this project was obtained through Tampa Bay Estuary Program specialty license plate funds.


Sport Fish Restoration Logo
Additional funding for this project was obtained through the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Fund.
Artificial Reefs Banner
Artificial reefs are man-made habitats that serve to increase reef fish habitat and enhance fishing and diving opportunities. These man-made habitats vary from reef to reef. Some reefs are composed of concrete reefballs of varying sizes, bridge rubble, old boats and retired military hardware (cleaned in accordance with Florida law). Once deployed, marine life starts colonizing the new habitat. As the reef ages and gets encrusted with algae, barnacles, and corals, small fish colonize the reef, thus attracting larger predatory fish such as grouper and amberjack.

Fish swimming around an artificial reef
Below is a list of artificial reefs found on the Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay. The number identifying each reef is the same as the identifying number used in the Boating and Angling Guide to Tampa Bay.

There are many more artificial reefs in the offshore waters of Pinellas and Manatee counties that are not listed here or shown on the boating guide. For a complete listing of artificial reefs in this areas, as well as the rest of Florida, visit FWC's Division of Marine Fisheries, Artificial Reef Program.

No. Reef Name Description Depth (ft) Latitude
Longitude
1. Dunedin Reef Concrete culverts, boxes and ovals 27-33 28° 03.2' N
82° 54.6' W
2. Clearwater Reef Concrete culverts, boxes and pyramids 27-32 28° 1.0' N
82° 53.7' W
3. Madeira Reef Concrete culverts 29-32 27° 46.3' N
82° 54.9' W
4. Treasure Island Reef Concrete culverts 29-33 27° 44.5' N
82° 52.9' W
5. St. Pete Beach Reef M60 Army tanks, concrete culverts 25 27° 40.6' N
82° 51.8' W
6. St. Petersburg Bay Reef Bridge rubble 34 27° 47.1' N
82° 35.9' W
7. Picnic Island Reef Concrete culverts and fittings 26 27° 50.0' N
82° 33.6' W
8. Picnic Island Pier Reef Concrete reef pyramids, and reefballs 16-18 27° 51.4' N
82° 33.3' W
9. Port Tampa Reef Steel barges, concrete pilings, and modules 24 27° 51.7' N
82° 33.8' W
10. Howard Frankland Reef Concrete bridge rubble and pilings 16 27° 51.6' N
82° 33.3' W
11. Courtney Campbell Reef Concrete pilings 16 27° 57.8' N
82° 36.9' W
12. Ballast Point Pier Reef Concrete pilings, slabs, culverts, and benches 8 27° 53.3' N
82° 28.7' W
13. Bahia Beach Reef Concrete bridge pilings and slabs, culvert pipes 19-24 27° 44.9' N
82° 30.9' W
14. Port Manatee Reef Concrete pilings, bridge decking, and rubbles 19-21 27° 39.8' N
82° 34.7' W
15. Egmont Key Reef Concrete bridge pilings and slabs, culvert pipes 19-24 27° 44.9' N
82° 30.9' W
16. Bulkhead Reef Concrete reefballs 15 27° 33.2' N
82° 42.4' W
17. Southeast Tampa Concrete reefballs 14 27° 32.9' N
82° 40.3' W
18. Manatee River - Emerson Point Concrete reefballs 10 27° 31.8' N
82° 38.8' W
19. Meisner Barge 100' barge 25 27° 32.7' N
82° 50.7' W
20. 7-mile Reef North Tires and concrete reefballs 40 27° 26.7' N
82° 49.2' W
21. 3-mile Reef North Fiberglass boat molds, concrete rubble 40 27° 30.0' N
82° 47.0' W
22. 1-mile Reef North Concrete reefballs, bridge rubble, and pipe metal 21-27 27° 29.4' N
82° 44.1' W

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