Fishing Palm Beach County, inlet to inlet.

Palm Beach County gives you about forty-five miles of coast, three working inlets, and a lagoon system running the length of it. You can fish it from a boat, from a pier, or standing in the water, and the character changes considerably depending on which you choose.

This is an orientation rather than a tactics guide — where to point yourself, and what each place is like when you get there.

Jupiter Inlet

The northern end of the county and the most photographed water in it, with the red brick lighthouse standing over the north side since the 1860s. The inlet connects the Loxahatchee River to the Atlantic and moves a great deal of water on a tide change.

It is also genuinely demanding. The current through the cut runs hard, boat traffic is constant on a weekend, and the sandbars shift. Worth respecting if you are new to it, and worth watching a tide cycle before committing to a plan.

Juno Beach Pier

The most accessible serious fishing in the county. The pier runs several hundred feet out over the Atlantic, which puts you above water you would otherwise need a boat to reach, and it asks nothing of you but the entry fee and a walk.

It is the right answer for a first outing, for taking someone who has never fished, or for a morning when the ocean is too rough to be out on. There is no shade to speak of once you are past the entrance, which matters more than people expect.

The Blue Heron Bridge

At Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach, under and around the bridge that crosses to Singer Island. The site is best known internationally for shore diving — it has a real claim to being among the best in the world for it — and the same conditions that make it extraordinary underwater make the surrounding flats interesting to fish.

Tide governs everything here. The water is shallow and clear, and it changes character completely between high and low. Check the tables before you drive over.

Lake Worth Inlet and Peanut Island

The county's main shipping inlet, which means deep water, heavy commercial traffic, and a genuine need to pay attention. Peanut Island sits just inside it and is where much of the county anchors up on a weekend.

If you want the sandbar-and-anchor version of a Saturday rather than a serious fishing day, this is where it happens. The two activities coexist here more than they do anywhere else in the county.

Boynton Inlet

The southern end, narrower and shallower than Lake Worth, connecting the lagoon to the ocean. It runs fast on a tide and rewards people who know it. Quieter than the northern inlets on most days.

What a full day asks of you

More sun than anything else. Between a pier with no shade, a boat with a small patch of it, and the water throwing UV back up at you, a Florida fishing day is close to the most exposed thing you can do outdoors here. Cover the back of your neck and your forearms and the day gets longer.

• Check the tide before you choose a spot, not after
• Polarised lenses — you cannot read shallow water without them
• More water than you think, and somewhere shaded to put it
• A long-sleeve layer with a real UPF rating
• Something dry to change into for the drive home

Licensing, seasons, and size limits are set by the state and change — check current Florida regulations before you go rather than trusting anything you read online, including this.