Tarpon fishing on Florida's gulf coast

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Written by Mark Mussett Tuesday, 08 June 2010 14:16

 You can feel the humidity.  The record-setting winter Floridians escaped from mere weeks ago already seems like a bygone memory against the 90° afternoons.  Summer is here, and for Gulf Coast of Florida that just doesn't mean an absence of Canadians, it also means an abundance of tarpon.

 Reaching sizes in excess of 200 pounds, and swimming in about every coastal ecosystem from retention ponds to the Gulf of Mexico, these hard-fighting game fish provide a popular target for the angling community.  They strike a myriad of baits from feather-tied flies to decapitated catfish.  You can challenge them with a 10 weight fly rod or a 4/0 conventional setup, and every tackle in between.  Knowing where to look and what habits to expect from your quarry improves your odds of hooking up...but remember, landing one proves to be one of the great challenges in the inshore Florida fishing scene!

June is arguably the best month to target tarpon, with late May and early July being lumped in.  However, you can expect tarpon to be around in fishable numbers through the start of stone crab season around Halloween.  For some local anglers in the know, there are resident populations that can be coaxed to bite year round, but the excitement of the summer tarpon run grabs the attention of the serious tarpon chasers.

One of the key factors to consider during the height of the tarpon run, when thousands of fish crowd into costal passes like the Egmont Channel, Big Pass, and the legendary Boca Grande Pass at the south end of Gasparilla Island is a moving tide, regardless of what time it is.  Tarpon can be caught at any time, and at any tide, but a strong outgoing tide near a full or new moon is preferred by many anglers.  This time of year, when strong tides move vast amounts of water and bait from coastal estuaries to the open Gulf, there are three ways to target the tarpon:

1) Drifting.  Drifting is a great way to cover a lot of water while remaining mobile, a big advantage when trying to keep a hooked-up angler in good position on a running fish.  Any pass from Clearwater to the Everglades can produce fish.  Keying in on structure, whether it be the pilings of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, or the 12 fathom hole in Boca Grande, should assure you are sharing the water with the fish.  Courtesy is a must, as this fishery sees a lot of pressure and etiquette is required by everybody on the water to ensure a safe and productive time.  Odds are you will see a line of boats drifting with the tide, arranged in a drift parallel with the tidal movement.  Run with your engine to the uptide side of the fleet, and then shutdown or idle.  When you drift past the productive areas of the fishery, give a wide berth and motor back uptide of the fleet.  Repeat until the tide dies, or you tire yourself out from catching fish!

Baits and techniques are a matter of preference.  Free-lining pass crabs or blue crabs alongside the boat is a favored method.  Some fishermen prefer to affix a cork to their lines, while others employ sinkers of varying size to keep baits near the bottom.  Pinfish, shrimp, ladyfish, shad, whitebait and threadfin herring will all catch fish.  Since tarpon will eat about anything smaller than they are, it's hard to go wrong, but be aware that some days the fish prefer one bait to others.  As in most fishing situations, try to match the hatch.  If you prefer artificials, you may consider porgy-style jigs.  Sinking plugs given some supplemental action as you drift through the pass will also work.  Remember to give hooked-up anglers the right of way; you'll want them to do the same for you.

 

2) Hit the beach.  This may be the most picturesque way to chase tarpon, and you can participate with any craft from a canoe to an open fisherman.  Like drifting the passes, a moving tide is preferred, with an outgoing tide considered ideal.  In this situation, you may want to set your alarm clock and get out as the sun's making an appearance, as tarpon seem to be most active and more visible early in the day.  Busy weekend boat traffic will spook schools, or pods, of tarpon making it difficult to set up on them.  Where on the beach they are is a matter of where they're swimming.  Large fish have surprised surf fishermen, and at times they may be two miles or more off the sand.  Beginning your search from 200 to 800 yards off the beach is a good way to start the day.  Run out of the pass, and shut down.  Keep an eye out for fish on the surface.  Pods of fish will typically move in a circular rotation as they make their way down the beach. Binoculars help spot them from a long way off.  Avoid running an outboard to the fish.  Electric motors are helpful, or else observe the fish to determine where you think they're heading; motor 100 yards or more in front of the school and shut down, allowing the fish to move to you.

Again, baits are often a matter of preference--both yours and the tarpons'.  Pinfish suspended 2 feet or more below a cork are a preferred bait, as are crabs and dead shad.  Anchoring, floating or relying on an electric motor all allow you to keep your position while the schools approach.  This is a good time to break out the fly tackle, especially on a calm morning.  Topwater baits, plugs, jerkbaits and other lures will entice strikes when skillfully presented.

 

3) Rock up.  Tarpon key in on structure.  Live bottom or limestone outcroppings in any depth from eight to twenty feet of water provide ideal habitat for a number of fish.  Tarpon often join the party, particularly as the warm days melt into the hottest dog days of summer.  Using sonar to identify good bottom near the passes and just off the beaches can lead you to fish, but some of the better locations to inspect, especially during the month of August, are well inside bays and estuaries.  If good bottom lies close to a bridge, such as the Gandy Bridge in Tampa Bay, so much the better.

The traditional way to fish these areas is to hang a dead bait off a conventional rod, either free-lined or lightly weighted, and to coil a surplus of line from the spool onto the deck. When the line shoots out, a fish has taken the bait.  Of course, any type of tackle used about any way can work.  Just like off the beach, anglers can successfully tempt these tarpon with an assortment of lures.  Finding nervous water or sighting fish lolling near the surface will up your chances of connecting with artificial baits.  Any of the aforementioned live baits will work, too.  If you’re interested in employing dead bait, it’s hard to beat a whole shad, or for that matter two or three whole shad on a 6/0 hook.  Mullet and ladyfish are also commonly used.  In the Caloosahatchee River by Fort Myers, dead catfish seem to be the bait of preference.  In either case, chum may help augment the bite.  Be forewarned, though, if you use dead bait:  many sharks, rays and other ‘unwanted’ species may steal your bait.

Tarpon are hard fighters.  Light tackle will sometimes wear fish down to the point of total exhaustion and death, or allow them to weaken into easy prey for hungry sharks.  Unless you are an experienced angler, stick to heavier tackle.  Fifty to sixty-five pound braid is a good line choice.  A four to seven foot leader of 60 or 80 pound fluorocarbon is a good idea, but monofilament leader also works.

Expect tarpon to make a short, dogged runs around structure such as bridge pilings, and long, spirited runs in open water.  Fighting and landing fish works best when a crew of two or three is involved, when one person handles the boat, allowing the angler to maintain leverage on the fish.

 

Tarpon will do two things when hooked:  Jump, and gulp air.  When they jump, a bit of fancy rod work is in order to keep them attached.  Bowing to the silver king, or turning your rodtip downward as the fish jumps, throws just enough slack into your line so that a fish landing on the line will not break it.  This action also keeps the fish from throwing the hook when the line is stretched overly tight on the jump.  It does seem with braided and microbraided lines that bowing to the king is not as necessary as with mono, allowing you to get away with the occasional misstep.

When the fish is close to done, he will gulp air.  This action appears to revitalize the fish (they are one of a few fish able to take in oxygen from the air).  Counteract this by pulling on the fish hard to one side when they try to roll.  Once they are finally whipped, it is best to have a crewmember grab the fish’s lower jaw with gloved hands, and remove, bend or cut the hook.  It is illegal to pull the fish into the boat, even for a picture, unless you posses a kill tag.  Lean in for a picture and hold the fish boatside until they swim, bite down hard on your hand or jump away.  This will increase the chances they will swim off healthy and live to fight another day.

If it’s your first time tackling the tarpon, a trip with experienced anglers or a guide can be invaluable by dramatically shortening your learning curve.  Tarpon are strong fish, eager eaters and hard fighters, but they can be a frustrating target to successfully catch. But once you feel the surging fight, see the silver comet skyrocket from the green coastal waters and hear the bone-shaking rattle of gills you will have experienced one of the greatest inshore fishing thrills of a lifetime.