Tarpon Charters
By Capt. Bob Smith
I am not writing this to blow smoke on tarpon fishing but to you give a better understanding of what it is like. Although tarpon fishing is very popular and addictive for some, it is not for everyone. It is different from our normal fishing.
We have two distinctly different types of tarpon fishing on the South West Coast of Florida. Only one is in the immediate area. I call it Sight fishing and it is the preferred way of the light tackle enthusiast. May and June are the months when the tarpon show up along the beaches and move in schools of twenty or more fish. They average 75 to 150 pounds. They normally stick to the shallow water that is less than 20 feet deep. They mostly run in straight lines but will stop and mill around in a tight circle. As the tarpon move along, they will spend part of the time on the surface doing a Porpoise roll (Greyhounding) and then drop below the surface and out of sight. The key is for me to position the boat where I think they will surface and be within casting distance. Sometimes the water is clear enough to see them under the surface as they come by. We use live bait (crabs and fish) and 20 to 30 pound test line. When you get a good hook-up, the average fight time is about one hour. Up to now, this would be a rush for anyone who liked to fish.
The part I want to tell you about is the part that is not for everyone.
It is, all the time we spend hunting and moving up and down the beach for miles and miles.
Then sometimes when we find them they ignore every thing we through at them. Sure,
sometimes we fall over them as we are coming out of the pass, first thing in the morning
but you should expect to spend a lot of time looking and waiting. People who are
addicted to the sport of light tackle tarpon fishing have a cliché about their sport
"A good day of tarpon fishing is four hours of boredom followed by two hours of
chaos". If you can enjoy the hunt, you will enjoy tarpon fishing but if you
cannot, it may not be the thing for you.