Tarpon Action Video
Tarpon Basics - April through July you can fish some of the world's most productive water for giant tarpon!
If you have ever dreamed of doing battle with the Silver King, Tampa Bay and its surrounding beaches is the place to be. It all starts in spring, usually by April, sometimes even earlier depending on the water temperature. Tampa Bay has the best early season tarpon fishing in the state of Florida. When I say the best, where else can you go in April to jump fifteen tarpon over 100 pounds during a half-day charter? Now that's a great day but the average is usually 4 to 7 fish. Most of these early season fish will range from 100 to 130 pounds during this time of the year. We may also do battle with a few fish approaching the 200lb mark. We will fish these until late April, then the storming of the beaches begins in May.
May brings the beginning of our classic sight fishing for tarpon on the beaches. This is true spot and stalk fishing at its finest. Experience a school of 200 tarpon passing within a few feet of the boat, as you watch in anticipation for one to veer off and strike your fly or live shad. Even for myself as a full-time fishing guide, who has seen it a hundred times, the excitement is such a rush. My heart still skips a beat each time I see a tarpon charge one of my baits. We continue this type of fishing through the month of July until it slowly tapers off around the beginning of August. Here again the average is usually 100 -130 pounds, but many of the late season fish will average a bit larger. April through July is our primary tarpon time in these parts, and the best time to be here if you have your heart set on catching one.
Last year brought the best tarpon fishing ever. We boated three Tarpon in the 200 pound class, one in April, June and July. The months of June and July brought on the best tarpon fishing I have ever seen. Fish seemed to start in the 130-pound class and go up from there. Many of the fish exceeded 150 lbs. Double and even triple hookups at once became the norm, talk about an adrenaline rush!
For the thrill of a lifetime, Tampa Bay tarpon, it doesn't get any better!
