Most anglers come to town this time of year with one goal: a tarpon on fly.
Most charters for the next few months will be targeting these migrating giants as they move throughout the Florida Keys. Watching a fish as long as you are tall eat feathers on a hook never gets old.
I’ve had a number of anglers feed and fight large tarpon on fly this past week. Getting the fly to the fish in the wind requires true skill with a fly rod. We’re seeing explosive runs and jumps as fish are enjoying the stable water temperatures. One angler even exclaimed, “It feels like there is a car on the other end!”
When taking breaks from tarpon this week, we had success landing bonefish and redfish. We were able to fool some speckled sea trout and redfish with artificial lures. Sight fishing large schools moving together on low tides. Bonefish have been plentiful but a tougher target to fool. We started to see larger numbers of fish start to tail in the evenings. Recently, we watched a school of small banana-sized bonefish do headstands as if they were learning how to tail for the first time. It was an amazing sight.
FISH FACT
Tarpon are powerful, explosive and acrobatic fighters.Tarpon also have great stamina, making them one of Florida’s most challenging and exciting nearshore sportfish.
FISH TIP
Counter the tarpon’s run by using the backbone of the rod to pull low and hard in the opposite direction the fish is swimming and use short turns of the reel to bring the line in.
