Fantastic Tarpon Fishing

This week has been some fantastic tarpon fishing! From inshore to offshore the tarpon bite couldn’t have been better! As for the beach, we have finally had some consistent bait activity, from some mullet pods to larger pogie pods, and this has made for some great fishing.

The best way to find these fish is to simply drive down the beach until you see some activity from birds working bait pods, actual fish busting the surface, or even sometimes free jumping tarpon. If you do not have a boat these fish can be targeted from land as well! Once you’ve found the fish, the best method is simply to match the hatch. Take a look at the bait in the area and either grab some in a cast net, or even a sabiki, depending on the species.

It’s not uncommon to find these fish blowing up on glass minnow pods which can be very tough to produce a bite. In this instance, a smaller fly with a stout hook will normally work wonders. If fishing from land, typically, fishing live bait isn’t as easy. This is when I like to switch up to large bucktail jigs or topwater and jerk baits like the Rapala Skitterwalk or Hogy soft plastics in black, pink, or white. Walk along until you find some good activity while blind casting, you never what you’ll find.

Inshore, the tarpon have still been going strong as well. Most fish have been along the edges of shallow water grass flats early in the morning and been moving into the residential canals later into the day. Start out throwing top water plugs early in the morning. As the sun rises try some small swim-baits and paddle-tail lures, D.O.A. makes several great choices from the D.O.A, C.A.L paddle-tail and the TerroEyz in white, root beer, or natural will all do the trick!