# Tarpon Fishing...WTF?



## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

You owe me a trip. Lol. 

There are plenty of poons around. Just gotta be committed. That and 15 - 20kt ENE winds don't help.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Well welcome to the club. I spent 3 days with one and had one follow. Saw plenty of fish
Fast forward to last year I was the guide. Water was not clear and one follow
I'm going back in June to try again. Might use bait next time


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

Capt. Eli Whidden said:


> You owe me a trip. Lol.
> 
> There are plenty of poons around. Just gotta be committed. That and 15 - 20kt ENE winds don't help.


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)




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## sotilloa1078 (Mar 27, 2014)

It's been tough for sure. This paste weekend almost everyone I talked to didn't catch a fish. Mind you I'm talking fly fishing guides. Bait guys are getting some fish just picking away at them. This weather need to warm up and stabilize. And things should turn around.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

We were in laid up fish in one spot yesterday for 2 1/2 hours without a single bite on fly.... a quiet spot in one of the many rivers that drain into the Little Shark. 

Today we backed up a bit and went with bait nearby. We only hooked one fish - but it looked enormous. After thirty to forty minutes on 20lb line we were close enough to see that it wasn't as big as we first thought - but it was a solid 100lb fish.... My angler broke her off about 15 feet from the boat - so tomorrow it's back to the drawing board. Weather the last seven days hasn't been much fun - and the tides this week are pretty feeble - but there's still a bunch of fish in the interior...

I think I have a day off towards the end of this month - but it's a grind right now, commuting down to Flamingo each day from Broward.


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## ibefisherman (Apr 20, 2017)

Have been in Keys (Cudjoe) since April 1st looking for Tarpon, have found them here and there but yet to have a strike. One day had at least a 12-15 around me but they just would not play, was using bait for the most part. Again with all these winds has been really difficult, for me at least. Looks like winds are to calm down in a few days, hopefully then we all can have some fun with these big guys.


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## Viking1 (May 23, 2010)

I hit the lottery and got a camping spot at Bahia Honda during the second week in April. We took our camper so I could not take the skiff so had to settle for my kayak. I was fishing the edge of flats for bone fish and I tried a lot of different artificials and had my best luck on a Pearl white ZMan paddle tail. During the shots at bone fish I hooked into several tarpon cruising the edges of the flats with the same bait. Of the 5 days I was there I got 1 and a half days without the 20 MPH wind. I had my best luck on the gulf side before the wind then had to switch to the Atlantic side to be on the lee side. Had fun catching Needlefish on fly but no glamour species. Will have video up soon.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Water temps have warmed up quite a bit since Monday, but I can't say the same for the fishing.

Pitiful numbers of tarpon around the Middle Keys, and they have all been cold hearted.

May have to go to Robbie's to put a hand on one.


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## EasternGlow (Nov 6, 2015)

Sometimes you just have to resort to bait. I was down last week for three days and wind was cranking the entire time. No fly fishing unfortunately, but we did jump more than 10 fish. This was long key area.


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## Str8-Six (Jul 6, 2015)

If you going at it alone w/ out guide. Try the bridges at night. Increases your chances 5x I would say. Live bait, artificial or fly. Right tide is important of course. Plus it's nice to be out of the sun and away from all the people. I'm going next week for 4 nights and will report back.


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## EasternGlow (Nov 6, 2015)

Please report str8. I'll be back May 12th.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Str8-Six said:


> If you going at it alone w/ out guide. Try the bridges at night. Increases your chances 5x I would say. Live bait, artificial or fly. Right tide is important of course. Plus it's nice to be out of the sun and away from all the people. I'm going next week for 4 nights and will report back.


DIY? Jake? Russell?


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Jumped some juvies up to 30# today. Fun, but no drag screaming yet.

"One More Day" song from Les Miserables comes to mind.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

So what's with that worm hatch that I've heard so much about? Has it come and gone or not happening yet?


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

Landed a 50 pounder on monday in chockoloskee. Good number of fish around in the bays- had a few other shots - 2 attempted eats that didn't hook up


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

MSG said:


> Landed a 50 pounder on monday in chockoloskee. Good number of fish around in the bays- had a few other shots - 2 attempted eats that didn't hook up


Using the 10 wt Asquith on the tarpon?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Blue Zone said:


> So what's with that worm hatch that I've heard so much about? Has it come and gone or not happening yet?


Not yet. Should be towards the end of May/June around the full moon?


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Cross that guide off your list unless you enjoy boat rides.


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## ibefisherman (Apr 20, 2017)

Well, was able to fish Just below Cudjoe Key and the Tarpon were there to play. On Thursday lost count of amount that were rolling and hooked up with a couple of 100 plus lb fish, on bait, one on crab and one on fish. Watched a couple of guides out there with their clients and they also were hooking up. The author of book "A passion for Tarpon" was in area fishing too. Went back next day and conditions not quite as good but did hook up again with a 50 lb fish, again on bait. Tried the fly rod on both days, but was mainly blind casting due the water being a bit murky.


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

sjrobin said:


> Using the 10 wt Asquith on the tarpon?


I wish. We were changing lines on the fly rod when the fish popped up in front of the boat picked up a light spinner w 10 lb braid and tossed a doa baitbuater at it.


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## Str8-Six (Jul 6, 2015)

MariettaMike said:


> DIY? Jake? Russell?


Will be doing DIY in Keys. Go every year for one week in the summer. I've experienced the fishing being slow sometimes during the day, even with live bait. Night tarpon is completely different animal, never had it be slow. They get less pressure at night, STACK up at the bridges and are ALOT less picky. Fingers crossed, I will have some poon porn to share next week.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

For those of us in the 'Glades it's been a slow, difficult spring... We had good numbers of fish in January and February (when the weather allowed) and also into early March - but then we finally got a bit of cold weather in mid-March and they all disappeared back out into the Gulf.... When the waters finally warmed up a bit again - it started blowing in a serious butt-kicking fashion and everyone I knew was struggling. That same situation lasted almost all of April - you could find fish for baitfishing - but the fly was elusive at best...

This past week I finally found fish in one of my usual river spots (the first time all spring where one of my "spots" actually held fish....). That day, Monday, we did get onto a pair of 90lb fish in a small river - but still not on fly (we did manage one additional on a lure...). As a result I was pumped up for the following three days when I'd have fly anglers aboard. So, on Tuesday the wind howled out of the west and everything was muddy (that day we covered around 80 miles and never saw silver at all...). The next day the wind shifted and coastal waters cleared. We found a few fish along the coast that day - but missed our shots... The next day the wind shifted again and we never had much of a shot at all (but not for lack of trying...).

In short, this spring season so far has been a struggle - with a few more weeks to go in the 'Glades I'm hoping for better conditions. To put in mildly this year has been unusual since it never really got cold back in November all the way through February. The big fish simply never did the "usual"l things you'd expect them to...


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

A quick addendum... today one more of my "river spots" was holding the big fish. My angler, Dave Boyden from Maryland , tangled with a big girl up in a small river and 40 minutes later we had her to the boat.... I estimated her to be between 120 and 130 - finally a trophy fish this spring. It came on bait just after Dave had jumped an 80 on a plug in the same small area.... 

Hope the big fish stick around a while - but tomorrow the wind is kicking out of the west, so we'll need a bit of luck....


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## Str8-Six (Jul 6, 2015)

Got to LMK yesterday and started fishing around noon. Weather was horrible but we still went out and came in every now and then to dodge the storms, nothing but one tarpon hit at channel 2 and 5. Was not able to go out last night because of weather. Today, we didn't get anything during the day again, bite has been really slow, might have to do with wind out of west. Saw two singles on a flat and that was it. Tonight we finally got the skunk off of us(feels so good). I went 1 for 2 and my buddy went 2 for 4 on live mullet. Not big boi's but they were fun. Tomorrow we are just going to go offshore fishing and fish poon at night since bite has been slow during day. Will post update Monday.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

Congrats on the big fish Capt Bob.

So far the weather has made the days I've been able to get out challenging to say the least.

Weather was fantastic this morning but the Gulf water temp at Homosassa is still under 70.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Wow Mike, we are hovering up and below 80, depending on what side of each front we are on. Winds have been a bitch still. Texted Mills about 2 weeks ago and he said the migration hadn't hit Islamorada yet and the fish were thin. But based on the post above with ibe, they have come in. The big push hasn't come up our way, except for local resident fish here and there grouping up and eating when the winds give some break. I've seen several fish jumped while I was snook fishing, but I'm not targeting poons at this point with this slop out there. I have a couple of tarpon buddies with bay boats that will stage them up for a month each and I'll just jump on their boat and go with them, prolly this coming week (22 Ranger Bay and a 25 Shearwater).


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

MariettaMike said:


> May have to go to Robbie's to put a hand on one.


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## Str8-Six (Jul 6, 2015)

Update. Tarpon fishing was slow by LMK couple of weekends ago. I think it was west wind that screwed things up. Then again, I am not a guide, I just go every year for a weekend and it's been the slowest year so far for me. Out of three of us we ended up boating 4 poons, all at night. No big ones, all under 60lbs.


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## RunningOnEmpty (Jun 20, 2015)

I'm not seeing the tarpon this year like I normally do? There's no shortage on mosquito's though.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

Spring is always windy, but this has been non stop. I was hoping to have a few nice days sight fishing off the beach before I head out west to chase trout, but it is not looking like I will have a poon on the line this spring.


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