# Panhandle Tarpon



## TheFrequentFlier

Anyone ever fish near Pensacola for tarpon (specifically on fly?) Gunna be the closest place I can get to from land-locked Mississippi?


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## capncrunch

I'm going to start on the 20th around the Lanark, Turkey Point Shoal area


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## Tarponist

Lanark is crazy packed with people now. Way over-fished IMO.


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## MariettaMike

Tarponist said:


> Lanark is crazy packed with people now. Way over-fished IMO.


No way. Public schools haven't even let out for the summer yet.


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## Tarponist

Sorry I didn't mean right this very minute. I'm saying that, in general, Lanark is overcrowded and over-fished. Secret is out. I've moved on to a few other spots nearby to avoid the crowds.


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## TheFrequentFlier

Thanks for the intel, dudes. Plan to trailer the boat down and fish that area Spring/summer of 2018. Probably the closest place for decent sight casting to Tarpon from landlocked MS. I'll gladly push/motor y'all around when I get down there.


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## Zika

"Secret" has been out for at least 18 years. Way too small an area to support the number of boats that converge and the majority who show up are carpet-baggers. Like Homosassa, the fish have changed patterns in an effort to avoid the gauntlet.


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## TheFrequentFlier

Zika said:


> carpet-baggers


Can you define this? Am I a "carpet-bagger?" You have me all self-conscious now...


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## LowHydrogen

You're from MS but don't know what a carpetbagger is??
In this case...Migratory (non-resident) guides/clientele = carpetbagger. Show up for the season, plug up the ramps, restaurants, act ill on the water, and act like locals are supposed to kiss their ass for gracing them with 2 months of seasonal income. Look down on all the local commercial fisherman/oysterman, like they're the plague. The other side of the coin, occasionally fun to to watch a drunk local smoke one in the bar, they blink a few times trying to figure out if they're in a bar full of ********, or back in an ATL suburb, rant over.

I'm not bitter.....


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## "RockyG"

"Carpet-bagger" = exactly what LowHydrogen said. 

The worst of the bunch launch at 9:00 am, run one mile to a spot with no waves where the sitting is easy (and no Tarpon has ever ventured) and tell the sports stories until 2:00 then haul azz back to the ramp and collect their $600. 

I have the highest respect for the local guides who work their butts off to put clients on fish. Sadly there are few left around here.


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## TheFrequentFlier

Hahaha - nah, I'm kidding...just wasn't sure if you meant it in the more historical definition or the more present-day colloquial sense. 

I'm in the military, so I don't have a choice of where I live, and always adapt my fly fishing game to wherever they put me. Heading to Mississippi this fall - haven't been there since 2011, but looking forward to trailering the skiff down to some coastal spots I've never had the opportunity to fish.


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## efi2712micro

LowHydrogen said:


> You're from MS but don't know what a carpetbagger is??
> In this case...Migratory (non-resident) guides/clientele = carpetbagger. Show up for the season, plug up the ramps, restaurants, act ill on the water, and act like locals are supposed to kiss their ass for gracing them with 2 months of seasonal income. Look down on all the local commercial fisherman/oysterman, like they're the plague. The other side of the coin, occasionally fun to to watch a drunk local smoke one in the bar, they blink a few times trying to figure out if they're in a bar full of ********, or back in an ATL suburb, rant over.
> 
> I'm not bitter.....


 Learning new things everyday .... always like to use local guides myself even when trailing the boat down. Saves time and frustration while supporting local economy ....


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## flysalt060

Always a few resident fish around. Especially this year since their was not a winter. Work got in the way of going down this weekend.


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## BM_Barrelcooker

I like sitting in a certain establishment in apalachicola and listen to the talk. 
Same conversation same outfits over and over. It seems the pro-staffers migrate just like the fish. 
It's all good though as long as everyone gets along and doesn't get to serious about themselves . We all get satisfaction from the same thing. 
I hope civility can prevail not only in the bars but on the water as well


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## flysalt060

The Asian spammers sent a good'un here. You have musky to check on.


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## eightwt

My first time poon hunt last week at a certain undisclosed well known spot last week. I'm in a yak and paddle out and observe a row of rigs seemingly in a straight line and spaced out. I assume that must be a corridor that is being used by the quarry. Was I correct and will fish continue down it after they get cast to or a hook up? The skiffs all left after a couple hours past high tide in the early afternoon. Was that because of tide, high sun, or perhaps to try other spots? Just trying to learn.


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## capncrunch

Could be that the guy on the bow of the skiff only paid for half a day. I've yak fished for tarpon many years now. I can tell if I'm in the correct spot if I see them rolling in the morning.


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## flysalt060

They are here. Certain guides insta thingy going off. My sure fire indicator is my sister jumping 2 on live shrimp on a 808 on a ugly stik.


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## Zika

flysalt060 said:


> They are here. Certain guides insta thingy going off.


Would that be the same guide who "discovered" Location X after others showed it to him a couple years earlier and is a tireless self-promoter?


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## eightwt

Instant thingy??


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