# South Tampa Bay Tarpon fishing



## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

Tarpon Club is like Fight Club...


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

There are no tarpon in Tampa Bay.


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## 63899 (Jan 19, 2021)

Of course there are tarpon on that side of the bay. There are resident fish you can target right now up the rivers and probably elsewhere 

in a few months, they’ll be at the skyway and then start moving in the bay. Will you have the crystal clear water daisy chaining fish like you have on the beach? No, the bay isn’t the beach. Can you sight fish? Maybe.

as the fish continue to move in, they’ll stage at points with the tide and then keep moving. They’ll be at places like the st Pete reef, the big bridges and then by summer they’ll be thick up in UTB.

you can sight fish these but it’s not like the beach. The bridges (and docks) can be sight fished at night. The fish up in the bay is casting at rollers.

you can do all of this (except those fish holding on reefs and things like that deep) on fly as well. Bridges just use a cheap broomstick short rod as you aren’t casting as much as dropping the fly and cheap line as you’ll eventually tear it up.

won’t use floating line up in the bay


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## saltyhackle (Jun 28, 2020)

crboggs said:


> Tarpon Club is like Fight Club...


 couldn't be more true 😂 took me 2 years to get "inducted" lol


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## 4991 (Jun 21, 2012)

Gadaboutgaddis said:


> Hello folks,
> 
> In the past I have trailered over to Ft Desoto for beach side tarpon fishing. Since my boat will be on a lift now that is a bit more difficult. Since I don't really want to cross the bay in the skiff I am wondering how the Tarpon fishing is over this side.
> 
> ...


If you want a sense if they travel up the east part of TB, get out on the water and look. Nothing replaces time spent on the water.


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## Gadaboutgaddis (Jan 19, 2019)

dhenderson said:


> If you want a sense if they travel up the east part of TB, get out on the water and look. Nothing replaces time spent on the water.


Yes I intend to do that, but its all about confidence. If I have a reasonable belief that I am not wasting my time its generally more successful. 

Thanks to all for the info..


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

What's a tarpon?? LOL


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Gadaboutgaddis said:


> Yes I intend to do that, but its all about confidence. If I have a reasonable belief that I am not wasting my time its generally more successful.
> 
> Thanks to all for the info..


That’s the instant gratification mentality that has become the norm these days. I’m not trying to be an ass but it’s a lot like these youtube fishermen filming everything they do, posting maps etc putting areas on blast. We used to get confident in areas by getting on the water and fishing. People are moving towards virtual reality fishing if we all keep wanting to be spoon fed other people’s hard earned experience. Not singling you out, just kind of a public service announcement.


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## Gadaboutgaddis (Jan 19, 2019)

Thanks for the PSA


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