Got out with Joe and Cara down from Ohio today. Tarpon was on their list and they wanted to pull on ‘big stuff.’ We focused on that and did a 3/4 day. I caught some mullet on the way out, we found some big massive schools where it was fairly easy to load up. We hit the channels where I’d been having some luck, though today luck wasn’t on our side. We had a variety of sharks in the first stop, moved around a little, but no tarpon love. We tried out at the channel ends where I had found a good pack yesterday and had caught several, but today again no love though we did get a big sawfish. A boat next to us on the other side of the channel did get in front of a couple fish and had a couple bites, landing one. Next stop we finally actually saw a fish roll, and we moved to get in front of it. Though again no bites, just a bunch of bonnethead sharks. We hit one more channel and again made a couple moves, but didn’t see much. Got a big blacktip shark and then a nurse shark, and that was all she wrote. Joe and Cara had a good time though and did get to catch some big stuff, and the sawfish was really cool something they’d never seen in Ohio! Tough day just not many tarpon out back right now, and I heard the local ‘around town’ bite was slow as well, though there were some fish around locally. Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, may try some local spots early and hope we can get one while it’s still dark. Really hope some new fish show up and fast! 0 for 0
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6/12/17 Tarpon Fishing in June in Islamorada
Got out with Scott, Charlie, and Roger over from Texas today for some islamorada tarpon fishing in the everglades national park. We headed out early and stopped to catch bait on the way. With the winds back in the eastern quadrant and not blowing insanely, conditions have vastly improved from last week. Bait was plentiful and easy to catch, we even saw some large balls of bait in several areas which is great to see… summer time bait is showing up! We headed straight to where we found tarpon yesterday morning. Marked a few on the bottom but not rollers. We couldn’t get a bite though, watched another boat come in about 20 minutes after us, and get two bites back to back and land 1 fish. Frustrating when that happens! I moved 3 times trying to get in front of some hungry fish, but just wasn’t happening for us so I bailed out. Was headed back to the mainland to try, though saw another boat coming back from that way who had part of the same party as me. He said there wasn’t much out there, so we just turned around and fished out towards the end of the channels we were just in. We got lucky and a few fish floated by us and soon we hooked one! After that we proceeded to catch two more, and saw a few rolling around too as storms came in. We got soaked, but it was well worth it. We left the fish for the other boat that was with us so they could try to catch some, and finished the day with some large lemon shark, a cobia, and some other sharks. Some days you just have to keep grinding on the tarpon to make it happen. It’s tempting after 3, 4, 5 moves to just give up and try for easier fish, but persistence sometimes pays off in a big way. That’s tarpon fishing. 3 for 3
6/11/17 June Florida Keys Tarpon Fishing Report
Got out with Jeff and his son Jefferson today. Tarpon was on their list and young Jefferson hadn’t caught one before. Winds were blowing out of the east thankfully, no more south/west! Though it was a little breezier than I like but not too crazy. We headed out early and caught a few baits on the way. With the last of the incoming tide early, bait should be much easier the next week or so first thing. The fishing was a little tough, we found a few tarpon in one of the channels where they had been swarming last week, though last time I was there they had disappeared a couple days ago. We got a bite after 20 minutes and caught a nice 100 lb fish! After that we caught a few sharks, including a nice little hammerhead. We ran out off the mainland later on after about 4 different moves with no more tarpon. We caught the start of the incoming tide, and the sharks bit well but no tarpon. Some big blacktips kept us busy and a large nurse shark. Was happy to get one, hopefully the fish will show back up soon once the full moon goes away. 1 for 1
