Tarpon Pic Thread

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

For Andrew.... that fish looks to be between 30 and 40lbs (tough to tell without a bit more background for comparison). That size fish will give you all you can stand from a kayak - great catch!

 

For Kudu... I'm not familiar with him at all (but I'm on the other side of the state...). can't tell you how many guides I've seen come and go in the last 15 or 16 years so he may well not be guiding any more. The best way to track him down is the fly shop on Sanibel (there's only one there - can't remember it's name...). If anyone knows the local shops are your best bet.... By the way some of the very best guides can be very hard to contact since they don't advertise at all and may actually be booked years in advance... that's not ever likely to be my problem...

 

For Peter... and anyone else with the tarpon itch - tarpon season is different in different places. Down in the Keys March is very early... April though June is prime time. Homosassa and similar places things don't get going until May or later. In my area (south Florida including the Everglades) we're in fish now... babies locally at night (fish averaging 20 - 40lbs all winter long now that the shrimp are moving) and big fish in the interior of the 'Glades as long as it's mild.... My last day on the water a few days ago we had legit shots at fish up to and over 100lbs in Whitewater Bay where they lay up and loaf this time of year... Of course if a cold front comes through they're gone overnight (and won't come back until it warms up a bit...). Toward the end of summer each year we also get a second season with really big fish from the end of August until the third week of October as well.... That's my favorite time even if it is hurricane season and it's so hot that it feels like the Amazon...

 

Glad y'all enjoyed the pics - they're from 2008. Each year I do lots of fish pics to add to reports....

[gpd4 0]

Norm Zeigler's is the place in Sanibel...

[SCOwens 0]

@Ben I knew we had something in common haha

[Peterjay 0]

Hey, anybody else for a rookie tarpon pool? All you're risking is a half-dozen flies and the embarrassment of being skunked. So far it's just Ben and me and maybe Kudu. Looks like Ben's gonna get the first crack at 'em, but he'd better make the best of his chance, because I'm gonna be out there with the eye of the tiger come the end of June.

 

Many thanks to Capt. Bob for sharing his expertise. I suspect the "Costa Rica" mentality might work here, since the water tends to be on the murky side.

[sthrncomfort 0]

Let's do it.

 

However, is this restricted so solo fishing, or can a guide be involved?

 

Not that this changes my opinion, but it does change what I am doing next week!

[tidewaterfly 0]

I believe our friend Tidewaterfly has used tarpon flies for various other species with considerable success.

 

Peterjay is correct about that! "Tarpon" flies do not necessarily mean they're only for Tarpon. I believe, from what I've read in the past, the Keys style originated as adaptations of classic streamer patterns, with changes made to reduce fouling which was due to the windy conditions often prevalent around the open saltwater. There are now a variety of styles used for Tarpon flies. I've tied & used Keys style flies for Pickerel, LM & SM bass, as well as Striped bass. Sometimes I'll tie on hooks more appropriate for the particular species I'm after, such as worm hooks for bass, or the heavier saltwater hooks used for Tarpon can still be used if they're intended for larger, stronger species. I think even Tarpon fly styles such as Toads can be good for bass or Stripers.

 

I would expect any species that will eat a streamer, would be a good target for Tarpon flies.

 

Capt Bob's various patterns are superb examples of flies I would use for most anything!

[utyer 0]

This thread looks like a good place to ask this question. I went up to Blue Springs today to look at the Manitees. There were also plenty of gar, I think they are called long nose gar. Talapia were also plentiful, and there were a few bass, and catfish.

 

The two fish pictured here look a whole lot like Tarpon (at least to me.) Let me also say that I have never even seen a Tarpon except in pictures, but they had the large scales, a very large eye, and a large well forked tail.

 

The water temperature was 72 (its always 72 at these springs.)

 

Does any one know if there even are Tarpon in the St Johns River system, and if not what could these fish be? They were both together, and they were the only two I saw.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Sure do look like small tarps... and if the water temps are 72 there year 'round -that's probably the thing that drew them there. Tarpon are happy as clams all the up into freshwater so that might account for them being there as well. Blue Springs is a long, long (four hour) drive from Miami so I'm not likely to visit... but seeing those fish might just give me the incentive. Don't tell me it's probably a "no fishing" area....

[utyer 0]

Sorry Bob, but ALL the places I SAW fish in the Blue Springs run, were marked NO FISHING. Of course the St Johns River is only a few hundred yards from where I saw these, so maybe, just maaaay be I can find one there when the whole river warms up.

[freeflyfree 0]

250lb tarpon on 4wt 10lb tippet

 

[Chefben4 0]

Guided trips included since I live in MI and only fish guides in FL lol.

[Peterjay 0]

250lb tarpon on 4wt 10lb tippet

 

 

Whew! You had me worried for a minute there. Looks like my 251-pound fish still holds the record. That was a close shave.

 

Hey all you rookies: I'll set up a dedicated thread tomorrow (when I'm more coherent) so we can discuss the rules of the tarpon pool. Guided trips are fine by me as long as the fish is brought to the boat by the entrant and the accounts of the capture are more or less believable. After all, if you can't trust a fisherman, who can you trust?

[mikechell 0]

Blue Springs is one of my hang outs. I love fishing that stretch of water. There's a no wake zone for about 1/2 mile which is a nice break from most of the rest of the river.

Tarpon don't often run this far up the river, but they do when the flows are down and the droughts have reduced flow a bit. Several people have photos of tarpon in the Blue Springs area ... some over 30 lbs.

My wife had one on a few years ago, I had a 5 inch Rapala on her rod, trying to get her onto a nice Large Mouth ... this thing, about 4 feet long hit her lure right out in front of the spring ... and then took off. She got to fight it for about 20 seconds before it snapped the line. I am pretty sure it was a tarpon, from the way it rolled on the lure and the bright flash of it's side.

 

I don't hear of people catching them very often this far inland ... but I know they are here.

[utyer 0]

Good to know, thanks Mike.

[Kudu 0]

I'll play. How long is the pool season? I'm fishing 2 days the first week in April. The wife is putting her foot down on my hunting trips this year. I may have to talk her into a brief fishing trip, I mean vacation, to watercolor in June. I hear they have tarpon there that time of year.