Tarpon are here!

Tarpon are here! Everywhere around Florida, folks are catching them large and small. These fish must be one of God’s greatest creations and are truly magnificent. Any angler who has “jumped” a tarpon never forgets the way they felt the first time one of these silver missiles shot out of the water, attempting and mostly succeeding in shaking the hook.

 

I like tarpon of all sizes. I have been fortunate enough to catch large tarpon in the keys and smaller examples in the Everglades. Recently, I found a new to me area that is semi-landlocked and seems to house many tarpon. Jim VanPelt, Tim Jones and I took a trip to the area with kayaks and Tim’s paddleboard to see if we could tangle with these silver kings.

I'm being watched

 

At the launch, the early morning air was humid and smelled of the surrounding vegetation. The lake was alive with rolling tarpon and scattering mullet and the sounds of juvenile shorebirds nesting in the mangroves lining the lake’s edge. We slipped into the water quietly and began our search. Jim and Tim were using paddletails and jerkbaits, and I was using my Steve Woosley custom painted spook. All around us was activity, and it was very quiet, except for the sounds of big fish crushing bait at the surface.

 

Well worn painted Spook

I spied a small school of baitfish at the surface moving in my direction and tossed my lure just beyond them. As I walked the spook through the baitfish, a giant loud crash and the fish was on! The drag began screaming as the 15lb line was peeling from my reel. After a few moments, the line direction changed and I knew the fish was about to come out of the water. I began reeling fast in anticipation when suddenly, the 40lb plus tarpon busted through the surface and went airborne. With its gill plate flared, it shook its large head violently and I watched my brightly colored spook lure fly through the air. The fish hit the surface of the water with a thunderous clap and was gone.

 

Searching the Shoreline

I was satisfied with jumping that tarpon so I put the rod away and began following Jim and Tim while snapping photos. Tim jumped a nice tarpon as well on a paddletail before changing to fly. The area was so active with feeding fish that every cast was an anticipated strike. But, the bite had indeed slowed. Jim finally scored a hit on a jerkbait and after a short but spirited fight he landed a good backwater snook.  Satisfied with the morning, and very aware of an approaching thunderstorm, we loaded up and moved on.

 

Jumper

Fish On!

Backwater snook

After spending the rest of the morning hunting peacock bass, we began the long drive back to civilization. We stopped to check out a small landlocked lake near Port of the Islands. A short road brought us to the lakes edge and a small kayak launch. We left the kayaks on the truck and opted for walking the shore. We immediately noticed the unmistakable rolling tarpon all over the surface. They were along the edge and out in the middle, everywhere!

 

Trudging through the brush

We started catching fish right away as Jim hooked a micro-poon on his first cast. I got into the action as well, almost landing a larger tarpon that had jumped its way into a weedy bush. Tim was landing several as well. We spent about an hour there, catching several and jumping many several more.

Micro-Poon

Jim lands one

little jumper

On the way back, we stopped for a late lunch at City Seafood in Everglades City. While there, we marveled at the giant cousins of the tarpon we scraped with as they moved up and down the dock where we ate. I thought about these beautiful fish and remembered something I read on another blog. It was a poem written about tarpon by Captain John Kumiski on his website “Spotted Tail”.

 

an ideal world
hot sun, blue sky, clear, slick water
sweat
a graphite wand, a sliver of steel, a wisp of feathers

a flash of silver breaks the mirror
then another, and another
feathers land in water
magically, they come to life

line tightens
mirror smashed
power
water flies, gills flare, body shakes, shudders
again, and again, and again

the beast tires
arms ache
hand grasps jaw
feathers removed
great fish swims free once more

tarpon
one of God’s gifts to fly fishers

Well said Capt John. Check out more on his website at http://www.spottedtail.com, and hit the road to find your tarpon adventure soon!