Tarpon fishing can be the most exciting and thrilling experience a fisherman can have. Tarpon are the most world renowned sportfish for their train like runs and their extreme aerial display of acrobatics. Most tarpon caught are between 80 and 120lbs with smaller fish around 40lbs and the biggest fish larger than 200lbs! Tarpon migrate annually up the coasts of Florida in search of forage and to spawn. Most tarpon live south in the Florida Keys migrating during the spring up the coasts, primarily the west coast of florida. Tarpon will stop in the passes (entrances to the gulf from the inter-coastal waterways) to feast on crabs during what is called crab flushes or king tides. While a hungry tarpon would be glad to eat a week old dog turd, some can be very picky and may not eat for days at all. I have personally witnessed 1000 tarpon swim past my boat and i’ve perfectly positioned bait and had a variety of baits and couldn’t get a single bite. Ive also had days where it seems every bait that hits the water gets eaten. The best chances for landing a tarpon is Boca Grande pass, located near Ft. Myers/ Punta Gorda/ Port Charlotte Florida. Boca Grade is widely regarded as the tarpon capital of the world and offers anglers the best chance to land the silver king. A normal day would “fly” 12 or more tarpon during peak season, landing 4 of those fish. Day to day the bite changes with conditions and those numbers vary but overall the fishing is EXCELLENT. In Clearwater we also have the opportunity to land some tarpon, a normal 3 month season for me lands approximately 25 - 45 fish, we hook over 100 but the numbers of landing are not the same. In Clearwater we are fishing the beach in 10ft of water watching schools of tarpon travel up and down the beach, as they approach we prepare our baits and casts with the utmost precision; one foot off can make the difference between and interested fish and a lost opportunity. We then cast to them prior to approach hoping they stay on the same line and swim straight to our baits. Once hooked the first 30 seconds is utter chaos with multiple jumps, all of which you have to “bow” to them. They can strip out 200 yards of line in seconds and a lesser experienced Capt will not be on the throttles in time for you to catch up to that fish. From then on you are in a battle with a freight train that will last the next hour or longer. Once the fish tires your guide will do his best work to get the fish along side the boat. Care must be taken to get photos and revive and release the fish quickly or they will die, or worse, get eaten by a shark. Tarpon cannot be taken out of the water, if you want photos, we encourage our clients to get in with them at the beach or along side the boat. Should you be interested in a mount of your fish we can take a length and girth measurement and send off the info to Grey’s taxidermy in Pompano Beach Florida. I work with them for my clients to memorialize your catch. I personally have a Greys mount in my house of my first 100+lb tarpon on Fly Rod and I can tell you they are excellent and worth every penny. Ask Capt. Phil about fish mounts should you be interested one! Weather its Clearwater or Boca Grande, I have you covered for tarpon. I can tell you without a doubt just a change to tangle with the Silver King is one of the greatest things you can do in the world!