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| Has anyone here ever ventured down to Florida to do some Tarpon fishing in the winter. I've watched them do it on OLN. It looks like the southern version of musky fishing.
Someday I want to go.
Just curious if anyone has and what they thought of it...
Terry Paulson[;)] |
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| Me and my dad went to the keys for a weekend a few years ago in early May. We had a guide take us out. I guess theres deep channels through the flats. Our guide fished these channels. He would watch for tarpon surfacing for air. When he spotted them he would put the boat in their path and have us cast. We used spinning outfits with 12lb test mono and small bass like plugs. I had one suck up my plug, so I pulled back and my rod folded over. The guide told me to set the hook, so I pulled back as hard as I could, just then about a 7' 150lb Alantic Tarpon came flying completely out of the water right in front of me. It was huge!!! It towered completely over me. A sight I will never forget. Unfortunaltly I did'nt bow when she came down and she ripped free from my bait. I guess your supposed to bow your rod to these enormous fish when they jump to prevent this. We still ended up catching several Cuda's including my strongest fighting fish ever, a 48" Cuda. Tarpon are much like Muskies X100 in their fighting abilities. My knees shook for a week after that experience. In fact I am getting jittery just writting this post. It is costly though. But some day I would like to return. [:p] |
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| What part of the Keys? I saw a resort in Marathon that included a 16ft. caralina skif with a 25hp motor included with the room. A full breakfast also! Could be a Muskie First outing in the making![:0] [:bigsmile:] [:sun:] |
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| Walt: I fish the islands from Marco Island south during January, Feb. an March. That is not the tarpon season. It really doesn't start till around May...June is even better. You can still catch small tarpon in the rivers and backwater bays in winter, but there isn't any size to them. However, there are lots of other fish to catch that will give you a thrill...snook, grouper, jacks, sharks, etc. Any excuse to get to the warm water in the winter. |
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| Guys,
Thanks for the feedback. I think the ultimate would be to fish muskies in the summer and fall in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada. Go down to Florida during February, March, and April and fish for whatever catches your fancy. But the shows I have seen on OLN where they fish for Tarpon--I have to wipe the spit off of my chin (with fly rods even!!!!).
For now this is just a dream--but someday...
Any other feedback is appreciated. Getting through the winter is tough up here. If anyone else wants to share where they have went in the south to fish in the winter, I would greatly appreciate it.
For now, I will just have to live my life vacariously through the people on OLN!!
Terry Paulson |
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| My husband and I went Tarpon fishing out of Islamorda and it was awesome! We went out at 3:00AM and in the first 10 minutes my husband had a hit on a blue crab. My day of fishing was over in 10 minutes as he proceeded to fight this 180 pound tarpon for 8 hours before we released it. It dragged our boat over 7 miles from where he originally hooked into it. It was undescribable how much power that fish had. We ended up chartering another trip so that I could try to catch one and I managed to get an 80 pounder. That was plenty for me to handle and it sure was a lot of fun.
My parents moved down to Florida so we go down and fish a lot during the winter months. So far, the Tarpon fishing has been our favorite. I have caught an 8 foot shark and a big snook that were both nice fights. Deep sea fishing is pretty cool too. We have gotten tuna, dauphin, mahi-mahi, mackeral, grouper... I had a huge amberjack on one time that our captain was guessing to weigh about 200 pounds. I was in a fighting chair and I could barely gain any line when all of a sudden the fish seemed to be off. I brought in the line and had about a 20 pound head - the sharks ate the rest. [:0]
If you ever get a chance you should definately go down and check it out.[:bigsmile:]
Nancy |
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| WOW!!!
I am going to have my wife read this. She has all the trophies so far in our family (musky, largemouth bass, northern, etc...). She would love the chance to show her stuff here also! |
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| We have a place in Venice, FL and I spent some time fishing the Gulf and the Flats last year for the first time. What an experience. Went out with Capt. Steve out of Longboat Key spincasting and fly fishing. Saw a few Tarpon, but didn't catch any. Did catch a 10 lb Redfish casting in docks, a 9 pound Jack on the Inner-Costal, and may other fish just outside the rivers flowing into the gulf.......but the Redfish and Jack fought non-stop for 10 and 15 minutes, respectively. What an eye opening experience. Never thought I would enjoy saltwater fishing, but it was awesome. Capt. Steve even taught us how to precisely clean our fly-rods and reels after a day of salt. We learned a lot that day. |
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| I've been out for Tarpon twice. Once in 1995 and then 2 yrs. ago. Never got one in the boat but had 2 big ones on. Man can they fight!!! I managed to catch 2 Jacks (10LB and 20Lb) and also fought a 12 foot Bull Shark for about 5 minutes until it bit through my line. Muskie fishing is my first love but I do manage to chase the salty critters as well. Let me know if you need a good Tarpon guide if you venture south..I can hook you up. |
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Florida Fishing in the Winter?(Tarpon)?