Tarpon Fishing Report

Overall, we had a great tarpon season; it was a breezy spring, but we had some fish around. May was my best month this year, the fishing and weather were most consistent.  There were a good amount of fish around in April this year too, but the weather was more challenging. Most of the tarpon seemed to have moved on at this point, but we still have some fish around and we should still see some big fish throughout the summer. We also have a lot juvenile tarpon around this time of year and we find them close to the mangroves or in the bait schools.   

Tourism has slowed down on the island, but the flats fishing is still great all summer. If you handle the heat, this is a great time to visit he Keys because the island is quieter and the lodging/travel rates are usually better.  Coming up we’ll be doing a lot of bonefish and permit fishing and then onto some birding trips later in the summer and into the fall.

Summer Fishing Report

So far the fishing this summer has been great, for the most part I have been fishing the backcountry and doing a lot of of tarpon fishing.  The past few months have been busy and the weather has been good overall.  The tarpon fishing has been decent since April and we had a lot more tarpon around this May, then last year.  The best time to fish them has been in the morning, but we’ve had some good afternoon and evening sessions too.  We actually had 2 palalo worm hatches this year, one on the backside of the full moon in May and one just after the new moon in June.  We found plenty of fish eating both times, but the bite was tough.       

If the tarpon bite slows up later on in the day, we have been moving in a little shallower and targeting bonefish and permit.  There have been a lot of bonefish around and the permit are starting to make their way back into the shallows.  The bonefish bite has been the most consistent thing going the past few months. We have seen big schools of fish on the ocean side and gulf side.  If you can get your fly or your jig out in front of these guys and move it the right way, they will usually eat it.  The permit have been more on the Gulf side, but just this past week I saw a few swimming on the the ocean side with the tarpon strings.  Hopefully we will start seeing a few more out front.

The offshore fishing has been slow so far this summer, there have been some dolphin around, but there’s been a lot of chickens and undersize fish. There have been a few skipjack tunas and small blakfins out in the deep too. The sargassum weeds have been super thick this year, and that has made it difficult to keep your lures clean while your trolling. The wrecks have been holding a variety of fish, like amberjacks, mutton snappers, groupers and other things. I like fishing the the bottom and middle of the water column with live baits, bonita strips and an assortment of jigs.