Kayak Fishing for St. Sebastian River Tarpon

Happy Monday Spacefish!

I hope all is well as we roll on through July. I must confess that I have been sidelined from fishing over the last week – I have been dealing with a nasty upper respiratory infection that has knocked me on my butt! Today’s report goes back to last weekend, where I made my first Tarpon specific trip of the year, to one of East Central Florida’s most famous Tarpon fisheries, the St. Sebastian River.

These fish have a reputation for being highly pressured, and finicky – a challenge to catch on artificial, but I hope that what I discovered on the water will be able to help someone looking to get on a good Tarpon bite, because on this river they are there in good numbers, and you should have all of the chances to make your presentations to them you need – getting the bite, and then landing the fish, you will need a little luck and possibly some divine providence. But one thing I have learned over the past few years when targeting Tarpon is that all you can do is make accurate casts and give them something they will bite.

Where to Launch

Back in the spring I detailed a report about the St. Sebastian River, where I launched just south of the highway 1 bridge; that is an option for a paddle angler, but for this trip, I launched from the Dale Wimbrow Park Boat Ramp which is located a few miles south of US 1, located just off of Roseland Road.

The area that seems to hold the largest quantity of fish is the north fork; from Goodrich Island located where the river forks, all the way back to the dam/spillway. I found some rolling Tarpon on the South Fork; I also found some rolling Tarpon closer to the railroad tracks, but the North Fork from Goodrich Island back to the channelized part was the most loaded. I launched in complete darkness, so I wasn’t able to see as well on my journey up the South Fork, once I cleared through a cut in the mangroves between islands, I was able to see a little bit better once the sun was in the sky. One of the big knocks I could make about this gameplan was the sheer distance I had to pedal to get my shots at fish. I traveled distances of close to 6/7 miles, and that’s not counting all of the pedalling I did once I was in an area where multiple fish were rolling. I think it was definitely crucial to get out early, as that roughly 3 mile journey at dawn was a lot better than mid-morning when the sun gets up. I got a chance to see a beautiful sunrise as I pedaled and it was still nice and cool out.

How To Target Juvenile Tarpon

So I pretty much exclusively fish for the Juvenile Tarpon – which are still incredibly fun fish to catch! Don’t let the word “Juvie” fool you, these fish can still range anywhere from 5-40ish pounds. A 10 pound Tarpon on light tackle is an absolute thrill; these guys not only go one scorching runs once hooked, but they will also put on an acrobatic display simply unseen or unheard of in the world of fishing – If you think Bass and Snook can jump, wait until you have a hooked Juvie Tarpon doing backflips 6 feet above the waters surface!

What you will want to do is look for areas of “rolling” Tarpon – they can actually gulp oxygen so they can stay in low oxygenated backwater areas because they don’t need dissolved oxygen the same way other fish do. When you see them rolling try and figure out which direction they are going in and make your cast a few feet in front of them. More often than not after they roll they submerge a few feet in depth, they don’t necessarily go forward as much as I thought a few years ago. Over the years through more time spent observing them, I have noticed after their gulp of air they tend to go more down than forward.

The other thing about the Juvie’s are they are a little bit more aggressive when it comes to targeting artificial baits. But the key for me over the years is to go small, and reel slow. One of the most consistent baits there are for these fish are the Tsunami Swim Shad, which you can find at Strike Zone in Melbourne. The new SaltX version features as extra strong hook, which helps hold those larger fish with their rock hard, bony mouths on while they try and spit your lure/hook. I prefer the 2 inch version as this is the perfect size profile for what these backwater Silver Princes are looking for. They usually dominate the backwater areas feasting on minnows and mosquitofish. I can’t tell you how many days have been in futility trying to cast 3 inch paddle tails at them, and as soon as I downsize my presentations to the magic 2 inch size, start getting bit. Pictured below is the bait that was hot for me last weekend.

While downsizing is part of the formula, molasses slow retrieval with minimum action is the other key. Once you cast in front of a rolling Tarpon, let the bait sink for 3-4 seconds then reel it back painfully slow with NO ACTION. Just a slow and steady straight retrieve. If I don’t get bit within 10-15 seconds I just let the bait drop, I usually count to 20 before I reel it back – I have had countless Tarpon pick up the bait from the bottom after 10-15 seconds of doing nothing. I know that sounds absolutely crazy, but these are a strange species of fish to target. Never let logic stand in your way. It all makes sense when you don’t think about it. Just the other day I actually had a rod snap because I got braid wrapped around the tip of the rod, I was trying to untangle the wind knot when all of a sudden a Tarpon picked up my lifeless swimbait and with a run like a freight tgrain took off and with the braid wrapped up at the tip just completely snapped the top of the rod. The fish stayed on for around 30 seconds after but the first big jump was able to spit the hook due to the face there was no give of line.

Speaking of give of the line, there is a technique (if you are new to Tarpon then google it!) called “bow to the king” – what that means is after you’ve hooked the fish, when they go for the jump you lower the tip of the rod to give them some slack line so they are not able to spit the hook on their aerial jumps.

Bonus Sightseeing

So even though the backwater Juvies are a little more reliable in their consistency to bite, it is still very hit or miss fishing. You may be in an area covered with Tarpon, and drive yourself mad without getting so much as a tap, but you may come across 3 rolling Tarpon in a 30 minute span and all 3 of them eat. They truly have a mind, and follow their own primal urges. But one of the things I really enjoy in going into the brackish backwaters to find these guys is the nature and the scenery. Just on the north fork alone last weekend in one stretch of the river I saw multiple Dolphins, multiple Bull Sharks, multiple Manatees, and 3 Alligators! I have to remind myself when the fishing is slow, I am getting a free-eco tour on a river people spend money to go cruise and sight see on their Capt. Hiram’s River King Tours. While the Dolphins, Bull Sharks, Manatees, and Gators are cool, this area of the river is a spectacular place to observe my all time favorite predator in action, the might Osprey, or as some call it, the Fish Eagle.

Conclusion

Tarpon have been the species of fish that have captured more of my imagination than any other, and off all of the sought after sportfish on Florida’s Space Coast this one took the longest for me to figure out. Though to be totally honest, I’m not sure how much I have actually figured out, I think sometimes I just get lucky! Last weekend I got 7 eats, and landed 3 – which for me was an outstanding day of targeting these prehistoric gamefish. One came off without a jump, I had 2 jump me off in spectacular fashion, and of course one snapped a rod (we lost a lot of good men out there). All in all, for me it was a great day, and I definitely hope to have a few more Tarpon specific reports in the future weeks.

Thank you for taking the time to read, if you’re a new inshore kayak angler, I hope some of this info helps! Thanks to Kayaks By Bo for being our paddle partner for our weekly adventures! If you are in the market for a new kayak, paddle, rod holders for your yak, whatever you need in the world of kayak fishing – they have it! Go check them out at their new location in Cocoa!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week, may your lines stay tight! Until next time!