Tarpon Fishing at its Finest!

The last few weeks has been incredible! From the ocean to the river, tarpon from 5-150lbs have been easy to come by! I’ve seen good tarpon fishing before, but nothing like the last few weeks, in numbers and in size.

My favorite way to tarpon fish is in the lagoon, anglers can find plenty of fish in the 5-50 range around the glass minnow pods around residential canals and docks, small canals, and even around mangrove shorelines in the 1.5 to 2 foot range.

Smaller is best when fishing for these fish. Small jigs like D.O.A paddle tail grubs in black and silver are a great “go to.” If the fish seem fussy, try biting your lure in half and using the end piece with the paddle tail attached to a light jighead. Tarpon often prefer dirty water with lower oxygen levels. They can dominate these areas and have no competition when looking for forage. This makes it hard to fish live bait; but with that being said, there are options, and my favorite is a small live mud minnow. Mud Minnows require little oxygen and can stay alive much better than other baits.

Larger tarpon can be found on the outer edges of these canals, deeper channels and canals have been holding larger fish in the 70-100+ lb range, my go to for them is a large live mullet, and artifical baits such as the live target mullet, and D.O.A bait busters are some of the best choices.

If you’ve ever wanted to check off tarpon on your bucket list. now is the time!