Catching big tarpon on fly tackle is perhaps the ultimate angling sport, but it requires lots of patience and some casting skills. (Capt. Byron Chamberlain)

By Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com

It used to be big news if you caught a 150-pound tarpon anywhere in U.S. waters.

These days, they’re everywhere in Florida and it takes a 200-pound fish to make the Internet buzz.

What’s happening?

No harvest is happening.

Since the late 1980’s tarpon have essentially been a catch-and-release fish in Florida waters where the vast majority are found. Tarpon live to be up to 50 years old, and it takes a long time for them to get to that 200-pound mark. 

But now it’s happening with increasing frequency, and 250’s are in sight.

The world all-tackle record for the species is 286-9 caught off East Africa in 2003. Will it someday be beaten by a fish from Florida’s west coast? 

Tarpon make amazing leaps when hooked, and can also burn 200 yards of line from a reel in seconds. (Capt. Byron Chamberlain)

It’s starting to seem likely. 

Some tarpon guides on Florida’s west coast say they have already caught and released fish in this class. Because it’s almost a religion now to keep these big fish alive, they are rarely—almost never—actually killed and weighed in.

It’s a far cry from 30 years ago when huge prizes were awarded for the biggest tarpon brought to the weigh-in scales and hundreds of big fish were killed every summer. It’s a welcome improvement for those who love battling these silver giants. 

The season for the heaviest pre-spawn female fish runs roughly from early May through the first week of July. After that, most of the adult fish head out to the continental shelf, 100 miles offshore, to spawn. When they come back, they’re still as long as they were, of course, but not nearly as heavy, and most tend to move up into the blackwater areas like upper Tampa Bay, upper Charlotte Harbor and the many brackish rivers coming out of  the Everglades. 

Anglers who want to claim a record can have an unofficial guess at it by using the standard formula developed years ago by tarpon guides, length x circumference behind the dorsal (in inches) x 2 divided by 800. For larger fish this tends to underestimate the weight by about 13% so it’s far from an exact science, but good for dockside arguments.

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust has a useful calculator, found here: https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/tarpon-weight-calculator.

You can’t harvest a tarpon without buying the state’s kill tag—one per angler per year. Tarpon guides usually buy these in advance in case a client gets a potential record fish, but in general tarpon are not killed in Florida these days. Fish over 40 inches long cannot even be brought into the boat for photos, since the handling is likely to kill them. Those addicted to Facebook postings take heed. (If you want a tarpon mount, just take the measurements and give them to a taxidermist—they’ll make you a beautiful replica of fiberglass that will last far longer than an actual fish mount.)

Sharks are always around where there are big tarpon, and sometimes they take a big bite. (Capt. Rob Gorta)

Where might you be most likely to catch a record fish, should you want to pursue the Moby Dick of tarpondom?

Boca Grande Pass, north of Fort Myers, is probably the best tarpon fishery in the world, with scientists estimating as many as 10,000 adult fish swarming in the pass at once during the prime season, May into early July. If you want to for sure catch a tarpon in a one-day trip, this is the place to go. (Sharks are a problem here at times, with many fish getting eaten while on the line—anglers use stout gear and try to land the fish fast.)

A close second these days is the mouth of Tampa Bay, where multiple channels pour into the Gulf of Mexico. Again, best time is May to early July. The largest fish here appear to be heavier than those at Boca Grande, and several fish in the 280 class have been reported over the years.

The Florida Keys are famed for their tarpon fishery, of course, and fishing a live mullet around any of the larger bridges on a strong tide usually results in a hookup. There are also plenty of fish prowling the deeper flats, but this is mostly fly-fisher territory—if you can cast 80 to 100 feet with a 12-weight, it’s the ultimate tarpon experience. 

Another mostly-fly-fishing spot is the broad flat stretching from Pine Island to Crystal River, north of Tampa. Fish over 200 pounds are hooked here each year, though it’s not as strong a fishery as it once was, perhaps due to being overfished for a time.

Where ever you fish, of course, the odds of connecting with a record tarpon are exceedingly poor, but it’s interesting to think that in these prime areas on any given cast you might connect with an 8-foot long monster that can jump 10 feet into the air and give you the angling thrill of a lifetime.

Here’s some more info on Florida tarpon from FWC: https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/tarpon.