Tarpon returning?

[Brian]

Larry,

I am again planning a trip to the Florida Keys sometime in Late February to mid March. I have been under the impression that the Tarpon head farther south for warmer waters during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. If so, when do they generally return to the Keys? Do you think they will begin to return by mid March? If not, what do you generally find to be the best sport fish to go after during that time of the year in the Keys? I would even consider sharks if I can find some more. I tried my luck on Cuda's last year, only managing to get one hit from a very small fish. I also managed to sneak up on a fairly good sized one sunning itself on a shallow flat. Whether they are on your line or not, love em or hate em, seeing a Cuda over 40" barreling out of the flats in about a foot of water, right in front of your kayak, is an awesome sight!

Thanks for any information

Brian

[Anglermanagment]

Tarpon are in the keys all year but I normally see more numbers in April, my favorite time to fish becausse lack of pressure. In May you will see a lot of fish but they get wise to standard flies, unless you hit the worm hatch. There are a lot of cudas and sharks on the flats then bring some spooks. There are also bones around then but I can't figure those fish out in the keys, almost tougher to catch then permit!!!!

[dahlberg]

HI B
I've caught tarpon in the keys as early as february, and had them all to myself, but the whole deal is related to water temps. If it's not at least 75 degrees the mongol hordes don't show up.
If you get a good guide who's hip to the program and really knows the back country you can find "laid up" individuals which can be a riot to fish 'cause they're usually big and not moving.
Suggest you get a hold of a friend of mine, Jake Jordan. KEYSJAKE@aol.com. He's a super person and excellent angler. I cut my tarpon teeth with him many, many years ago. I promise he will steer you in the right direction. Tell him Larry sent you!
best
L

[Brian]

Thanks Larry,

I sent Jake an e-mail and told him that You sent me. Hopefully I can gather enough information to help me out before I go. This time I want to try a charter instead of going it alone. This should help me immensely as any charter service values return clients so they should put me in the right places.

Take care
Brian

[dahlberg]

If you don't hear from Jake let me know,
best
L

[Brian]

Larry,

I've heard from Jake and he's been a big help. He basicaly told me that it is a hit and miss thing during early march. He told me that if I want to gamble, He would give me the name of a few really good guides that would put their best efforts into catching some Tarpon. He also informed me that the weather during that time of year usually leaves most of the water temps below the magic 70-75 degree mark. So, not wanting to take a chance at ending up with poor conditions, I asked him for a few names to guides that could put me on the biggest of whatever is biting best at that time of year and he did! I am going to give one a call and try to set something up soon. He suggested that Itry the sailfishing for good results during that time of year. He was a very big help to me, and being that he is a world class fly fisherman and instructor, I trust his word.

Thanks again for giving me the information that I needed. You've been a big help!

Take Care

Brian

[dahlberg]

Hi B
Have a great trip! Glad Jake could help you out.
best,
L

[Brian]

Larry,

I hope that this doesn't affect the fishing in the Keys. Many residents are very concerned that the fish kill there caused by the unusually cold weather could affect even the large game fish populations for years to come. Some people are claiming that they see thousands of fish floating around in the water in the canals and in the Bay.

Story: http://keysnews.com/node/20157

[Henry Schmidt]

Im north of the keys, next to Boca Grande Pass. Its very bad, and Tarpon have been hit too but mostly Snook. It honestly appears that state officials are down playing the situation. The last freeze kill which wasnt nearly as bad as this one, took officially 7 and in reality more like 10 years, before decent sized fish became a common catch.

[dahlberg]

Hi H
I just got a photo of a boat full of very large snook that got offed by the rapid drop in temp. It's going to take a very long time I'm afraid for the snook. Fortunately the majority of tarpon we fish for in Florida are not in the neighborhood at this time of year.

What's equally, or maybe more scary is that large fish are not nearly as affected by a temp shift as small ones so it stands to reason the amount of bait fish and young of the year game fish killed has to be just staggering.
I shudder to think of what the long term consequences might be.
thanks for the post,
L

[Brian]

I can remember being in the Keys about 5 years ago and talking to a resident about the huge numbers of Barracuda in the local area. They were everywhere! The lady told me that the cuda had nowhere near the population numbers until a hurricane passed through a few years prior. She said that the snapper, etc in this particular area really declined and that the Cuda numbers skyrocketed. Hopefully this doesn't cause some type of similar imbalance in the ecosystem while the populations gain numbers again. I'll bet that the sharks are really putting the feed bags on now that so many dead fish are floating around in the water. Hopefully the local residents and fish and game department can help the situation along, I've heard that snook seasons are already being shortened or cancelled.

Brian

[Brian]

Larry,

My tarpon quest in the Keys was mildly successful. I say mildly because I didn't manage to land any, but I did manage to see a few and hook one. It was actually in a channel right under the dock on a tidal flat. There were two, staying just out of the light, that would surge in and take the krill, or whatever those glowing creatures were, right off the top of the water in front of me. I tied on a hook, and without a sinker tossed a live shrimp up current and waited. I floated it past the dock three times before the larger of the two smashed it. About 5 drag screaming seconds later, POP! it snapped the line right at the hook knot. In my excitement, I failed to replace my old line from this past summer, I guess it is a hard lesson to learn, it was kind of deflating as no others showed up for the rest of the week we were there.

However, we chartered a boat and managed to catch tons of other fish. We managed to catch Spanish, Cero, and King Mackerel, Yellowtail, Mangrove Snapper, Triggerfish, Porgy, Red, Black and Gag Grouper, tons of Grunts, Blue Runner, and even a few interesting characters such as Remora and Puffer Fish. I never knew that Triggerfish snapped their teeth the way they did. You would almost be better off smashing the end of your finger with a hammer than sticking it in the mouth of one of those characters! I thought I was looking into the mouth of a squirrel! We managed to get two good fish fry dinners out of 8 hours of fishing with plenty more to spare. We tried trolling around the edge of the reef for larger Kingfish and any Sails, but the water was way too rough and choppy, only managed one good sized Cero. The lines kept getting tangled in the floating grass as it was everywhere and the water was a pea green color from being stirred up so much. I had a fantastic time and can't wait to tangle with old Mr. Tarpon again. And, though the water was rough, I managed to keep anyone from getting sick by giving everyone Ginger Root. It worked fantasticly as one of the people claims they are a deep water chum expert if you know what I mean.

Take Care

Brian