Tarpon Fishing and Catching The Elusive Silver King
If you have ever had the priviledge of hooking up on a big tarpon then you know the exhilaration and thrill of testing yourself in battle against one of the most sought after gamefish in the world. This distinction is easy to see at first glance as the tarpon starts a series of spectacular acrobatic leaps in the air that will have your heart pounding, your rod bending and your drag screaming. You better hold on!
Since the tarpon's habitat is so close to the shoreline, fishermen of all types and skill levels can catch them. They can be caught from jetties, passes, docks, bridges, beaches, piers and rivers. Tarpon can be caught while using many types of tackle, rods, baits, lures and rigs either while fishing from a boat, canoe, kayak or walking and wading from the shoreline as the tarpon work up and down the beaches.
Live bait fishermen's bait of choice is the 'dollar crab'. A small live blue crab about two inches across its carapace, hooked through one end of it's shell or underneath through a swimmer leg. Other extremely effective live baits include pinfish, threadfin herrings and pilchards. On days when the tarpon is being finicky in it's tablefare selection, try these for the best results, and oh, by the way, don't forget about a live mullet. If you can get them, use them. Flyfishermen are not left out either. The stealth of casting the right fly can sometimes be the trick to hooking up.
But Just What is a Tarpon?
Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes
Family: Megalopidae
Genus: Megalops
This exceptionally fine creature is a prehistoric animal and the only fish with an air bladder. This allows it to absorb oxygen and live in waters with very low oxygen content. You can see them gulp air at the water surface. Tarpon are also called poons, tarpum, sabalo real, cuffum, silverfish or silver king and belong to the bony fish family Elopidae. The Latin designation is Megalops atlanticus.
While only microscopic at birth, tarpon have been documented at lengths of more than eight feet and weighing 280 pounds. Catches weighing more than 200 pounds, while uncommon, do occur. Many fish caught are well over 100 pounds. Their growth rate is slow, taking 8 to 10 years to reach maturity, and generally those over 100 pounds are female. Tarpon can live 55 to 60 years. They are greenish or bluish on top, and silver on the sides. The large mouth is turned upwards and the lower jaw contains an elongated bony plate. The last ray of the dorsal fin is much longer than the others, reaching nearly to the tail.
They are found primarily in shallow coastal waters and estuaries, but they are also found in open marine waters, around coral reefs, and in some freshwater lakes and rivers. Their normal migratory pattern ranges from Virginia to central Brazil in the western Atlantic, along the coast of Africa in the eastern Atlantic, and all through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Florida is widely regarded as having many of the best tarpon fishing locations in the world, especially the world-renowned Boca Grande Pass in Southwest Florida.
Fishing for the tarpon can at times be an excercise of patience and discipline. You may be surrounded by large schools of rolling tarpon containing hundreds of fish and they will not hit anything you throw at them. Other times, it is a feeding frenzy. So, go fishing for tarpon every chance you get, that next world record catch may be waiting just for you.
Greg Smith is a life-long fisherman and publisher of fishing information websites. Visit http://www.tarpon-fishing-i.com/ for more resources, tips, tricks and techniques.
Latest News
GAO: Dolphins, whales lack protection from fishing The Associated Press - ... by law to more than a dozen marine mammals potentially at risk of death or injury due to commercial fishing, congressional investigators said Wednesday. ... |
 Cape May County Herald | Illegal fishing charged; tons of rockfish seized Baltimore Sun, United States - It was the second time in less than a week that officers had charged Jack C. Colbourne, owner of Colbourne Seafood Inc. in Secretary, with illegal fishing. ... Police board fishing vessel; three men cited Md. Authorities Nab Local Boat for Illegal Rockfishing Maryland Today |
DNR: Ice-fishing conditions continue to improve MLive.com, MI - Detroit River: Boat anglers are launching at Metro Park and heading up to Gibraltar and fishing for perch in the canals. Most of the fish are not big, ... Anglers enjoy a fine ice fishing weekend Wegman to host ice fishing seminar Anglers encouraged to stay safe on the ice |
Teenage girl, a rarity aboard fishing boats, lands giant yellowfin ... Los Angeles Times, CA - That's because women are a rarity and girls are essentially nonexistent aboard San Diego long-range fishing boats, which spend up to 18 days at sea. ... |
 MLive.com | Fishing away through the holidays MLive.com, MI - "We were fishing for steelhead earlier today in the Paw Paw River, but they weren't biting," said Smith, a 31-year-old angler from Parchment. ... |
Ice fishing traditions passed on Fort Mills Times, SC - "This is his first time ice fishing," Brian said between drilling holes through the lake's ice. The younger Teskey is starting ice fishing at about the same ... |
Ultimate Fishing Show Returns WXYZ, MI - (WXYZ) - The Ultimate Fishing Show returns to the Detroit area Thursday, January 8 at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi. ... Michigan's Ultimate Fishing Show starts Thursday |
 AlaskaReport | Search suspended for lost fishing boat crewman Fort Mills Times, SC - JUNEAU, Alaska — The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a missing crew member of a fishing boat. The search was suspended Wednesday for 43-year-old ... Coast Guard crew seeks missing fisherman Coast Guard searching for lost crab fisherman Crab fisherman missing in Bering Strait |
 WELT ONLINE | Bush to Protect Three Areas in Pacific Washington Post, United States - The protected areas "will allow for research, free passage, and recreation -- including the possibility of recreational fishing one day," Bush said while ... Mr. Bush’s Monument Bush to create three marine monuments Bush to create oceanic national monuments |
Fishing Report for Jan. 7 Modesto Bee, CA - Striped bass fishing took a rebound for a few days around the New Year in the deep water near Martinez. Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker boated 15 bass to ... Fish Finder -- Published Jan. 7, 2009 Anglers Speed To Gag Limit Off Hudson |
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