Tarpon fishing remains a top priority for many anglers. More and more of the big silverkings are arriving in the Bay Area every day. Normally by this time of year the bulk of our migratory summer stock of fish has arrived in its entirety but this year things are running behind by a few weeks. The migration is taking place but not all the fish are here yet. In just about every aspect of a typical tarpon season the fish are running later than normal. Spots that are usually good only in late April are just now starting to fire up. Huge masses of fish are still gathered in deeper water well south of Boca Grande where they first arrive to the west coast of Florida then migrate north along the beaches. Guides in the Keys report a very late start to their season as well.
For the local tarpon aficionado this means skipping the beach for now and targeting the Bay Area bridges and Egmont Channel areas. The fish have simply not shown up strong along the beach. We fished the shore south of Sarasota several times over the past week and found disappointing number of fish so far. Boca Grande Pass is loaded and there are a fair number of fish in Tampa Bay but we are still far from the peak. The good news is that there are lots more fish coming our way. There are incredible giant schools of tarpon off Fort Myers that are moving north each day. As they reach the coast and spread out, expect the action to pick up in our more traditional summer locations.
- The Neil Blog - March 23, 2024
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ - June 25, 2023
- Nature Coast:William Toney - December 12, 2021
