Captain’s Corner: Ed Walker

The Tampa Bay Times

By Ed Walker

Tarpon season is upon us. With big numbers of fish from the beaches to the bays one might think it would be simple to keep track of them. This has not been the case lately. In just the past week tarpon hunters have had to deal with fish in pre-spawn mode, a full moon, super clear water, super dirty water, and heavy west winds. It has been rare that we have been able to catch fish in the same place or with the same methods for two days in a row.

The same goes for the bait that’s working best. During the full moon tides, crabs were a top choice but when we fished the beachn extra-clean water we noticed a very clear shift in bait preference to threadfin herring. Now, since the west winds have dirtied the water, one of our top baits has been a live “pumpkin seed” formally known as Atlantic bumper. These shiny flat bait fish are lousy in most situations but when its muddy they become a go-to tarpon bait to those in the know.

So, if you are heading out tarpon fishing soon, be prepared to modify your gameplan if your initial idea does not pan out. Do not spend a lot of time in an area if you are not seeing signs. Try the bridges, check the passes, go look where you see birds diving on minnows, run the beach for a mile or ten, go way up into the north end of the bay, maybe go look offshore a few miles. On our boat it is often the most unlikely long shot, the wildest goose chase, that turns out to be the best tarpon trip of the season.