ABSOLUTE F
FISHING AND TARPON
FISHING CHARTERS
TARPON FISHING FL GULF COAST
TARPON FISHING CHARTERS
Tarpon Fishing Boca Grande, What a Trip! Billed the World’s Greatest Tarpon Fishing, Boca Grande is home to thousands of tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus) or better known by anglers from around the globe as the mighty SILVERKING. The tiny island is about 80 miles south of Tampa right smack on the Florida Gulf coast, and surrounded by Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island sound and the beaches from Captiva to Venice, river mouths, many bays, sounds and bayous, all of which are fishy places for the Silverking at one time of the year or another. If you are planning a tarpon-fishing charter trip to the Silverking capitol of the world, tarpon fishing in Boca Grande, you’ve got the right captain. Capt. Rich Knox has won tarpon fishing tournaments collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars with novice to expert clients over the years. He will supply you with top of the line equipment and the knowledge you need to know about tarpon fishing at world famous Boca Grande. April, May, June and July are the prime tarpon fishing months along the Florida Gulf Coast. Tarpon fishing Boca Grande and the famed “lighthouse hole” may offer the world’s most productive tarpon fishing charter. The pass, at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, has been a tarpon fishing center for more than 100 years. It’s not uncommon to see schools of 30 to 150 fish rolling and diving on top, and sometimes you may see five or six schools of such size frolicking on top at once. Just think how many tarpon are underneath them?????
Tarpon fishing charters are addictive, many anglers can’t shake the rush of the Silverking opening its huge mouth and inhaling your bait. You feel the bump and wait that ever so long second for it to turn back on course, then take up your slack until the rod bends and give it a hook set like your are swinging for the fences again and again ‘till the line starts running away from you like a bullet train and prepare to bow to the King when the fish goes up in a twisting, head shaking, gill-rattling explosion on saltwater, towering up there against the blue bird sky and sun, higher than your head. Then the Tarpon begins to fall back into the beautiful bluish green clear water only to gather itself for the next tackle-busting attempt to free itself over and over again! Like most addictions, it feeds on itself and there is no such thing as enough for the afflicted. Come tarpon fishing with us in the Tarpon Capitol of the World. If you are looking for world-class tarpon fishing, the chance to hook-up with a dream fish of your life, then Boca Grande Tarpon fishing will be the ultimate experience in your pursuit of Sport Fishing Ecstasy. After a day with us you will have had one of those days that you feel you could never top. Drift fish the pass for huge schools of these unbelievably strong fish. Or we can cruise the beach, harbor and sounds in our custom-built tarpon boats sight fishing rolling schools of fish in gin clear waters. The scenery is awesome and the fishing is better!
Tarpon fishing Boca Grande, the first place in the world where a tarpon was hooked on rod and reel. It is an interstate like highway for tens of thousands of migrating tarpon and an important gathering location for new generations of tarpon (spawning grounds). Tarpon are like rocket launched missiles and called the ultimate gamefish pound for pound. Tarpon fishing the Boca Grande area is arguably the most famous tarpon fishing spot in the continental United States and some call it the world’s greatest tarpon fishing.
Start with Boca Grande Pass, which holds thousands of big tarpon from about mid April to mid July every year. Boca Grande Pass spans 3 to 5 miles from well inside Charlotte Harbor out the old ships channel, called the “Pan”, and lined with sand, shell bars and points to well into the Gulf of Mexico. In, on and around the full and new moons of May, June and July, this whole area is exploited due to the thousands and thousands of the blue and calico crab runs, as the tide begins to flow westward out of Charlotte Harbor to the central Florida coast of the Gulf of Mexico. There are numbers of tarpon fishing charter captains, guides and experienced fishermen jockeying for position using a variety of tackle including conventional, light spinning, bait casting and fly, depending on your location on Boca Grande’s Tarpon Fishing Highway. Tarpon are found throughout so as to take advantage of the free buffet flushing westward. There is no such thing as combat fishing, but late spring tarpon fishing charters are just about as close as it gets. Any fisherman, angler, or first timer who hasn’t tried it should give it a go at least once, and then you’re hooked and want to share it with all your friends. Florida Tarpon Fishing Chargers and Guides fish every day in and around Boca Grande Pass on all tides and moon phases. Everyday it is not uncommon to hook 5 to 10 tarpon on a tarpon fishing charter guide trip. Tarpon are as powerful a fish as they come, making hard runs with spectacular acrobatic qualities and weighing anywhere from 100 to 200 pounds. Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Charters offer the best chance for anglers pursuing a giant tarpon that live bait rigs and artificials can produce.
Absolute Florida Flats Fishing and Tarpon Fishing Charters offer a wide variety of Tarpon Fishing choices along the Florida Gulf Coast, Boca Grande area, backcountry, harbor, bays, sounds, passes and beaches.Beach tarpon fishing charters are more of a stalk and hunt technique. It’s possible to see huge schools of tarpon cruising or daisy chaining on the surface just off the beach. Beach tarpon fishing requires stealthy approaches and good boat positioning for light tackle spinning enthusiasts. Tarpon fishing guides use a variety of artificial and live baits employing this method. Big threadfin herring, pumpkin seed shad, pinfish, and my favorite any time, blue crab and calico pass crabs. Size is important, as they should be about the size of a half dollar. Favorite artificials include 65m Fire-Glo, 65mr18 Mirrolure, 52M Mirrolure with dark green back and silver sides, and the D.O.A. Bait Buster in the dark back and silver sides and gold glitter sides. Always get in front and to the side and lead the tarpon with your cast or its over. There are proper tarpon fishing etiquette rules that everyone should know when beach tarpon fishing. Never run your outboard within the realm of tarpon, stay a half mile off and idle way around to intercept them, and then use your trolling motor to adjust. Never ease in on a school of tarpon that someone is working unless invited over and then use the proper stealthy method so as not to spook the fish. Keep your distance of at least 100 yards from anyone working a school. Do not chase a school of tarpon from behind as this will definitely spook these fish and give them lockjaw. Always put the most pressure possible on a tarpon. Be ready to “Bow to the King” and take as much time as needed to revive the fish afterward. Never pull adult size tarpon up onto the gunnel of a boat. You will have great photo opportunities along side the boat while reviving your trophy. These baits and rules apply to the shallow harbors, sand bars, sounds, backcountry and bays.
Florida Gulf Coast Tarpon fishing spans along the entire gulf coast of the state and these methods are employed throughout. For instance, Tampa Bay tarpon fishing has similar fishing to tarpon fishing Boca Grande. It usually begins in early spring around the bridges – Howard Franklin Bridge, Gandy Bridge and eventually the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Other Tampa Bay tarpon fishing hot spots include areas off the Clearwater/St. Petersburg Airport runway hole, the mouth of the Manatee River, Terra Ceia Bay and Boca Ciega Bay. Tarpon fishing Tampa Bay employs similar methods along with anchoring up and chumming with cut shad, pilchards, cat fish tails and thread herring, soaking a piece of whichever fresh cut bait of choice on the bottom. Water temperature is key depending on where you are tarpon fishing. Tampa Bay tarpon fishing doesn’t stop at the Sunshine Skyway, as water temps climb the migrating tarpon and resident tarpon move to the beaches – Mullet Key, Passage Key, Anna Maria Island bar and Egmont Key. Tarpon fishing Tampa Bay and the ship channel to Egmont Lighthouse has similar crab runs on the new and full moons as well. The bait of choice again is the calico crab and blue crab in the half dollar size.
After the full moon in July most of the tarpon have usually spawned out offshore on the Florida Gulf coast somewhere along their migratory routes. Some fish return to estuary systems such as Charlotte Harbor, Ten thousand Islands, Tampa Bay and any of Florida’s Gulf coast river estuaries. The bigger tarpon usually migrate north around the panhandle, Louisiana, Texas and back to Central America. Other big tarpon on both Florida’s tarpon fishing coast migrate back to the Florida Keys and some Caribbean destinations. During the cooler months of the year, Absolute Florida Flats Fishing and Tarpon Fishing Charters catch these juvenile tarpon on light tackle 10 lb. Spinning gear. Tarpon from 10 lb to 50 lb are to be found in our home base area of New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater, Tampa, and St. Petersburg. Up in the many rivers, some deepwater drag lined residential canals and power plants, these tarpon like to gorge themselves on the migratory baitfish, pilchards and some of the artificials mentioned earlier. The cooler the water temperatures, the smaller the bait, i.e. elephant eat peanuts.
COME ON & CATCH THE KING!
We can put together Florida tarpon fishing charter packages to suit any needs. We recommend several days of fishing to get the most that the area has to offer, but we can work you in whatever your schedule might be. We can also provide you with recommendations on accommodations and eateries. Fish from before sunup to sundown with easy access from Boca Grande, New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando (Disney World area). So all you have to do to start your Florida tarpon fishing charter and this incredible journey is to make a call to Absolute Florida Flats and Tarpon Fishing charters.
TARPON FACTS
The tarpons are large coastal fish prized by anglers. They grow up to 8 feet in length and sometimes weigh over 200 pounds. When swimming in oxygen-poor water, tarpon can breathe air from the surface. There are two species in a single genus MEGALOPS in the family MEGALOPIDAE, ONE NATIVE TO THE Atlantic ocean and Gulf of Mexico and south, and the other to the Indo-Pacific oceans. The genus name derives from the Greek adjective “megalo” meaning “large,” and the noun “opsi,” meaning “face.” Tarpon are superb sport, with a long lasting, powerful fight generally including several outstanding leaps. While edible, they are seldom eaten, as their flesh is considered too oily and boney to be palatable. Atlantic tarpon, MEGALOPS ANTLANTICUS is a famous sport fish. Indo-Pacific tarpon, MEGALOPS CYPRINOIDES, is a lesser-known and smaller fish.
The Atlantic tarpon inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. It feeds on various fish and crabs. It is capable of filling its swim bladder with air and absorbing oxygen from it. Specimens have been recorded at up to 98 inches in length and weighing up to 350 pounds. The Atlantic tarpon is also known as the SILVERKING. In appearance it is 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 and toward the tail.
The Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico tarpon is found in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico typically in tropical and subtropical regions, though it has been reported as far north as Nova Scotia and the Atlantic coast of Southern France, and as far south as Argentina. As with all Elopiformes, it is found in coastal areas, spawning at sea, a little way offshore. Diet includes smaller fish and crustaceans.
The tarpon is considered one of the great saltwater game fishes, not only because of the size it can reach and its accessible haunts, but because of its fighting spirit as when hooked, it is very powerful, making spectacular leaps into the air, clearing it’s whole massive body from the water. In Florida, a special tag (permit) is required to kill and keep a tarpon; so most tarpon fishing here is catch, photo and release.
Although a variety of methods are used to fish for tarpon (bait, lure and fly on spinning, conventional or fly rod) the most popular method is using lures or bait on heavy spinning or conventional gear. Many anglers prefer this as a more surefire method to catch tarpon and a memory. Usually the reels are filled with line from 30 to 80 pound test (14 to 36 kg) although 50 lb seems to be the most popular. Although a great deal of fun, the outcome is less often in doubt, unlike fly fishing with light 20 pound (9.1 kg) test, and getting a tarpon to take a crab, shrimp, mullet, pinfish, pilchard or a thread herring is easier than an artificial fly. Flats fishing with a fly rod is a sport akin to hunting, combining the best elements of hunting with fishing. A normal tarpon fly rod outfit uses 10 to 12 weight rods and reels, spooled with the appropriate backing line attached to the fly line of choice, using a 12 to 20 pound class tippet before the 80 pound to 100 pound shock leader. Truly light tackle fishing where the fish may weigh 10 times or more than the breaking strength of the tippet line weight. Typically an angler stations himself on the bow of a shallow water boat, known as a “flats skiff” and with the aid of a guide searches for incoming tarpon on the flats and inshore sand bars of the ocean or gulf that are very shallow, typically no more than 3 to 4 feet (0.91 – 1.2 m) deep. When a school or pod of tarpon is sighted, the guide positions the boat to intercept the fish. The angler usually has no more that 6 to 10 seconds to false cast out enough fly line and make a very accurate cast to these fast moving fish. Accuracy and speed are paramount, but the task is compounded by the inevitable excitement and nervousness of seeing a school of fish that may to 180 pounds (82 kg) bearing down on the angler. Once the cast is made, the fly is retrieved and hopefully a tarpon inhales the fly. The hookset is difficult due to the hard mouth of the tarpon, which has been likened to the hardness of concrete. For that reason many tarpon throw the hook on the first few jumps and so many times it is asked of an angler “How many tarpon did you jump?” rather than how many they caught. If the hook stays secure, the fight is on. Tarpon have tremendous endurance and are one of the most exciting gamefish to fight; frequent spectacular jumps, long runs, and stubborn bulldogging are all part of the experience. Although a good and skillful angler can usually land a tarpon in less than an hour, novice anglers on fly average takes longer than one to three hours and this is hard on the fish.
BINOMIAL NAME: Megalops Atlanticus
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Actinopterygii
ORDER: Elopiformes
FAMILY: Megalopidae
GENUS: Megalops
SPECIES: Megalops Atlanticus
"Now Booking Giant Tarpon Season for 2010"
On the Florida Central Gulf Coast Beaches and Flats
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