Greetings from the Captain!
It wasn’t until the end of March and into early April that we began to see the Tarpon showing up in numbers in the park. Shortly thereafter, several customers had the good fortune to experience firsthand the power of the illusive silver king on the end of their lines. Since April, sightings have been more sporadic, but we continue to scout out locations. As you might know or even experienced, it takes a focused commitment for an angler and guide to spend their day undeterred, searching the waters for Tarpon, which can be found either rolling in numbers or laid up. It can happen early in the day, or, it can take up a good portion of a day before the perfect opportunity presents itself…patience is the name of the game. I’ve observed that most anglers are eager to cast and elect to fish for other species after a few hours. The combination of fishing for Tarpon and fishing other species can work, but if Tarpon is the exclusive goal, an overall commitment to keeping a focused pursuit, moving from location to location, effectively increases our odds of cornering one or more. There’s absolutely no doubt, when witnessing the action of these magnificent creatures as they inhale the fly, and then sensing the energy shift afterwards as they finally surrender to the line, that we’ve accomplished what we came to do…get ‘up close and personal’ with the mighty Tarpon.
As overall conditions improve, I expect to see more Tarpon in the coming months. Bait is becoming more visible and prolific and water temps are improving. The question over the mystery of why we see more Tarpon at certain times is certainly being studied by The Bonefish Tarpon Trust. The belief is that a large majority of these fish go off shore to spawn and then return again to our coastal waters. Exactly when and where is a question that has not been answered. We do know that in the latter months of summer when the water temperatures drop and the baitfish are less plentiful, the Tarpon start their long migration back to the south.
In April, I began taking out kayak charters, using the inflatable Aire kayak. Each of the three anglers who braved the backcountry with me, have followed up, saying they are ready to do it again. My cover photo this month shows one of the anglers kneeling in the kayak with a nice healthy Redfish. On that same charter, fishing with colorful poppers, we caught several Snook, two of which were large and proved to be challenging. One actually broke off, bottom-swimming under the kayak in less than a foot of water! What a rush seeing the wakes of the larger, agile Snook racing to our flies. I won’t be heading back into extremely shallow waters now until the temperatures begin to cool. For now, as the winds become milder, we’ll be enjoying fishing and sight casting the outside.
Signing off..
Captain Buddy