We’ve talked a lot the last couple of months about fishing in Lake Country: stripers, hybrids, bass, and even spotted bass up at Lanier. We really do live in a great spot if you love to fish.
Think about it. Within two hours you have Lakes Oconee, Sinclair, Hartwell, Russell, Clarks Hill, Marion, Lanier, Jackson, and West Point. Within a six-hour drive you can add Charleston, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, St. Simons, Savannah, Seminole, Eufaula, Weiss, Guntersville, Moultrie, St. Marks, The Harris Chain, Lake George, the list is almost endless … my mind reels and my feet itch to be on the way!
And one of the coolest things we have access to, and really for not a lot of money, is the tarpon. Yes, you can spend $1,000 a day with friends of mine and be pushed around on custom carbon skiffs and fish with Sage and Tibor or Seigler. Or you can pick your own boat and go explore the flats of the big bend of Florida.
Tarpon show up there in the summer and a few Rapalas, Yo-Zuri mag minnows or darters, a Zoom Super Fluke, or Z-Man 5” or bigger swim bait rigged on a 7- to 8-foot heavy spinning rod with a 5000-6000 series reel and 20-lb test line can put you in the money!
Tarpons are one of those fish that people dream of and spend untold amounts of money to chase, yet can be caught in so many ways and places it almost boggles the mind. Africa, South America, Central America, and from Florida to Texas on the Gulf Coast and to North Carolina on the Atlantic Coast you can chase tarpon at some point during the year. Some areas are better than others and times vary, but man what a widespread and awesome fish!
I caught my first tarpon at around 19 years old, just one of four tarpons caught that afternoon with my dad off St. Simons Island while we were working a convention for our business back then. It was caught with dead mullet placed on the bottom and by our estimations it was somewhere around 150-lbs-plus.
Since then, I’ve fished for tarpon in the upper gulf in Apalachicola Bay, Little Tybee Island (estimated 180-lb fish!), the Keys, Steinhatchee, and St. Marks, Florida. I’ve fished the no-motor zone in the Mosquito Lagoon area for baby tarpon and I’ve also caught tarpon off of Hilton Head Island. I love these fish!
Here are a few basic suggestions for you if you should decide to go after these Silver Kings:
- • It’s going to be hot, so dress accordingly, wear sunscreen, a big hat, and the best-possible sunglasses you can afford!
- • Plan way in advance. Talk to a lot of guides.
- Take your time. Tarpon guides can be weird creatures, so you need to find one you think you can click with on a boat for three to five days.
- • Never plan less than a three-day trip here. Seriously. The weather in tarpon season (April in the Keys to September on the Georgia coast, and August in the upper gulf) is going to be tough. It’s going to be in the middle of hurricane season. Plan ahead and allow plenty of time.
- • Practice your casting
- This is important; be able to cast, whether it’s a fly rod, a plug rod, or a spinning rod. Practice. Be proficient. You will need to be precise and quick. Practice!
- • Finally, keep this in mind: it’s dadgum big-time fun! Tight lines and following seas, y’all!