Thanks to the
inescapable heat and oppressive humidity, August is nobody’s favorite month in
Southwest Florida. But if you’re like me, and love chasing juvenile
tarpon with a fly rod, these intensely hot summer days are the best time of the
year.
As far as I’m
concerned there is nothing better than jumping the 10 to 20 pounders that pop
up on the flats just after sunrise this time of year. The slick calm
mornings and 90 degree water temps, especially in Matlacha Pass, force these
small tarpon to gulp air from the surface several times an hour. This
behavior is called rolling, and it’s something these fish must do in order to
survive.
The very
prehistoric tarpon has a highly evolved internal air bladder lined with red
blood cells that also functions as a rudimentary lung. It extracts oxygen
from above the water which supplements the O2 that they draw through their
gills. This allows tarpon to live in both fresh and saltwater and the
juveniles can thrive in places where few predators dwell.
These are the
ultimate light tackle fish. They hit hard, jump dozens of times during
the fight, and can be landed and safely released in a relatively short
time. Any freshwater angler who thinks that largemouth bass are tough
will be blown away by the compact violence of a 36” tarpon. They’re
nothing short of a nuclear bomb on the end of an 8-weight fly rod.
For those of
you non-snowbirds stuck here in the August heat, right now is your best shot at
a tarpon on fly. These smaller fish are mostly unpressured, especially
during the weekdays. The majority of charter captains concentrate on the
really big tarpon that congregate off the Gulf Beaches and Boca Grande Pass in
the late summer. Most recreational anglers around here also seem to
ignore these smaller, inedible fish in favor of the reds and trout that inhabit
the same flats, and that’s just fine with me.
Juvenile
tarpon are usually an early morning species and they eat the best at sunrise.
Almost any basin around Pine Island can hold them this time of year provided
the water is at least 3’ or deeper. Calm conditions are essential for
spotting them. Once the wind kicks up these small tarpon roll far less
frequently and the chop provides extra camouflage. On a perfectly
flat morning you’ll not only spot them easily but also hear them gulping air
from a good distance. It’s a quiet but unmistakable sound and can lead
you right towards a pod of hungry fish.
The biggest
drawback to chasing juvenile tarpon this time of year is the water
itself. Thanks to the heat and frequent rains, Matlacha Pass looks like a
freshly brewed cup of coffee right now and Pine Island Sound isn’t much
better. Once the rolling tarpon drop back below the surface, our tannic
stained water makes it impossible to determine where they’re going. The
best way to get a hook up is to actually hit them with a fly during the very
brief moment their heads are above the water. If you’ve ever played the
old arcade game Whack-A-Mole, you’ll understand this kind of fishing.
Unless you’re quick you’ll do a lot of blind casting when you find these
tarpon. Throwing bushy white flies, like Seaducers or deer hair Sliders,
usually works best for my anglers.
Since you’re
not going to set any world records with these fish, skip the ultra-light leaders.
A couple feet of 15# tippet and a 40# shock leader will let you muscle a 20
pound tarpon to the boat in just a few minutes. In this hot summer water,
that’s crucial to their survival.
Finally, and
most importantly, the days of dragging these fish onto the deck for a
photograph are over. In fact, it’s actually against the law right now to
completely remove any tarpon over 40” long from the water. Hold them like
you see in the photos on this page and you’ll be following the rules and not
hurting the fish at the same time. These small tarpon have a very long
life ahead of them, maybe 50 years or more in some cases, so fight them hard
and release them quickly and you can meet them again in a few decades when
they’ve put on a couple hundred pounds.
