by Capt. Matt Mitchell
There is nothing I enjoy more this time of year than getting out early and taking full advantage of the slick, calm conditions before the heat kicks into high. The magical first few hours in low light can offer amazing sight-fishing opportunities for lazy, laid-up, slow-rolling tarpon. This bite is what summer fishing to me is all about and is as exciting as it gets. Very few anglers take advantage of what I consider some of the best tarpon action of the year.
Locating these fish does take some work and often depends on the stage of the tide and where to look. During big high water, these fish like to be up close to or even on top of the bars. In low water, look for these fish to fall off into deeper channels and holes. Most of my tarpon fishing over the next few months is done in the middle sound,, and finding the schools of bait is often the key. Feeding schools of ladyfish, jacks, or mackerel are also a great place to get started. What I also ran into on a few really calm days this week were tarpon moving around big rafts of grass that were created by tide lines. This is something that does not set up that often, but when it does, it can make for some amazing action.
Most days I make what I call the circuit through all my regular tarpon hangouts in the sound. I drop a trolling motor and give these places a slow, long look. Some days these fish only show tails and fins and are not doing the big high roll we are used to. Suppose I’ve been on these fish the previous days; that is generally my starting point for the days fishing. Stealth and a good eye for spotting these fish are the first part of success. Once you find them, it’s about being able to read their motion and movement before you creep up on them. This makes this style of fishing more like stalking while hunting. Sight casting to these amazing fish adds a whole other aspect to this fishery, and just getting that bite is a victory.
As we enter September, I start spending more time hunting on the beaches when conditions are right, looking for the large schools of fry bait that slowly start moving south as days get shorter. These bait balls are the start of the whole food chain, and tarpon are all too happy to get in on an easy meal. Although this is a huge area to hunt with light winds, it’s possible to run a lot of coastline, and spotting birds can be the dead giveaway. These tarpon are beginning to pack on the calories before they migrate south, as our first cold fronts often go through generally in late October. This bite will peak right before our water temperatures drop below 80 degrees. Some years this does not happen until Thanksgiving or even later.
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