Tarpon On Sanibel Beaches
Here in South West Florida, summer is already if full swing. Gulf temps are in the high 70’s and tarpon have shown up in full force. Last week I was invited to hit the beaches and fish tarpon aboard a 24′ Yellowfin Bay Boat. After one toss of the cast net along the Sanibel Causeway, we had about 80 “greenies” or Threadfin Herring in the livewell for bait.
It was a little bumpy off the beach with winds blowing a steady 15mph. We began scouting for fish a mile or two south of Knapps point and headed north. After a few minutes, a few free jumping tarpon could be seen in the 18′ – 21′ depths. We shut down the motor and began our drift with live threadies flat lined on 6/0 Gamakatsu 4x inline circle hooks.
For the first 3o minutes we were hounded by small sand sharks. After 6 or 7 small sharks, we headed south a little and began a drift again. It was getting late in the afternoon and we only had 20 minutes of fishing time left. As we were about to pull up the lines, the 50lb Power Pro Slick on my SustainFG 10K started to dump off the reel. I quickly closed the bait and began cranking the handle as fast as possible. It seemed like the fish dropped the bait, but knowing the fish could be headed directly at me, I continued to turn the handle until I came tight. Within an instant, the 8′ Sewell Tarpon Rod had a beautiful bend in it. With a perfect hookset, the fight was on! The fish was a nice, lower triple digit size. This made for a faster, more manageable fight.
The captain did a great job and kept us right over the fish during a majority of the fight and we were able to get the fish to leader in under 12 minutes. After a couple quick photos boatside, she smacked her tail and shot off into the gulf….
God I love tarpon season. . . Tight Lines.
