Flyfishing the Florida Keys with Capt. John Spear TARPON
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| Spotting Tarpon
You would think that spotting a 5 to 7 foot long fish that weighs 80 to 150 pounds would be easy - and sometimes it is - but not always. Tarpon like bonefish blend well into the background and over heavy grass can almost be as difficult to see as a bonefish. But luckily for us the tarpon's behavior is sometimes a dead giveaway. In addition to getting oxygen thru their gills, tarpon have the ability to breath air. This allows them to inhabit warm waters that are not very rich in dissolved oxygen. Tarpon breath air by gently rolling on the surface while taking a gulp of air. I don't know if there is a more beautiful sight than a large school of 100 tarpon or more rolling down a bank on a calm morning towards you. You can sometimes see these schools a quarter mile off which make the couple minute wait to cast to them seem like an eternity. Tarpon also free-jump, leaping high into the air and crashing to the surface like a dolphin at Sea World. These gleaming silver projectiles can be seen jumping a half a mile away given the right conditions. Many times tarpon will be swimming just below the surface causing "nervous water" just like a cruising bonefish. If the light is good their dark forms can be seen crossing the light bottom. My favorite type of tarpon fishing is for "laid-up" fish. During calm spells tarpon will find areas out of the strong current to float on the surface while they rest or sleep and soak in the warm rays of the sun. They may have their tail and dorsal fins sticking out of the water or may be a just few feet below the surface. A well placed cast with a fly in these situations almost guarantees a strike. The take is very visual and leaves lasting images in your mind months after the fishing is over. Fish laid up in stained or slightly off color water is perhaps the best eating situation you could encounter. Sometimes the fish are very hard to see if they are a few feet below the surface. The dorsal, pectoral and the tail fins of these fish look pink in milky water. Many times the pink hue is the only thing that you can see.
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Copywrite: 2000 Capt John Spear
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