Tarpon Fishing

[Lori77563]

Have a friend in Dallas that wants to go Tarpon fishing. I have never fished for tarpon so looking for info/advise on where/when/with/etc on fish'n for tarpon in this area.

[FLAPPER]

That action will start kicking off soon.Call James Plaag or Dana Bailey with Silver King Adventures.Those guys have been workin' those Tarpon over for years down here.You won't be disappointed.They probably won't start running those Tarpon trips for another month or so.But those are the go to guys(in my opinion).

[Robalo]

Do not use Capt. Mike Williams IMO. Also, plan on a lot of sharks and best to plan August/late July.

[Lori77563]

Thx, but look'n for info on near shore (have 21') or beach/shore tarpon fish'n.

[WestEndAngler]

Calm days just cruise the beach front looking for rolling tarpon out a few miles even.... July & August because the winds lay down very still ice cream calm days great to run around when green water is in & target fish that normally hang further out.

[Steve_A]

Calm days just cruise the beach front looking for rolling tarpon out a few miles even.... July & August because the winds lay down very still ice cream calm days great to run around when green water is in & target fish that normally hang further out.

............. This is good advice from Coe. Also look for color changes in the water, bait and birds working. Places to look for them are off the Brazos River, San Luis Pass and Boliver Island. You can drift live/dead bait like shad and mullet. If you like lures, coon pops and coast hawks work also.

[Swells]

We get in the 4WD pickup and go down the PINS or on the north end of SPI on the other side of the jetty. They're pretty easy to spot once you know what to look for. Late July, August, and early September are your best months. Calm is good to spot them but they're around even in a blowed up surf.

If you're like me, tarpon aren't usually in reach of a fly pole or trout pole, so yes some cruise between the sandbars in deeper water such as in yaks and small boats.

We never use bait, only arties such as weighted flies, tarpon rigs, trout lures, or anything that's shiny. There are way too many sharks on the wild parts of the beach. I've seen too many bull, black, tiger, and even the rare shortfin mako shark to mess with bait.

"Combat style" fishing by cruising slow along with a pickup truck ain't too bad though, turn up the A/C and tunes, roll down the windows, light a ceegar, and drink some beer. Watch for bait balls and diving birds, especially good toward the fall run. See a roller, blow-up, or silver jumper, run like heck into the surf and fire away, hopefully leading his path. Need to cover about 15 miles and double back, not a bad outing. Very fun, and the by-catch of trout, reds, Spanish, and such is really nice.

[WestEndAngler]

Swells, do you get a good amount of pompano in the surf down there?

[Swells]

Swells, do you get a good amount of pompano in the surf down there?

Before the killer freeze of February the 8th or so, we have large Florida Pompano just coming in thick, but then they vanished. I heard that the Upper Coast still has some. That's some of the best eating fish there, better than crappie to me.

[WestEndAngler]

Before the killer freeze of February the 8th or so, we have large Florida Pompano just coming in thick, but then they vanished. I heard that the Upper Coast still has some. That's some of the best eating fish there, better than crappie to me.

Yeah great eating! Damn was hoping that they still had some down there wanted to make a trip.

[Hydra Man]

From Galveston to Freeport, fish 35 to 45 feet of water. Calm days, looks for birds, schools of bait and little macks tearing them up. (generally fishy conditions) Drift whole menhaden at various depths on 100+ lb mono leader, 12/0 circle hooks. Sharks, jacks and when you least expect it, a tarpon. I witnessed 2 guide boats jumping fish outside SLP as late as Oct 9. last year.