River fishing for Tarpon

Springtime in Southwest Florida, a time to dust off the fishing equipment, lube up the fishing reels, spit shine the fishing lures and get ready for some deep sea fishing , inland. River fishing for Tarpon is a great way to test your tackle, light to medium fishing tackle is all you need to have plenty of fun hooking into, and if you are lucky, landing, a huge Tarpon in the freshwater rivers of Southwest Florida. A small boat such as a Jon boat is ideal and much more fun because you get a free ride when you hook into one of these monsters while river fishing.

Tarpon look for warmer water in the spring and sometimes get land locked

This time of year the Tarpon are coming up into our rivers several miles inland seeking food and warmer waters. The Gulf waters haven't reached the temperatures that allow this cold blooded fish the warmth needed to increase their metabolism and allow them to digest the large amounts of food that they require. That drives the large fish way up into freshwater, sometimes smaller Tarpon will even become "land locked". This happens during heavy rainfall when the lakes and ponds become so full that they drain into the river by way of small ditch or stream. The smaller Tarpon will fight their way up these fast flowing ditches and streams to get to the ponds and lakes. Once the pond has drained off the excess water and the stream gets smaller or non existent, the Tarpon are trapped, or "land locked".

Locating Tarpon in the river

During periods of low wind when the water is calm and you can see the bait breaking the surface there are probably Lady Fish, Jacks or some other medium size prey fish chasing them. Approach the bait pod quietly and throw a silver spoon across the pod and retrieve it quickly. A few tries should net you some of the smaller prey to use as Tarpon bait. Now, get out the heavy equipment, bait up a heavy circle hook, throw into the bait pod and let it sink. Chances are the Tarpon are beneath the prey fish that are chasing the bait.

Another method is to troll a Bomber, or simular lure, from your Cannon Downriggers at or near the bottom while watching your fishfinder for large marks. Do your trolling around the deeper water that has birds working the bait pods.

Bait and lures for Tarpon

Tarpon will bite on several different artificial lures such as spoons and shallow diving plugs while wandering about the rivers. The best bait though is live bait, they will scoop up anything from shrimp, crab, shiners, small catfish, or believe it or not, Tilapia. Tilapia are abundant in most freshwater in Southern Florida. They were introduced to the area as an aquatic vegetation control experiment and are now flourishing in anything from a ditch to a lake or river. They are not considered a game fish here, therefore, they can be used as bait. Be careful transporting them from one location to another, I believe that requires a special permit.

Get out your favorite medium tackle

Get your favorite fishing pole with your favorite fishing reel and your favorite fishing line, tie on about a four foot piece of good quality 50 pound or better, fluorocarbon line for a leader. Then tie a 4/0 circle hook to that, add the live bait of your choice to the hook and "free line" the bait from upstream under branches hanging over the water or fallen trees that are visible above the water.

Circle hook setting technique

Be careful not to set the hook when he hits it, the circle hook does all that for you. Just keep tension on the line and when he starts pullin, you start cranking him in. If you hook a large enough one you will be surprised by the speed in which you can achieve without a motor running on a small boat.

Now that you have him hooked you will want to do your best to keep him away from those nasty snags in the water such as the very ones you pulled him from to start. If you have decent fishing gear and have eaten your whole bowl of high protein cereal that morning, you can do it. Just hang on and enjoy the ride! Tarpon aren't known as a good eating fish anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you land one or not, the pure thrill of fighting one of these monsters while river fishing is plenty for most folks.

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